Making good on promises: a mothers breast cancer journey

Celeste takes a deep breath as her shaking hand reaches across the desk to take her X-ray image from the doctor. When the call came yesterday, asking her to come in and see the doctor as soon as possible, she knew…

As a dedicated wife and mother of two, Celeste was persuaded, after an evening out with a few of her friends, to take the bold step to go for a mammogram. At the dinner table, one of her friends gave a detailed description of her mammogram experience and explained that her doctor advised that women should opt for an annual mammogram once they turn 40. This should form part of a proactive approach since breast cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of cancers in South Africa – with one in 26women being diagnosed with the disease. Her friend also indicated that according to the American Cancer Society, about one in eight invasive breast cancers develop in women younger than 45years, and about two out of three invasive breast cancers are found in women 55years or older. Invasive breast cancer refers to cancer that invades normal tissue within or beyond the breasts.

That evening, on her way home, Celeste kept thinking about the discussion they had around critical illness
cover and the fact that she had none in place. She remembered her friend asking her if she was covered
for something like cancer. At that point everyone looked at her and she made a split-second decision
and lied by saying, “Absolutely, how can one not be covered these days?”

Now, several days later she finds herself sitting in front of a doctor and hearing the worst possible news.
As the doctor continues the discussion regarding her mammogram results, Celeste rehashes her
dialogue with her friends in her mind and starts to feel completely overwhelmed. As the tears roll down
her cheeks, she can feel her chest clamming up and breathing almost become impossible. The doctor
takes her hand and says in a calm voice “Before we assume the worst, the next step in the process
involves a biopsy. This will tell us exactly what we are dealing with and will enable us to determine the best
way forward.” 

The doctor also inquires from Celeste if there is any history of breast cancer in her family since five to 10
per cent of breast cancer cases are thought to be hereditary – meaning that they result directly from
gene defects (called ‘mutations’) inherited from a parent. He continues to explain that a mutation in
the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are the most common cause of hereditary breast cancer. In normal cells,
these genes help prevent cancer by making proteins that keep the cells from growing abnormally. If one
has inherited a mutated copy of either gene from a parent, an individual has a high risk of developing
breast cancer during their lifetime. 

Struggling to contain her emotions, Celeste keeps thinking that this must be a nightmare from which
she will wake up any moment. How can this be happening to her? She feels perfectly healthy in every
way. Following on this, her thoughts turn to her girls and the fact that they too might be vulnerable to
breast cancer. She remembers that when her mother was still alive, she went for a biopsy and at the time,
the doctors removed several lumps from her breasts.

Celeste’s mother passed away when she was young hence she never gave her mother’s biopsy much
thought. With her biopsy scheduled in two days’ time Celeste leaves the doctor’s rooms to collect the girls from school. As she gets into her car, she rests her head on the steering wheel and screams. Feeling
completely helpless and frustrated, she thinks about how her world has changed in an instant. How will
she tell her husband that she most probably has breast cancer? How will they pay for all the medical
expenses without any critical illness cover?

She decides to wait for the biopsy results before  she makes any hasty decisions. The days preceding
the biopsy are just a haze. Soon thereafter Celeste lies in her hospital bed, nervously looks up at her
husband holding her hand while they wait for her to be wheeled into the operating room.
After what seems like a lifetime, the doctor finally comes to share the biopsy results; he explains
that Celeste does have Stage 1 breast cancer but her prognosis looks promising with the help of
chemotherapy. Celeste prepared herself for the worst but she still breaks down and although her husband
tries to comfort her, he too cannot stop the tears. The doctor responds in a sympathetic voice by saying that, “With the phenomenal advances in the medical field, Stage 1 breast cancer has an 88 per cent chance of cure, while at Stage 4 of breast cancer the survival rate decreases dramatically with only 15 per cent of
those diagnosed surviving for more than five years. 

Hence, you have a lot to be grateful for.” Once Celeste and her husband have had time to work
through this emotional roller-coaster, they inform their children of what is happening. Along with the disease, the biggest problem that Celeste and her entire family now face is to find the necessary funds to pay for her treatment and any other lifestyle changes as a result of her disease – without having the safety net of critical illness cover.

Choices and the consequences thereof 

Celeste decides to contact a financial adviser and find out what they can do to cover the enormous expenses linked to her disease. This is because she quickly learns that their medical aid does not cover all the medical costs nor the costs linked to any lifestyle changes. According to the financial adviser, as a
result of her breast cancer already being diagnosed before she opted for critical illness cover means
that she will not qualify for critical illness cover for a condition that already exists.

However, going forward, an insurer like Momentum can consider critical illness cover for Celeste with the
exclusion of any cancer-related conditions. With the realisation that she and her husband will have to fund her treatment with their hard-earned retirement savings, and most probably use a large
portion of the money which they saved for their daughters’ education – the guilt sets in. For the first
time, Celeste really ponders the consequences of her past choices and current situation. Her disease
is not necessarily going to be a death sentence but the amount of guilt that she feels, as a result of her
disease impacting her entire family’s future, feels like a death sentence. No more golden retirement
dreams and even worse, no more security around her daughters’ education.

As Celeste enters the hospital for her first round of chemotherapy, she cannot stop thinking about all the
‘what if-’ scenarios. “What if I only opted for critical illness cover earlier in my life?”
“What if I only went for mammograms earlier, and on a more regular basis?”
“What if my daughters have to go through the same experience as a result of my medical history?”

As she sits down to start her chemotherapy treatment, she sighs, closes her eyes for a moment
and makes a silent promise: “I will do everything in my power to prevent this from ever happening to my angels.”

Momentum Myriad

Terms and conditions apply. Momentum, a division of MMI Group Limited, an authorised financial services and credit provider. Reg. No. 1904/002186/06