To her knowledge, no one in Mrs. Eunetta Bird’s family had ever received the news she received.
“My initial reaction was one of shock, fear,” she recalls. “It was devastating.”
Twenty-eight years ago, Eunetta was diagnosed with breast cancer: stage 3 invasive carcinoma of the left breast. “I discovered a lump in my breast in 1997 and I went to the doctor. I was sent to have a mammogram done, but the results came back negative. My doctor said to me, ‘Ok, Eunetta, you do not have breast cancer. What you have is a fibrocystic breast, which is a benign breast condition’.
“I didn't know any better, so I went my merry way. A year later, I developed a lump under my armpit. I thought it was my deodorant, so I stopped using the brand I was using, and I went out and bought a different one. But two weeks later, the lump didn't go anywhere. So, I decided to go back to the doctor.
“I went and I saw the look on my doctor's face when I mentioned the lump found (under) my arm. So, he decided the best thing to do was to do a biopsy.
“We did a biopsy a couple days later and the results came back that I had breast cancer. That was clearly a shock to me.”
Eunetta was in denial and was tossed on to an emotional roller coaster. “I was tearful, I was in disbelief; this is what a breast cancer patient goes through. It was the most devastating news I ever received in my life.”
Her sisters were with her when she received the dreaded news: they were a source of encouragement and comfort.
Today, she is a breast cancer survivor, a retired civil servant and president of Breast Friends Cancer Support and Awareness Group in Antigua and Barbuda; but the memory of her ordeal remains with her.
This survivor expressed concern about the way some doctors provide cancer diagnoses to patients and disclosed her own experience; how hurt she was about the way the news was shared with her.
“Can you imagine my doctor said to me – at the same time – Eunetta you have cancer and there is no cure; and I won’t be surprised if after five years you come back and it’s in your liver.
“Man, I wanted to slap that doctor so hard! It was inappropriate, it was insensitive, and it was poor timing to say the least!”
Eunetta and her husband decided to seek treatment in the United Kingdom (UK) because of the “fragmented way that cancer was being treated at the time in Antigua”. They received quality health care in the UK as they had hoped. Eunetta endured a mastectomy, followed by six cycles of chemotherapy, and 15 fractions of radiation. Then there were the side effects. Eunetta grappled with the changes that took place in her body – she lost her hair, and it was difficult for her to look at herself in the mirror; she had skin and nail discoloration; a blackened thumb and toes.
Cancer is not just a physical disease but affects mental health as well, stated the cancer survivor.
“There was an empty space where my breast was; and I had to look at that scar every day. Cancer also affects your intimacy: you don’t feel like a woman anymore and you wonder how your husband is going to relate to you.”
Eunetta participated in the SIDS4 conference as a panelist for the side event on NCD and mental health held 28 May 2024 and organized by WHO/PAHO, the government of Antigua and Barbuda, and Healthy Caribbean Coalition.
She bravely shared her personal story in accessing NCD care and recounted the challenges that millions of people need to overcome. Her voice merged with those of many others who continue to advocate for equitable access to quality health care.
