Searchlight Logo
special_image

    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • From the Courts
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Letters To The Editor
      • General Contact Information
      • Contact our Webmaster
    • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Interactive Media Ltd
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • From the Courts
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Letters To The Editor
      • General Contact Information
      • Contact our Webmaster
    • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Interactive Media Ltd
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
I’m More Than A Breast
Health & Beauty
October 20, 2006

I’m More Than A Breast

She trusted him with her life.

That was not unusual because he was her doctor and if you can’t trust your doctor then who can you trust?

Gloria Williams, 44, had breast cancer but her doctor played it down and twice misdiagnosed her. He gave her some medication and actually said that it would go away.

“Don’t worry about it” was the essence of his reassurance to her.

She was not reassured simply because she was educated on the disease. She understood the risk generally to women and specifically to her because two of her sisters already had breast cancer. {{more}}

She understood the cost of the disease not just in money but in psychological trauma. She didn’t want to face that and so she took no chances -even though the medical literature said that women 50 years and older were most at risk.

She took control of her own health and if she had not, perhaps she’d be dead today.

It was July 2004 that she did her usual mammogram and all was well. Two months later she discovered a lump in her left breast during a self-examination.

“I was watching a health program on TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network) and the doctor was speaking about cancer so I just decided to do a breast examination right there and when I did it I felt the lump” she told SEARCHLIGHT HEALTH.

That was in September 2004.

She went back to her doctor who did an ultra sound and was told that the lump was not cancerous.

“He gave me some ‘building up’ medication and told me that the lump will be gone in six months.”

The medication prescribed was flax seed oil and multi-vitamins.

She waited three months and the lump was not going anywhere so she went for another mammogram and took the results to another doctor who on seeing it ordered a biopsy.

The result confirmed the fears and her new doctor hit her with the news, straightforward knocking her off her feet like water on a tiled floor – she had breast cancer.

“I was angry at the fact that here was a learnt physician (my first doctor) who did not take time out to go beyond what he was actually seeing. Though he knew my family’s history, he never dug deeper and investigated as he should have given the importance of early detection for a successful fight against the disease,” she told SEARCHLIGHT HEALTH.

All the knowledge she had, all the awareness material she read in the newspaper and in pamphlets never prepared her because that was just academic knowledge but now it was hitting home.

“I cried all day,” she said.

Crying would not cure her but she needed to vent her frustration.

She had to tell her 17-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son that she had the deadly disease.

“My daughter was in college and I didn’t want something like that, so devastating to put a different light on things in terms of her studies” explained Gloria. She found the strength and wisdom needed to tell her daughter and explain to her young son.

“I now know for sure that if someone has cancer and don’t have moral support they will die very quickly. It is really absolutely important to have someone to cry with; some one you could rely upon,” she said of the cancer support groups in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

After surgery to remove her left breast and the first round of chemotherapy Gloria’s pathology report indicated that her lymphatic system was infected. This was devastating because it meant the cancer had gained access to a system in her body that was the equivalent of a four-lane interstate highway. The lymphatic system is a complex network of lymphoid organs, lymph nodes, lymph ducts, and lymph vessels that produce and transport lymph fluid from tissues to the circulatory system. The lymphatic system is a major component of the immune system.

The cancerous cells could therefore spread to other parts of her body.

What does she do next?

One option was radiotherapy in the United States or Canada but she did not have the EC$235,000 to go to North America.

An intervention by Vincentian Minister of Health, Dr Douglas Slater, with his Trindadian counterpart, John Rahael, got her free treatment at Trinidad’s National Radiotherapy Centre at the St James Medical Complex.

Gloria is living her life, enjoying this new lease; soaking up every moment of it. She had her last check up about two weeks ago and all was well and she is thankful.



Sex appeal



We asked her about her adjustment to the changes in her body as a result of her surgery. How does she view herself, her sex appeal; knowing that a breast is now missing. With a smile Gloria declared that she is very comfortable with her sexuality.

