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Last November, when doctors disclosed that the pain she thought was menstrual-related was actually breast cancer, Sharique Phillips said she walked out of the medical office in disbelief.

Phillips, 43, who worked as a bartender before getting severely ill, said for months she felt soreness and pain in her breasts, but initially thought it was nothing serious.

“It used to happen in the time when mi period near, and I would take painkillers and it would kinda ease,” Phillips said. But she said the pain began to intensify after her menses. Her mother accompanied her to a health centre, where she was referred to do a mammogram and ultrasound.

“When mi get the result, the nurse tell mi to take it to Annotto Bay Hospital, as something [was] in the result. Dem remove piece a the breast and send it go test it and send back the result. When di doctor tell mi say mi have cancer in mi left breast, mi walk right out di room. Mi never go back in the room, and is mi nephew come back with the date weh mi fi go back,” she said. A CT scan also revealed that the cancer had began to spread to her lungs.

“We were told that because of that, an operation could not be done, but chemotherapy was suggested to shrink the tumour in mi breast. At first, it was like mi give up and never have the drive to come all the way a town for treatment. But when mi think about mi madda, mi get a push because mi want to live to be there for her. The doctors at UHWI (University Hospital of the West Indies) really encourage and push mi, and tell mi that cancer does not have to be a death sentence,” said Phillips.

According to the Ministry of Health and Wellness, cancer of the breast is the most common cancer among Jamaican women. A breast lump is the usual physical sign when an individual goes for investigation. But regular screening for breast cancer is recommended, starting at age 40.

As she puts up a fierce battle against the dreaded disease, the Port Antonio, Portland resident said she is finding it difficult to make ends meet, and is reaching out to the public for assistance with some of her medical bills.

“I do not pay for the chemo sessions, but there are medications that I have to buy before each, and I can’t afford them. I would gladly take any help I can get as I continue to fight,” Phillips said. She stated that she has got assistance from her Member of Parliament Ann Marie Vaz, but she is still unable to see her way through her piled-up bills.

“Right now mi nuh have any money like that at all. Right now mi have one [dose of medication] that cost $19,000 and I really can’t afford it right now. Mi have 12 cycles of chemo to do and mi just reach the sixth one, and mi have to travel to Kingston once every week for it. Mi life change full-time. It (the illness) strip mi of mi independence, and right now mi deh between life and death. Mi a the first inna the family a go through this and sometimes mi feel alone, because mi hardly know anyone who experience it. It all take a toll on mi relationship as well,” Phillips said.

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Persons wishing to assist Sharique Phillips may contact her at 876 892 3456.