As far as Hilda Egboh knows, no one has ever been diagnosed with cancer in her family. But two years ago, she was diagnosed with the dreaded disease. Instead of wallowing in pain, bolstered by her faith, she has decided to tackle the ailment head-on. Here is her story as revealed to Woman Editor, TEMITOPE DAVID-ADEGBOYE
Hilda Egboh
Hilda Egboh is an epitome of strength and courage. With two surgeries, and still undergoing chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, Egboh refuses to back down on her activities.
The discovery
Despite her background in the health sector, Egboh did not know she had any lump in her breast until her husband discovered it.
“I have been in the health sector for so many years that you would have thought that I should understand the importance of checking the body and taking necessary test,” she told TheNiche.
“My husband noticed a lump on my breast and he kept insisting that I checked it out. I didn’t think it was anything, but at his insistence, I did.”
Seeing a specialist in the United Kingdom to confirm if she has cancer was a difficult task because she was not on the waiting list for long. Between four to six weeks, she was discovered to have cancer stage two. Instead of dampening her spirit, Egboh soldiered on.
“Everything pointed to me having cancer and I think the time the lump was first noticed and when the results were released was very a difficult period for me, as I was anxious. But that waiting period sort of prepared me for whatever was coming. I was quite prepared and the doctors were shocked that, contrary to their expectation, I did not break down and ask ‘why me?’”
Handling the shock factor
The typical reaction for people is always that of shock, but not Egboh. Bolstered by her faith in God, she refused to be daunted.
She said: “I don’t understand why people say ‘why me?’ Why not you? Who would you wish it to be upon? I guess I am very blessed; my faith level is very high, so it helped me to get going with it. I felt God had a plan. I did not have to know the plan. He had a plan and it was good enough for me. And I guess my spirit was good with treatment. Probably, a positive attitude helped the treatment.”
Family reaction
Her positive spirit is contagious, as it helped people who love her cope with the news. She attributes it to a special favour from God, because, according to her, God may be giving her an advance warning to rectify everything in her life.
“The way I look at it, He is saying to me ‘this life is mine, I will take it when I am ready, I am giving you notice. The notice could be two days, it could be 50 years, it is giving you notice’. If I find myself in hell, it will be really sad because God went out of the way to give me extra-time, to give me notice. For me, that is how I have built it,” she said.
But it has left her with the inability to do things by herself because she can’t lift heavy things.
The spin-off
Living with cancer has helped Hilda work with a foundation.
She said: “I can help others and that’s a miracle because if I didn’t have this, I probably wouldn’t have known people’s plight and what the conditions are. I think that is the biggest miracle. I think it just opened my eyes to a different side of what people are suffering and what people are going through and now I can help them, so easy.
“Not only am I talking about it, I am also working with a foundation now. First of all, you can’t decide what God means, but I actually think that was part of the plan; somebody who is not shy to talk about what is wrong with them. I am talking to foundations to get Nigerian nurses to return to Nigeria and train nurses for free. The foundation will pay for it. I work with a foundation that every Friday we do cancer screening in the clinic, and it is always full. Unfortunately, we find a lot of people with cancer.
“I work with the Optima Cancer Centre, Sururlere, and we are going to have a ball on October 4, to raise funds for cancer management. Though we say we do free cancer screening, we don’t have a mammogram machine; so we still refer them outside, and the cheapest rate you can get it is N15,000. We are looking forward to buying a mammogram machine, so that a mammogram will cost just N5,000.”
A word for women and patients
She has a word for women in general, especially people already diagnosed with the disease.
“It is important that we are aware of our body; that means knowing your body well, so you can easily identify changes, be health-conscious and always strive for total wellbeing. We must continuously work to improve our knowledge on diseases that affect us as women and how to prevent, manage and access the treatments available to us.”
For those who have been diagnosed, she added: “Remember to imbibe a positive attitude; learn all you can about the disease, so you can manage the condition and most, importantly, a healthy dose of faith in God’s plan for you is key.”