The Resilient Rose: Her Story

By NETTYEL TIPPA

Nettie was our eldest sister and loved by all; but we were very close and spent a lot of time communicating. She would sometimes tease me of the silly things I said or did in my more youthful days, or she would try to make a joke which was not at all funny, but we would laugh to our hearts delight as if it was. Therefore, when I was informed that our loving sister Nettie was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, it was heart- rending. It took my strength away, my whole body felt as though it had been through some kind of war. It brings tears to my eyes even as I write. This was certainly not what I was expecting to hear. Not many months after, a loving wife, a caring mother, precious sister, etc., was being buried...

That is cancer, the six letter word with a heavy punch. It sends shivers down the spines of many, it strikes fear into others and to some it sounds like the death sentence. It traumatises some and changes lives and families.

According to medics, there are so many different types of cancer, at least two hundred. There is a cancer associated with every organ in the human body. From brain cancer to breast cancer and bowel cancer. From lung cancer to liver cancer; from mouth cancer to throat cancer and stomach cancer. From ovarian cancer to prostate cancer; from kidney cancer to colon cancer. And there is lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system), leukaemia (blood cancer), and melanoma (skin cancer). Cancer can be very nasty and aggressive (malignant) or just a harmless nuisance (benign).

There are many whose lives have been affected directly or indirectly by cancer. According to the United Kingdom (UK) National Health Service (NHS), one in two people in the UK will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime. So it seems cancer is more widespread than most people think. The causes of cancer are hereditary (running in families), environmental (e.g. due to exposure to radiation, radioactive substances and chemicals) or lifestyle choices (e.g. smoking, drinking and drug abuse).

My family has had more than its fair share of cancer (hereditary) through the generations. My late father developed prostate cancer; my late mother developed breast cancer; our late sister Nettie developed ovarian cancer; one of my nieces developed breast cancer at a young age and there are many family members who have had an encounter with breast cancer and survived.

I had enjoyed very good health but little did I know that the same fate was awaiting to consume me some years later. It was a shock that sent chills through my body, but I was now at a place where I wasn't before and placed myself in the loving hands of God. This is my story...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B09F8TD2NY
• ISBN13: 9798468965344
• Release Date: September 2021
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 76 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"