Every October, the world turns pink. Ribbons appear on buildings, on lapels, on coffee cups. And every October, I remember that for me, the ribbon is not a decoration. It is a chapter of my life.
[This year marks five years since my breast cancer journey began. Five years of reflection, gratitude and learning, and a renewed commitment to helping other women recognize the early whispers.]
I am a breast cancer survivor. I am also a certified Oncology Patient Navigator and a Community Health Worker. I have sat on both sides of the conversation: as the woman waiting for results, and as the navigator helping another woman find her way through the system. Both taught me the same lesson. Breast cancer often whispers before it roars.
That whisper may be a change you notice, or a finding on a screening mammogram long before you feel anything at all. Screening cannot prevent every breast cancer, but it can find many cancers early, when treatment is often simpler and more successful. For routine screening in the United States, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends a mammogram every two years for women aged 40 to 74. If you have had breast cancer or have a high-risk history, follow your care team’s individual plan. And at any age, have a new breast change checked promptly rather than waiting for your next screening.
There is another reason I keep speaking up. Black women in the United States have a breast cancer death rate about 40 percent higher than White women. This disparity reflects many factors, including barriers to timely diagnosis and quality treatment. Behind that number are mothers, aunties and grandmothers who faced those barriers, often alone. In many of our communities, we still lower our voices when we say the word “cancer.” Silence has never healed anyone, and no one should have to carry the fear alone.
Those barriers are even higher in rural villages, where the nearest clinic may be far away. That is why, through The Garden of HOPE Foundation, I am taking this work home. Our Rural Healthcare Project in Owerre-Nkwoji, Imo State, screens and diagnoses people in their own community, records the results in our digital health databases, trains local Community Health Workers, and connects those who are diagnosed with treatment and care. On November 6, together with the Nigeria Association of Pharmacists and Pharmaceutical Scientists in America (NAPPSA), we will hold our Phase III Community Health Outreach, offering free screenings, consultations, treatment and medications.
I wrote about my journey in my books, Cancer and the Ribbon of Resilience: Your Journey from Diagnosis to Jubilant Rebirth and The Ribbons Early Whisper: The Screen & The Sign. A third and final volume, on treatment, care and life after treatment, is on its way. I wrote them for the woman I once was, and for every woman who needs to hear: you are not alone, and your story is not over.
So before October ends, I ask you to do three things:
- Book your screening,or remind someone you love to book theirs.
- Talk about itat your dinner table, your church, your women’s meeting.
- Check on a survivor.Recovery does not end when treatment does.
From scar to star, we rise by lifting others. To learn more about our Rural Healthcare Project and the November 6 outreach, visit hopegarden.space.
Egondu Onyejekwe, PhD
