The Fight Is Pink

Edited in canva

The fight against breast cancer was a tough one for Maria, she was gradually losing faith in the fight, night after night she kept going on her knees to beg her God to help her, but in the morning she woke up to see how it slowly and gradually spread.

Numerous times, she cried her eyes out and wished this disease could depart from her, but it didn't. At some point, she knew there was no need to cry as it was having a toll on her health. She just had to cope, not only with the disease, but also with the fact that she was going to die and this was what really disturbed her. As a kid, Maria had so many dreams and goals she wished to achieve, she never had a clue that her life may be cut short by a dreadful disease. The hope of getting married, the goal of carrying and breastfeeding her kids, all cut short by breast cancer. No man would accept to marry her with this disease, and worse of all, she may never have or breastfeed a baby.

During the first few months after she realized that the small little lumps that were growing on one of her breasts was cancer, she was so uncomfortable and couldn't wait for a surgery to cut it out. The doctor had convinced her that the disease was at its early stage, and if they could cut it out, and she took the medications prescribed, it would go away. She agreed to do a surgery.

After the surgery, she was prescribed drugs to take which she diligently did, but things didn't go as expected. Within two months, more and more lumps began growing not only on one breast, but on the two breasts she had.

This struggle was really damaging her physically and most especially, emotionally, but she had to fight it till the end. Fighting it meant she would give up her dreams of breastfeeding her kids if she was gonna have any, because the doctors had advised that both breasts should be cut off.

After the surgery, she felt more like a man than a woman. Her pride of womanhood, her breasts were gone, and now she was gonna have flat chests just like a man. Where would her sexual pleasure come from, which man would fall in love with a woman with flat chests just like a man? The stigmatization she was going to face when people get to know that as a woman that she is, she has no breasts was gonna be too severe. She felt she wasn't even qualified to be called a woman anymore. The struggle inside her head was getting tougher everyday.

But Maria's Strength relied on her keeping calm and showing trust! She had no control over what was happening and there was no need to panic about it. She had to face the facts and move on with her life.

Being a very resilient woman, Maria was determined to fight this fight to the very end and even if she didn't come out victorious, she would at least have a sense of achievement that she hadn't given up. She had heard stories of people who had this disease but got healed, and she hoped, maybe one day, she would wake up and all this ailment would be gone. What a miracle that would be!

September 1 2009, Maria was re-diagnosed of cancer once more and this time, it had spread to numerous organs of her body, not only her breast. She knew her life on this beautiful planet called 'Earth' was gradually coming to an end. She had to make use of the little time she had left to be of help to humanity. She knew she was gonna die, but at least she wanted to die having some sense of achievement.

She donated the little money that had remained in her savings to support the medical bills of women like her diagnosed with breast cancer. She donated her car to charity to help in the fight against cancer.

On December 15 2009 after sundown, Maria breathed her last breath in the presence of over 50 people most of whom were women also suffering from this same ailment who had heard or read of her story and were very impressed by Maria's story all stood to to give her the final respect before she passed out.

Around the world today, there are numerous people who pass through the same dilemma that Maria had passed through and some even worse. They have to fight so hard to keep their mental sanity and hide their fears. You can be of help to them.

If you know of anyone suffering from this deadly disease please reach out to them and share some words of encouragement with them. They need it. Show them love and support, show them that you care, 'Close The Care Gap.' That is the theme for this year's world cancer day.

"I look forward to the day this deadly disease would be eradicated, but until then, I will continue to take a firm stand against it, fight for my mental health and keep doing good for humanity" - Maria