Cancer survivor and founder of Only Believe Care Foundation Imaobong Andrew-Essien, was featured on Channels Television’s breakfast show, The Morning Brief, where she talked about her four-year battle with breast cancer and how her belief in God with support from her husband, loved ones and her environment helped her win the battle.

Speaking of her cancer journey, she said, “in 2023, I was going about my normal business, I’m a very active woman. But in 2013, I was struck by a disease called cancer. Precisely, breast cancer; while preparing for my probational exams, I registered for ICAN exams, so I was preparing for that, and suddenly… Normally, I used to lump my armpit and I’d go to a nearby chemist and they’d bring out the pus and they’d give me Ampiclox which I’d take and after a while, it would appear again. Until a nurse told me not to bother bringing it back again because it’s too frequent.

“There was a day I was having a cool bath and I was rubbing myself, my hand touched a lump I did not know what it was and I showed it to my husband and he immediately asked me to go to the hospital to check. When I went to the hospital, the doctor told me that I would not be going back home and that it was a serious thing so they did a lumpectomy, they did a surgery and removed the lump to go and test it. A month later, the result was ready and I was diagnosed with breast cancer and that was the beginning of the ordeal. It wasn’t an easy journey for me. I didn’t know what to do and the doctor advised me to take a quick step toward the treatment and that after two years, I would know exactly where I would be.

“I was crying, my husband was crying. We needed to take a fast step to ensure we adhered to all the medical advice that was given to us. So I was referred to the National Hospital and the University of Enugu Teaching Hospital, and all the necessary steps were taken. I had to undergo surgery, I did chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It wasn’t an easy journey for me especially during the chemotherapy period.

“This cancer had to do with the division of the cells, the chemotherapy period was a trying period for me because I had hair loss, brittle bones, loss of blood, I was always vomiting, diarrhea, and loss of strength amongst others.

On dealing with the news in herb mind, she stated that “The mind is the seat of recovery. When I was told I had cancer, it wasn’t easy because I thought I would die in the next few years, and that was confirmed by the doctor. My husband is the brain behind me having a stable mind. He keeps telling me that I would make it, anytime my faith wants to fail me, he will encourage me that I’ll make it and he’ll use the scripture to boost my faith. He would quote different scriptures for me, he would sing for me, and encourage me.

“My environment also helped me survive cancer, everybody around me tended to love me even when I wasn’t looking beautiful, they tended to tell me that I was beautiful just to encourage me, to put a smile on my face and my children too were an encouraging factor to me, they keep telling me that I’d make it. Because of the encouragement I had from my immediate family, I was able to tune my mind positively to recover from the sickness.

“Mine was stage 2. The thing has started metastasizing and it entered the lymph nodes and it started spreading. So I needed to take a fast action to ensure that the cell is being controlled. I was diagnosed precisely August 2013. From August to December 2013, we were looking for ways, where to go, what to do. Then, I started the treatment in 2014. The surgery took one month. The recovery period of the surgery was a long one because

“I needed to recover first before I could start the chemotherapy. I was given eight sessions for the chemotherapy which took an interval of three weeks, 21 days. The side effects (diarrhea, vomiting, etc) of the chemotherapy injection will start coming out the first week. The second week, I was recovering from the side effects, then I went back to the hospital on the third week. It was a session that took place every month, repeatedly for eight months.

“I started recovering gradually in 2015 because I lost my memory. I wasn’t remembering things anymore, I started recovering gradually, building the blood system, and blood cells, I think it took about three years for me to recover. Thereafter, I started going for a three-month test and check-up. Then I started going for a 6-month checkup, after I was certified okay for 6 months, I started going for one year, presently, I am on a one-year annual test. The whole treatment took about four years,” she stated.

On what she will tell a person living with cancer, she said, “I will look into the face of those living with cancer and tell them that their life is in their hands. They own their life… Your healing is in your hands. Take a bold step. Don’t show the pity face; the highest anyone can do for you is say ‘sorry o’. The bulk of the job is within them. Don’t sit down, fold your hands, and look for pity but rather, take it as business that the healing depends on you and not on anybody. Take it by faith, pray always, and know that in as much as we are doing the conventional treatment, it is only God that can heal cancer.” (Story adapted from Channels TV)