San-jal Richards was unarmed and unsuspecting in her fortress, when breast cancer invaded it and held her hostage.

The 32-year-old said the fight to reclaim her life was a tsunami of changes, emotions, grief and prayer.

She was diagnosed at a time when the world was already flooded by uncertainty, and on its knees begging for a return to normalcy. It was July 2020. At that time, she was 30, and it was the peak of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“It was a whirlwind. That’s the best way to describe it. COVID had just started and we were trying to get used to the whole idea of COVID, and I had to take a break from school. When school started back, one night I felt a sharp pain and I was thinking it was a mosquito and when I reached across with my hand to capture the sting I felt something hard at the top of my breast,” Richards told the Jamaica Observer in an interview last Friday.

“Not wanting to prejudice my mother’s opinion, I called her and asked her to feel the breast that I wasn’t feeling the pain in. She said it was okay,” she continued.

When her mother felt the other breast, there was a stark difference.

“She felt this big lump there. From that, I tried to make an appointment at a particularly well known place one Friday, but they told me that I could only do a mammogram if I’m 40. I was 31 at the time.”

Richards said she wasn’t able to just sit and not be proactive. She described it as a “quiet urgency”.

“The Saturday, I went to a doctor and I was told that I am young, so more than likely it’s trauma because I hit the area. She said it is very unlikely for somebody as young as I am to be diagnosed. Then she felt the lump and said it was there, which was surprising to me because it’s my body and I interact with my body — bathing and everything and I did not feel that there,” she told the Sunday Observer.

She said the doctor urged her to do an ultrasound to determine how big the lump was, and the state of the cancer.

“The results came back inconclusive, so they wanted to do a biopsy just to make sure. I remember the doctor saying she applauds me because many women, when they hear to do an ultrasound or to follow-up with a biopsy, they don’t. And then six months later, if there’s something there, it’s too far progressed.”

October is observed as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign to raise awareness about the impact of breast cancer.

Meanwhile, Richards told the Sunday Observer that when she did the biopsy, it took almost a month for her to get the results.

“It was the diagnosis of the aggressive sort, so it was triple negative. Nobody in my family has ever been diagnosed with cancer. It took a long while to even understand the word really, because of how we’ve been taught. Cancer is usually hereditary, but it just came out of nowhere. I remember my mother saying ‘we’re going to beta this’ and one night I got up and saw her praying, and I joined her in prayer.”

Richards said at that point, she felt as though the Lord gave her a “quiet assurance”.

“I was praying with mommy in a very chirpy tone, and she was like ‘I get it. You’re okay and processing well, but this is not supposed to happen and no matter what you say, I’m just broken.’ She wept, and I’m not used to seeing my mother cry. That really broke. And I remember my father; the first thing he said was ‘how are we going to pay for this?’ That was it,” Richards said, thumping her chair, as if holding back emotions.

Richards did a surgery at Spanish Town Hospital, and then another at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI.)

“My experience at both Spanish Town Hospital and UWI; the service was excellent. They are unmatched. I did six months of aggressive chemo and I did have adverse effects. I think now, my body is coming back. Since then, thankfully, I have done two mammograms and there’s no evidence of breast cancer,” she told the Sunday Observer.

But the treatment was brutal. Richards recounted hair loss, inclusive of her eyebrows and eyelashes, and darkened fingernails and tongue.

“I talk strong now, but it’s trauma that I’m still unpacking. My hair was that thing about me that I loved the most and I never touched, I never braid, I never did anything to it and to see it go, I grieved,” she told the Sunday Observer.

Richards continued: “To see my body responding in different ways to the treatment, that was also very traumatic because a lot could’ve gone wrong. I’m so thankful God contextualised my process. I cannot say that without saying that I had a huge support system — Church, friends, and family. It was just like witness all the good cells rushing to that area to provide help.”

So much so, that it made surviving a lot less difficult.

“I am of the opinion that without Church and my friends, I possibly wouldn’t be here today,” Richards said, with her hands clasped.

Richards is currently on interval checkups, one of the reasons is being aware of any reoccurrence which is likely.

“I think that said, the likelihood of a reoccurrence is very high in the first three to five years. So, to stay or to mitigate any reoccurrence or spread, I’m kept under close watch, which I do appreciate. That has been the journey of treatment,” Richards added.

Offering a word of advice and upliftment to women currently battling cancer, Richards related that there is the stigma around the diagnosis which causes victims to feel ashamed.

“I remember I went to hospital one day and somebody said to me, ‘Me coulda never do nothing fi lose my breast because I am a woman and God gave me.’ So, in essence, I am not a woman if I’m not with all my body parts. So, I understand the stigma. But what I will say is support — you’re going to need that… not just from family, because family is at the frontline and they get overwhelmed.

“So, the bigger the support system, the better we’re mentally and emotionally able to handle the situation. Follow up on all your doctor visits and instructions and if you’re young like me, there is hope. I made it. You can too.”