-says breast cancer survivor, Alicia Sugrim

 By Cindy Parkinson
CANCER is one of the diseases that everyone fears because in most cases it carries a death sentence. The highest possibility of a favourable outcome, particularly survival, depends on early detection followed by rigorous treatment.

Alicia Sugrim and her husband, Willett, whom she described as her best friend, were enjoying a simple life with their three children. This turned into chaos when her husband felt a lump in one of her breasts.

While taking a shower, Alicia checked herself but felt nothing. She was hesitant about going to a doctor but her husband insisted that she did so.

He had recently lost one of his co-workers to breast cancer and having seen how “broken” her husband was during the funeral service, the thought of him being in that situation scared him.

To please her husband, Alicia took his advice and had a breast examination done. The news that her husband dreaded became a reality when the doctor told Alicia that there was indeed a lump in her breast and that it was potentially cancerous.

During an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, an emotional Alicia said: “I could not have explained how I felt. Having heard such life-threatening news, I felt all types of emotions flow through my body in that moment.”

Not wanting to believe such devastating news, Alicia and her husband decided to get a second opinion. That doctor did a biopsy on the lump and told her that it was indeed cancerous and was a very aggressive form of malignant cancer that had already spread in the lymph nodes.

Alicia was advised by her doctor to get immediate surgical intervention (mastectomy), since it was the best option for her to avoid the risk of it spreading further. He also told her that she had stage three cancer.

Not knowing how to process it all, Alicia was understandably confused, heartbroken, angry and very emotional. “I felt like screaming at the top of my lungs, thinking that I would die, but I knew that I had two options: fight this battle or give up.”

Looking at the faces of her three children and husband, she knew her only option was to fight it, “if not for myself for them.”

Alicia was referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation to have the surgery done, but, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the overcrowding in the hospital, she had a hard time securing a date, even though her case was regarded as urgent.

Both Alicia and her husband were contemplating taking a loan from the bank to pay for the surgery to be done privately, but Alicia’s parents, knowing the aggressive nature of the cancer, opted to pay for it.

Alicia’s father said that he would rather have peace of mind knowing that he paid for my daughter’s life-saving surgery than have to pay for her funeral.

On September 9, 2021, Alicia was able to have a radical mastectomy done, which resulted in the removal of her right breast.

Alicia recalled that her recovery process was “a very difficult one,” noting that she came from a family that had no trace of cancer, which made her feel even more fearful about not having enough time to process all that was happening.

“Everything just happened so quickly. We had no time to think or to do any research. I was so scared, but I am very thankful to my husband for his support. He, my parents, family and especially my children and friends, were there for me 100 per cent. I don’t know how I would have made it through without them. I want to say a special thanks to my neighbour Rushelle Toney, who is a single mother but comes running to help me as soon as I call her on the phone. With my husband working, the children at school and everyone still having things to do in their lives, they cannot be there for me all the time, but Rushelle leaves her own work behind just to assist me personally or even in tidying up my kitchen and home when I can’t make it, and I am thankful for her. ” Alicia stated.

The doctor, knowing that Alicia had been diagnosed with stage three cancer, recommended a very intense dose of chemotherapy which caused her to lose her hair almost immediately.

“Seeing my hair falling out in my hands broke me again emotionally; my hair was another baby of mine and I lost that.”

Alicia explained that she would look at herself in the mirror. “I would break down and couldn’t believe how I looked.”

It was her husband who would kiss her on the forehead and say “you’re just as beautiful still in my eyes.”

She told this publication that at first, she used to think, “Why me?”

Alicia recalled that one day, as she was coming back from radiation therapy, “I was praying and talking to God by myself in the car and I felt a warm touch on my shoulder. It felt like something warm had wrapped me up. From that day on, I felt strength and I found my purpose. As soon as I reached home, I marked off the date on the calendar because I knew that moment was a divine intervention and I needed it to get through”

She used the opportunity to encourage both males and females to do their annual check-ups.

“Make it your priority every year to do check-ups and do not wait until you are not feeling well; it may be too late,” Alicia urged.

She is also calling on health officials to revise the age limit for cancer screening.

“I was 35 years old when I got diagnosed, but I went to get screened about two years earlier and I was told that I had to wait until I was 40 years old.

“Maybe if I had done it earlier, they would have discovered it and prevented it from reaching stage three,” she said.

She is also asking society to stop the judgement and to eradicate the stigma that is attached to cancer and or any other ailment with which people are faced.

“Many people were annoyed that I told my story. They said I should have kept it quiet, but I didn’t let that bother me. A friend told me that physical beauty is artificial, and I may have lost my breast, but I saved my life,” she said while encouraging other survivors to tell their stories.

Alicia’s hopes to one day become a motivational speaker so that she can inspire cancer survivors, those battling the disease and the public at large.