When cancer comes home

He is a man of few words, especially when it comes to his beloved family. But having witnessed the devastating effects of breast cancer and the pain his partner, Alicia Morgan, and her relatives endured, Mikel McLawrence is profoundly grateful for those who have supported them in their fight against the disease.

Alicia comes from a family with a troubling history of breast cancer. In the last eight years, she, her mother, and two sisters have all faced the diagnosis, with at least two of them – including Alicia – undergoing double mastectomies.

The physical and emotional toll of the surgeries weighed heavily on Alicia, but she said McLawrence remained steadfast by her side, never allowing her to feel diminished as a woman. Despite the loss of her breasts and the fatigue and hair loss brought on by chemotherapy, his unwavering support has been a source of strength.

And although Alicia has since undergone reconstructive surgery fitting her breast implants, McLawrence is just happy she is alive.

“My family means everything to me. They are my support through life’s challenges. They provide a haven and have always been the first to join in prayer,” noted McLawrence, a marine engineer currently working on a yacht in the United States. His job demands long stints on such vessels and a lot of time away from Alicia and their 11-year-old son, Makai.

In addition to her breast surgeries, Alicia also underwent a hysterectomy – removal of her uterus – in 2022 as a precaution.

Cannot have

more children

“I’m a 38-year-old going through menopause and everything that menopause brings,” she said, revealing that she now faces severe hot flashes and the emotional weight of knowing she cannot have more children.

Despite these struggles, McLawrence finds joy in their relationship, referring to Alicia as his “queen”.

“Alicia losing her breasts was a big victory for me because it could have been much worse. Some women lose their lives to this disease. So we are extremely fortunate and grateful that she is still alive,” he told The Sunday Gleaner. “In this situation, a person’s appearance does not matter; health and survival take precedence.”

Alicia’s family history is a painful one: her grandmother died from cancer, her mother is a three-time survivor, and her older sister also underwent a double mastectomy. Most recently, her younger sister was diagnosed at just 33.

“I crumbled,” she said, recalling the moment she was diagnosed in 2022.

“I thought that I was exempt from it. I thought that it skipped me, so I was shattered,” she admitted, initially vowing to keep her diagnosis secret given the suffering it had caused her family.

When McLawrence learned of Alicia’s diagnosis, he found it somewhat expected but was still unprepared for the rocky and costly journey ahead.

“Before Alicia got diagnosed, her mother and sister were also diagnosed, and we had to be supportive and strong for them. This prepared me mentally and spiritually to handle her diagnosis,” he explained.

However, the stress was significant.

“I buried myself in my work, suppressing my thoughts and feelings. It was not easy, especially when you have a young child,” McLawrence told The Sunday Gleaner. “I remember going for long runs to help myself cope mentally and remain strong. I also tried not talking about it, as the more I talked about it, the more depressed I became.”

The fact that he was often away did not help, he said.

Alicia was diagnosed at 36, while her older sister had faced the disease at 33, and now her younger sister is bracing for her own battle at 33.

In Jamaica, women are advised to begin testing for breast cancer at 40, but experts have noted an alarming trend of earlier diagnoses in the population.

7,500 new cancer

cases in 2022

The Global Cancer Observatory reported in 2022 that Jamaica saw 7,500 new cancer cases, with 3,787 occurring in women. There were 4,632 cancer deaths – 2423 males and 2,209 females. Prostate cancer was the leading killer in Jamaica with 1,599 new cases; and 829 deaths. It was followed by breast cancer at 1,327 new cases and 684 deaths.

Experts like Dr Delroy Fray, clinical coordinator at the Western Regional Health Authority, have expressed concern over the increasing number of younger women being diagnosed with the disease, while also emphasising the importance of monitoring older women who are at risk.

The Jamaica Cancer Society continues to urge women to prioritise early testing.

“The Jamaica Cancer Society screens women over 40 because that is Jamaica’s screening guideline. However, if the woman is younger than 40, they are asked to get a doctor’s referral and come. But that’s not the issue. The issue is that the women are not doing their self-examination, they are not going to the doctor, and they are not doing a mammogram,” said Shullian Brown, public relations officer at the Jamaica Cancer Society.

Lurelda Brown, a 72-year-old resident of Stony Hill in St Andrew, was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago after seeking treatment for a stomachache. She said she underwent several tests and was treated for a blood clot in her bowels, but that it was only after a biopsy and ultrasound months later that doctors diagnosed her with stage two breast cancer.

“I said, ‘What did you say?’ He (the doctor) said, ‘You have breast cancer’. I said, ‘Say it one more time’,” Lurelda relayed as she recalled hearing the life-altering news in the doctor’s office at the University Hospital of the West Indies.

After undergoing a mastectomy, a reality she said she had placed far from her mind up until the “appointed hour”, she recalled blacking out after waking up to realise one of her breasts was really gone.

“They wanted to take the two of them, but because I had that rare blood clot, they [believed] that if I did it, I could have died on the table, so they cut only one,” she explained. “But I’m giving God thanks. It is His grace why I am still here because they told me the blood clot would have killed me before the cancer.”

Years on, both Alicia and Lurelda are no longer in need of cancer medication or expensive treatments, although they take medication for other illnesses. They praise the support of relatives, friends and the mercy of God for making it through.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com