Marina Prinsloo, Rider
1 year survivor.
Diagnosed: 2008. Age: 49.
I believed, and that made all the difference or cancer can’t stop me, it won’t stop you!
I feel honoured to be selected as part of the Journey of Hope for breast cancer 2009 ride.
As a child born with a split pallet and harelip I was the butt of many jokes, and sometimes sympathetic stares. I was, to put it simply, different. At the same time, I was also lucky enough to have parents who, despite having financial had difficulties always found a way to pay for reconstructive surgery in an attempt to make life a little easier. For this I am eternally grateful. Little did I know, that the difficulties of childhood would be the key to making me into the strong, independent woman I have become; one who has found the courage and the will to fight this demon called “breast cancer”. I refuse to write these two words with capital letters – I will give them no power in my life, or anyone else’s. They will be treated with the contempt they deserve.
Having lived a healthy lifestyle, and single-handedly raising my three daughters for most of their lives – at least up until meeting my husband Schalk in 1994, and marrying him in 1998, I thought I had seen everything, there was nothing anyone could teach me,because I knew it all!!!
Well, I was in for the surprise of my life! At the age of 48, on the 21st of November 2008, I was diagnosed with Lobular Cardamom (HER 2 positive). Just weeks before my 49th birthday, on the 1st of December 2008, I had a
bilateral mastectomy, I lost all the lymph nodes under my left arm and 6 under my right. My life changed – I was literally, brought to my knees.
It has not been easy, not by any means – but somewhere I believe, deep inside every single one of us is a deep well of courage – if we only know how to access it. By the Grace of God I have never ever one day felt
like it was the end of the road for me, or that I would not make a complete recovery, but like I say this has solely been by the Grace of God!! I am now nearing the end of my treatment, it has not been pleasant, it has been traumatic, and it has eaten into every aspect of my life. Relationships have been tested – but we have triumphed.
I know things will never be quite the same again. I will never again take good health for granted; I will look at all the beauty that surrounds me every day, whether it be the sunrise, or the first flower opening to greet the light, or the moon bidding us goodnight, and I will give praise and thanks for their beauty, and to my Creator for giving me another chance.
My wish for the women reading this: Take every day, day by day – stay positive, stay strong. But most of all look after yourself, there are going to be days you don’t feel like getting up – do that. Do whatever feels right for you in the moment, honour your feelings, let yourself heal. And once you have the energy to get up – do that too, and live your life with reckless abandon.
I would like to give my thanks to my family and friends, for their unending concern, love and support, and to my medical aid that have been so very generous in their support and financial contributions. Guys without you I would not be where I am today, and last but not least, a big Thank You to My Lord and Saviour for bringing me so far on this journey of hope and recovery.
