Breast cancer survivor helping others to fight disease

Breast cancer survivor Eulalee Wilson Callum says her eight-year battle with the disease gave her a deeper appreciation for life. While she didn't welcome the diagnosis, she believes it has profoundly impacted her life in a positive way.

"Now I live one day at a time, I try to grasp every moment here. First of all, I am so grateful to God for just keeping me and taking me through," Wilson Callum said.

The 60-year-old, who is the membership chairman of Jamaica Reach to Recovery, was diagnosed with cancer in her right breast in 2013, and was declared cancer-free in 2021. But, despite the many challenges, she is grateful that the disease has given her the opportunity to help others through the non-profit organisation.

"I help to do a little counselling. I communicate, always seeking out what is happening with each member, sharing information with each member as it comes, or updates; you know, programmes, anything like that. So it has really helped me to do more to be that type of person," Wilson Callum said.

She said that when she was diagnosed, she took it hard and feared she would not survive.

"I was startled and afraid. Fear took me over. All sort a things was going through my mind. I cried. I couldn't speak to anybody about it. It was like I couldn't tell anybody about it," Wilson Callum recalled

She also added that she feared that her three children, ages 28, 18 and 14 at the time, would be left without a mother.

Wilson Callum told THE WEEKEND STAR that though she believes breast cancer is not a death sentence, surviving it was not easy, and it cost her almost a $1 million to beat it.

"Every six months I had to do CT scan, and that is taking up to $50,000 for a scan. Plus, I had to do other scans. I had to do chemotherapy, where I had to buy drugs, then pay to get it administered. Radio therapy was another 60-odd thousand; plus other little things, like blood tests and surgery, and it was almost $300,000 for surgery," she said.

Wilson Callum added that she was even unable to afford medication that was needed to aid her recovery. The medications cost $5 million, which she could not afford.

She added that most of her medical care was done in the public health sector because she didn't have insurance, and at the time of her diagnosis she was unemployed. Wilson Callum had to rely on her husband and other family members and friends to help her fight the disease.

She also added that her husband of 31 years played a major role in her battle and recovery, constantly reassuring her even though she had to remove her breast and lost all her hair.

"My husband assured that I was loved and would be taken care of. He was a rock, he would make sure I had whatever I wanted. He would make sure that I didn't have to do any housework," Wilson Callum said.

She said that although she was diagnosed at age 50, she was not doing annual mammograms and thought that she simply could not get the disease. Now, Wilson Callum is encouraging other women not to make her mistake, but to ensure they do their mammograms and self-examinations. She advised women currently battling the disease to stay positive.

"Stay focused, be positive. I know, at firs, when you get a diagnosis like this, the first thing is fear. You will cry, you will get fearful, but positivity helps. It will help you to get a better prognosis at the end," Wilson Callum said.

She also encouraged women to share their stories, not only to help them on their healing journey, but to motivate other cancer survivors.

"Yes, in every illness people do die, but your story doesn't have to be death," Wilson Callum said.