It was her persistence that caused Lisa Haynes to be alive today. Had she not urged a close friend and those in the medical field to keep checking her breasts since she was sure something was amiss, she won’t be telling her story of how she battled stage three breast cancer.
Generally an active individual who was accustomed to regular workouts and eating healthy, the former Coleridge and Parry student discovered “an unusual lump in her breast” two years ago, and without hesitation, sought immediate assistance.
Lisa’s journey with breast cancer started in August 2023, while she was in the gym training. A fellow trainer was having a stroke in the gym and a request was made for anyone with a knowledge of first aid to assist. She was one of three people who responded. In the process of moving the sick individual, the weight of one of those who came to his assistance, fell on Lisa. Soon after, she developed a nagging pain in her right shoulder and was advised to seek medical attention.
“I called my general practitioner, explained the problem to him and was advised to go to a chiropractor. After two sessions things were not much better.
Ultrasound
“Some time after, while bathing, I felt an unusual lump under my armpit. I told this to the chiropractor and again I was advised to speak to my general practitioner, who told me to get an ultrasound.”
When the results came back, it was discovered that multiple cysts were found in both of Lisa’s breasts. After a few weeks, the lump had not only grown larger, but was proving to be very uncomfortable for the mother of one.
“I could not sleep on my right side and to move my arm was painful. I was referred to another doctor whom I saw in November 2023. He examined me and asked me to have a mammogram done. This was after I showed him the results of the ultrasound,” Lisa shared.
By chance one day, a friend who had surgery for breast cancer turned up at Lisa’s house, and the latter raised her concern about the lump to her friend.
“She told me it did not feel right and recommended me to her surgeon, who asked me to have another ultrasound done. He discovered that the images of the two were conflicting, as the one from September and now the one from December did not show the same thing. In fact, when I did the ultrasound on December 15, it showed there was a mass, not a cyst and that the mass showed signs of malignancy.”
Lisa was advised to have a biopsy, which she did on December 19. By the following week, the tests which were done overseas, showed that she had stage three breast cancer which was also highly aggressive. A CT scan was next performed to discover how far the cancer had spread. It showed it had spread to Lisa’s lymph nodes and right lung.
Mastectomy
There was no time to waste. Surgery was scheduled for January 29 – and a mastectomy was performed – thus removing Lisa’s right breast. Sixteen lymph nodes were also removed from her right arm and sent overseas for testing. Eight of those were cancerous. A second biopsy showed that the St Philip resident tested positive for Her2 gene breast cancer. It was a cancer driven by the hormone estrogen and progesterone. Due to the raging of these hormones, the cancer was growing rapidly.
After surgery, which Lisa described as painless, she turned to her oncologist to have six rounds of chemotherapy administered and 18 injections of the drug phesgo, which is used to treat her type of cancer. Chemotherapy treatment began in August and was completed in December. Injections were administered from September and will be completed this month. Lisa must now prepare for radiation treatment, as part of the treatment process.
According to the terminal operator at the Barbados National Energy Company Limited, the chemotherapy treatment was a difficult part of her journey.
“Chemotherapy was brutal,” she disclosed. “I lost some of my teeth because they became brittle and I had constant diarrhea throughout the treatment. I also lost weight.
“Chemotherapy is definitely not a race for the swift. You have to be strong mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally. I discovered my cancer seven months into my new job and for the entire period of 2024, I had to be away from work.
I only returned to work in January this year. My work place, though, was a great help to me. I did not hide my cancer, I told everyone about it and advised my co-workers to get checked. They held fundraisers to help me with my medical bills and provided the right foods for me to eat. We all know that eating healthy is costly.”
What was also very important, according to 48-year-old Lisa who lost her mother in 2020, was the support she received from her son, her aunt, who took her in during her year of treatment, her friends, former school mates, Bosom Pals members, a big brother who encouraged her every day and a sister who resides in Atlanta, United States, who also checked in on her ever so often.
The nurses in Oncology at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital also provided significant support for Lisa, for which she is grateful.
Faith in God
In fact, the devout Christian cried as she spoke of the support she received and how her illness caused her faith in God to grow even more.
“Having support is vital and having a network like Little Pink Gift – Bosom Pals, a cancer support group, helped me significantly. It was important to have a place to meet and to have other cancer survivors share their experiences.
“I like helping people, but my journey also taught me to put myself first. This was something I had not done for years. Now, I have to be selfish and I try very hard not to allow anything to stress me out. As I mentioned, my faith has grown and God has been my source of strength.
I never asked Him why me. Instead, I say if this happened to me so I can help someone else, it is fine with me. People listen to cancer survivors and sometimes people need a listening ear.”
Lisa has lost friends to breast cancer, which makes her even more grateful that she is still alive to share her story.
“I give God thanks every day and I want to be living proof to people that once you believe in God and yourself, you can beat anything.”
Lisa confesses, “I am not the same Lisa I used to be. My energy levels are not the same and some days there is fatigue, but I am still here.”
A worshipper at heart, Lisa will be on medication for the next five years. She says she will continue to stay positive, spend lots of time reading motivational messages and will not hesitate to share her story to help others, whenever she can.
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