The wife of Ondo State governor-elect, and incoming First Lady of the Sunshine State, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 and is today a survivor and advocate. Sometime back, she shared her survival story and motivation to found the Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria(BRECAN).



WHEN SHE FOUND THE LUMP IN MARCH 1997


“I was having my bath. Then, I felt something like a lump in my left breast. I chose to keep it all to myself. I was hoping I could wish it all away. I realized that I had to confront it. I had to talk to someone, and I said to myself, ‘if what I felt just a few weeks ago turns out to be cancer, I will recover as this woman did’. I was determined to speak out. Just as I needed to hear from someone who had recovered from breast cancer, I wanted to be that person other women could feel reassured by, the one to tell them that if I could recover here in Nigeria, so could they.”


THE LIFE-CHANGING PROGRAM


Several weeks later, however, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu was inspired to seek treatment after seeing a documentary{“THIS PROGRAMME CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE.”} on Carol Baldwin, an American woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy.

According to Anyanwu-Akeredolu: “That programme gave me what I needed most in my life – hope that I could be a survivor too. My spirit was lifted.” In addition to lifting her spirit, the programme also sparked a series of decisions that saved her life. She started to read widely about breast cancer online.


In her words, “The human cells are the basic building blocks that make up the tissue. There are tissues in the breast and other parts of the body. Cells regenerate; they grow and die so new cells will be formed. So every now and then, some bricks break down and are rebuilt almost immediately. However, there may be this cell, or brick, which refuses to regenerate and just keeps growing and growing, taking up space that belongs to other cells, to other bricks. These cells can spread quickly.”


HER VISIT TO UCH, HEALING & BRECAN


Armed with this information, she visited University College Hospital(UCH) Ibadan, where the lump in her breast was confirmed to be breast cancer. Then she says, “Is it benign? Is it malignant? I had gathered myself and asked questions. I was ready for the journey to being a survivor. After the surgery, the next thing is learning to live without your breast. I don’t remember that I have lost a breast. I want other women to feel that way. It is an appendage: if it is diseased, you cut it off. You do without it.”


Her cancer was stage 1, and her mastectomy and radiotherapy were successful. She did not undergo chemotherapy and today, she is now a survivor. It was this experience at UCH that made her start an organization Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria(http://brecan.org/), a leading not-for-profit and non-governmental organisation galvanising action against breast cancer in Nigeria.



BRECAN is increasingly improving the lives of many touched by breast cancer who would have succumbed to the disease due to ignorance and lack of support. Quoting Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu: ” My experience of shattering loneliness, unavailability of information and group support coupled with ‘tight-lip syndrome’ and indifference surrounding the disease so stirred me that i was inspired to do something that will bring about a positive and lasting change in the attitude of breast cancer victims themselves and the Nigerian society toward breast cancer and sufferers.”


http://dawntodusknews.com/rotimi-akeredolus-wife-betty-survived-breast-cancer/

May God continue to guide you and your husband to run Ondo with humility and wisdom. Always remember your family fom the East and never forgot where you came from.

God bless.

at last my prayer does not go in vain. I strongly believe in prayers it work for me and always work. congratulations to the governor of ondo state. I pray for u barrister rotimi Akeredolu u will succeed more than your predecessor. I pray all your campaign manifestos will be successful. I pray whoever that want to stop u from doing the peoples will be shattered. I pray you will live long. I pray the will of God will come to pass in your lives and your families in Jesus name. to the good people of ondo state, thank you for giving the votes to the peaceful man.