While she is not in a relationship currently she told SEARCHLIGHT HEALTH that a real man will see beyond that missing breast and with a mischievous grin stated that he will not be lacking anything with her.

While some have to deal with an amputated limb or the loss of an eye Gloria has accepted that she is without one breast but the fluent Spanish speaker would say to any man: “Soy mas que un pecho” – “I am more than a breast!”



Mal practice



In such a small society as St Vincent and the Grenadines with a population of 110,000 and all commercial and leisure activity concentrated in the capital, Kingstown, everyone knows each other and she was reluctant, though pressed by SEARCHLIGHT HEALTH, to name her doctor. This newspaper wanted to put very specific questions to the man and to the medical authorities but no one is speaking.

Those in the know say off the record that the doctor is a “good man” and this was just a “slip up”.

The clear message from Gloria and other survivors of breast cancer is that while you can and should trust your doctor, you must also proceed with healthy skepticism, questioning the doctor and his diagnoses and educating yourself on the diseases to which you may be at risk and never being afraid to get a second diagnosis.

  • FacebookComments
  • ALSO IN THE NEWS
    12 left homeless in mid-day fire at Richland Park
    Front Page
    12 left homeless in mid-day fire at Richland Park
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    A fire that destroyed a multi-family complex in Richland Park over the weekend has left at least 12 people homeless, including a 23-year-old mother of...
    PM responds to US military strike on small boat off Venezuela
    Front Page
    PM responds to US military strike on small boat off Venezuela
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves has responded to reports by the United States administration that its military had carried out the bombing of a boa...
    Building material disappear from the Mary Hutchinson Primary School
    Front Page
    Building material disappear from the Mary Hutchinson Primary School
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    Police investigators on Union Island are said to be looking into the “disappearance” of building materials that were sent to the Southern Grenadine Is...
    What’s new at Fitz Hughes Government School?
    Front Page
    What’s new at Fitz Hughes Government School?
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    by Grace Francis After sharing a small space for over a year, children and teachers at the Fitz Hughes Early Childhood Centre went into brand new prem...
    MRI-6 donates over $70,000 for school meals for vulnerable students
    Front Page
    MRI-6 donates over $70,000 for school meals for vulnerable students
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    Several secondary schools and special needs institutions across St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) have received $5,000 donations towards meals for s...
    Minister of Information Technology  emphasises the importance of Cybersecurity
    News
    Minister of Information Technology emphasises the importance of Cybersecurity
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    Robust cybersecurity must be at the heart of the digital transformation that is currently taking place in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) says Min...
    News
    Minister of Information Technology  emphasises the importance of Cybersecurity
    News
    Minister of Information Technology emphasises the importance of Cybersecurity
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    Robust cybersecurity must be at the heart of the digital transformation that is currently taking place in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) says Min...
    Entities team up to boost disaster communication capacity
    News
    Entities team up to boost disaster communication capacity
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    The Climate Change Resilience Network (CCRN) in collaboration with the Youlou Radio Movement (YRM) recently embarked on a disaster preparedness initia...
    Ministry of Health to get more dialysis machines
    News
    Ministry of Health to get more dialysis machines
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    The Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment, is to obtain three more Heamodialysis machines as part of the revolution in the healthcare secto...
    PM Gonsalves heads delegation to Ethiopia
    News
    PM Gonsalves heads delegation to Ethiopia
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, is leading a delegation to the East African country of Ethiopia; the delegation left the state on Wednesday, Septe...
    New Port to be opened on October 24- PM Gonsalves
    News
    New Port to be opened on October 24- PM Gonsalves
    Webmaster 
    September 5, 2025
    The modern port in Kingstown is expected to be handed over to the government just before this country celebrates its 46th anniversary of political ind...

    E-EDITION
    ePaper
    google_play
    app_store
    Subscribe Now
    • Interactive Media Ltd. • P.O. Box 152 • Kingstown • St. Vincent and the Grenadines • Phone: 784-456-1558 © Copyright Interactive Media Ltd.. All rights reserved.
    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok