Eril Garcia is generally not one to allow difficult circumstances to keep her down. So when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at 45, as scared as she was, she took time to process what was happening, then did what was necessary to get herself back to a positive place.
“I was frightened and worried as any human would be, but if I didn’t tell anyone anything, nobody would know that I’m a breast cancer survivor because I always try to stay positive.”
The mother of three and grandmother of one felt the lump in her right breast in November of 2019. She didn’t think anything of it until January 2020, when she was actually able to see it.
“It wasn’t painful. I just saw it there and I ended up going to the doctor because I have a history of cancer in my family. My mom and my grandmother on my father’s side.”
After doing a mammogram and a breast ultrasound, she was advised to do a lumpectomy.
“I was going to do it, but then I spoke to one of my teachers from secondary school and she told me to get a second opinion, which I did. I went to the Pink Hibiscus and met with Dr Rajendra Rampaul,” who recommended a biopsy. Garcia was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer.
“I did surgery, chemo and radiation because I was triple negative, and you know they said that was aggressive and it was harder to treat. I ended up doing a mastectomy.”
And to mask the imbalance, Garcia decided to follow up with an implant, which she had to remove shortly after because of some complications.
“So right now I just use a normal little silicone thing I put in the bra. I also did a reduction on the other side.”
Because it was caught at an early stage, Garcia knew her diagnosis was not a death sentence. “It was not in the lymph node and it hadn’t spread anywhere else, but I was frightened. And you know I was googling everything,” she said with a laugh.
And the fact that she had to undergo treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic was a bit of a challenge in itself. But she made the best of it.
“I prayed, and that’s what gave me that strength. My family was very supportive. My husband was at home at that time, and my children, even though they are grown, I never let them see me crying or breakdown. The only person who actually saw it is my husband, Junior.”
Her employer and co-workers too, she said, supported her through it all, financially and emotionally.
And even though it would have been understandable if she had sat around and moped during this trying time, Garcia decided to do things that would be beneficial to her.
“I did courses online,” including one that put her on a path to healthier eating.
Garcia admitted that although she has been in remission for several years, there are times when she worries that the cancer will return.
“Sometimes, in those quiet moments, when you’re alone, you worry if it’s going to come back in five years’ time. Because, you know, it was aggressive and it being hard to treat. And every time I get a little pain, I study, oh my gosh, is this it? And I go to Google again.”
She said back in 2023, she actually got a scare when her doctor thought he saw something in her left breast.
“But it ended up being just a calcium build-up.”
This experience, she said, has changed her in a number of ways, and for the better.
“I’m not going to say it was easy, because anybody going through cancer or having it, everything is so different with life. Even the music that I listen to now, sometimes before I was just hearing the tune, but now I hear the words, you know, and I’ll just start to cry.”
She makes sure she keeps up with her medical check-ups, eats healthy and tries to always have a positive outlook.
“ I appreciate people more and overlook the little things that I may have quarrelled about before. I don’t see those things anymore. I am just always grateful for life. Surviving cancer is not an easy road, but every day I ask God to give me strength.”
