While there is Hope We Can Never Give Up

Having already lost a child to leukaemia, this is how Elza-Marie van Lille found out that she had breast cancer – says Elza-Marie:

“The doctor sat me down and said, ‘I don’t have good news. What are your plans for Monday . . . or Tuesday?’

“I told him I had to stand in for a colleague who was going on leave.  He looked at me and said gently, ‘You need to schedule a mastectomy.’

“At that moment, my world fell apart…

How could this be possible?

What about my little girl with Down Syndrome, only seven years old, and my eldest, just nine?  What about my husband, my parents, my friends, my work?”

The saving grace for Elza-Marie was that she wasn’t alone, and this fuelled her hope.

Her husband, her parents, her best friend, her brother who drove from Namibia to be with her, and her work colleagues all enveloped her with support.

Throughout surgery, chemotherapy and 33 sessions of radiation, when she sometimes wanted to give up, they never did…

Today, Elza-Marie is in remission, and looking back she says, “The treatment was far from easy, but it taught me so much about life.  It gave me perspective, strength, and above all, HOPE.”

Elza-Marie heard about CANSA’s Relay For Life through a friend, and became involved in her community, and then as a Global Hero of Hope, helping to support others who had experienced a cancer diagnosis and treatment, while also volunteering and raising funds. She values the work CANSA does to ensure cancer patients and loved ones are supported from the time of diagnosis, throughout treatment and beyond, so that they never feel they have to face cancer alone.

Knowing how important the gift of HOPE is, Elza-Marie encourages others to adopt her life motto: “While there is hope, we can never give up.”

You may never have thought about it in this way, but each time you support the work CANSA does through a donation, you are giving the gift of HOPE to a cancer patient, caregiver or loved one.

Perhaps you offer hope by supporting affordable cancer screening, knowing that early detection may save lives; or by supporting efforts to educate the public on how to lower personal cancer risk, one more person may avoid a cancer diagnosis.

Perhaps you offer hope during cancer treatment, by keeping the doors of our CANSA Care Homes open for accommodation of patients living far from treatment centres. Your gift of hope may provide specialised care for children and teens through our TLC programme, or help provide free Knitted Knockers breast prostheses, and affordable hire of medical equipment, or wigs, stoma products, and free emotional support or clinical advice from CANSA nurses to help patients cope with the side effects of cancer, treatment and also with pain control.

You gift of hope allows for free advocacy on the part of cancer patients; and support of cancer research, which carries the hope of more that can be done to successfully prevent and treat cancer.

“We need hope, or else we cannot endure.” (Sarah J Maas)

No cancer patient should feel alone, or without hope.

Your support will secure hope for cancer patients who need one of our CANSA support services.

In whichever way your generosity is transformed into hope, it carries your special touch.

If you found  this informative, please consider inviting a contact to subscribe to receive regular updates regarding CANSA’s services, advocacy, and health campaigns. Or forward this email to a friend.

Did You Know?
Your donations enable free services, for example, CANSA Tele and Virtual counselling in most SA languages by trained counsellors, support groups (face-to-face; WhatsApp and FBK); guidance from our Clinical Nurses regarding coping with the side effects of cancer, cancer treatment, dietary tips, stoma care and pain management – enquire at info@cansa.org.za; our Advocacy department assists patients experiencing stock shortages, delays in screening and cancer treatment, and lack of access to appropriate pain management medications; transport to and from cancer treatment centres is provided to our cancer patients staying at CANSA Care Homes, who would otherwise live too far away to receive treatment. Children and teens with cancer and their parents / guardians stay at our CANSA TLC Lodges for free during treatment. Our two TLC wig banks for children / teens provide free wigs to those in need.