Beverley Robotham Reynolds’ survival story

HER career was booming. Moving from a former ‘Big 5’ accounting firm — Arthur Andersen — to Morgan Guaranty, a subsidiary of JP Morgan where she worked for 12 years, Beverley Robotham Reynolds had everything going for her.

Added to that, after a workplace competition where she dressed a doll in the Bandana fabric, she launched her own business, Island Dolls, in 1993, where she has remained CEO and president to date.

But in 2012 when she fainted in downtown Kingston, it marked the beginning of a series of events that would change her life.

“When I fainted downtown it was scary, but thank God I was in a store where the people knew me as I was buying fabric for my business,” she told All Woman.

“I wasn’t feeling well, I was feeling weak, so I went to see my GP. We did blood tests and my haemoglobin level was 7 point something. I can’t remember. But for women the normal haemoglobin level should be about 12, so at that time she just thought I was suffering from anaemia and I was put on iron tablets.

“I saw her in a month’s time and did over the CBC [complete blood count] test and nothing really happened. So she sent me to see a haematologist and we continued with the iron tablets and nothing happened. My blood count went up but it didn’t increase significantly.”

Subsequently, she said the doctor ordered a colonoscopy, but there was a misdiagnosis. Oblivious to the misdiagnosis, Robotham Reynolds decided to take a trip to New York to spend time with her mother for the Christmas holidays, but her symptoms did not improve.

“I continued to feel sick and I thought the fatigue was due to working very hard and being tired because of the season and my business. So I came back to Jamaica and started the whole process again. I went back to my GP, but this time I was experiencing shortness of breath and my heart was palpitating. When we got the result for my haemoglobin level it was four. So it moved from seven to probably eight and now it was at four. Anything below five really means you need to pump blood in your system,” she explained.

As a result, in January 2013 Robotham Reynolds was sent to do another colonoscopy elsewhere and this time the results showed that she had colon cancer.

Not taking any chances, she said her doctors decided to move very fast and within a month she had surgery, as the tumour found was the size of a grapefruit.

“The good thing about it is even though it was so large, when I did the surgery and they sent everything to be tested the cancer did not spread to my lymph nodes. After surgery, a month or so afterwards, I had six rounds of chemo and today as I speak, to the best of my knowledge, I’m cancer-free.”

But at the onset of the diagnosis, Robotham Reynolds shared that she was in denial as it was only a mere year and three months earlier that her husband had suffered the same fate.

“He had colorectal cancer and it’s basically the same thing as colon cancer. So I knew everything about colon cancer and I really couldn’t believe I had it. This simply meant that at the same time he had it, I had it too because it’s a very slow- growing cancer. So in order for me to have a tumour so large I had to have had it when my husband had it. They always say that a caregiver nine out of 10 times doesn’t take care of himself or herself and that is exactly what happened to me. I took care of him and my health was going down and I didn’t know,” she said.

Hence, she stressed the need for women and men to get their screenings done.

“It is very important if one is not feeling well to go to a doctor. It is very important. At times we tend to stay home and take care of ourselves and that doesn’t help at all. Look for the signs. Some include changes in bowel habits or bleeding in your stool. Do not take it for granted, especially for men. Even if it’s a little weakness, check it out. Colon cancer screening is of utmost importance. For those without symptoms of colon cancer, the age to commence screening is 50 for both men and women,” she said.

Robotham Reynolds is grateful to her doctors for their support during her illness. Additionally, she assists the Jamaica Cancer Society and other charities through the sale of her dolls.

“I helped Angels of Love and that was associated with paediatric cancer. I also sold dolls and raised $127,000 to help the Cancer Society. Whatever I give will help a few people who cannot afford to pay for cancer screening and it’s a great feeling. When I see some of the children and knew what I went through with chemo and I see and know I can help, it warms my heart. I would also like to ask Jamaicans to please help, not just cancer patients, but anyone, as the medical field is grateful for any penny that can help.”