Cancer survivor upbeat despite return of disease

After nine years of paralysis in her lower body, during which time she was diagnosed with brain cancer and did a double mastectomy, Riverton Meadows resident Kloundeanne Prendergast is now suffering from stage two breast cancer and has really been through the wringer.

But judging from her upbeat personality you wouldn't know it. The 48-year-old remains optimistic and a source of inspiration for persons facing similar setbacks.

"No matter what you are going through, just have faith. I know there is a God and I am not sure if it's a man or a woman, but I am sure that there is a supreme being that rules over my life. I know I am going to beat this some day. I don't know how but I am encouraging everyone not to give up," she told THE STAR.

Prendergast was enjoying life to its fullest as a certified chef, until a lingering headache forced her to seek medical attention at a Corporate Area hospital. A CT scan showed nothing so doctors did a lumbar puncture, which is a test used to diagnose certain health conditions. It's performed in your lower back, when a needle is inserted into the space between two lumbar bones (vertebrae) to remove a sample of cerebrospinal fluid.

"After the procedure, I told the doctors I couldn't feel my legs, and they kept me under observation for the night, with the explanation that this was a mild side effect. The headache was worse than before and they told me they didn't have any bed-space, so they transferred me to another hospital, but I still could not feel my feet," she recounted.

"I was admitted at the other hospital from February 27, 2009, to November of that year. I started questioning why I was paralysed from the waist down, and a doctor told me that it was from the lumbar puncture," she said. But while at the hospital, Prendergast slid off the bed and broke her right hand in two places.

She acquired an attorney and filed a lawsuit against both hospitals, one of which has already settled outside of court. All that time the headaches persisted. A medical examination in 2015 revealed that she had glioblastoma multiforme, a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumour. Prendergast started chemotherapy and radiation therapy, confident that the cancer would be driven into remission.

"I was wrong," she said pensively. "Nineteen months later, the cancer had spread to my breasts and I had a double mastectomy and had to go through the treatments again. The cancer is back again in my chest area. Although I have no breasts, it is in my chest area and is at stage two heading on to three. The doctors went back in my chest and removed another portion. The cancer is still here now and it is now touching three of my right ribs. I am not giving up though," she said.

Following the mastectomy, Prendergast did reconstructive surgery and went to Cuba, where doctors operated on her spine, after which she was able to walk after doing physiotherapy.

Although daunted by the return of the cancer which is spreading fast, Prendergast remains optimistic that this latest health threat is just another hurdle to be cleared.