Cancer Support Group of Barbados making rounds on facebook

By Shamar Blunt

Very few words strike fear into the hearts of Barbadians more than the news of a friend or a family member who is suffering with cancer.

Unfortunately, our society has become far too used to, in many respects, the prevalence of cancer and chronic
non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among its citizens.

Almost weekly, health professionals are left dealing with patients who are suffering with heart complications, and at times, these result in sudden death.

Local communications professional, Krystal-Penny Bowen, found herself in such a situation earlier in the year, where her mother after being diagnosed with cervical cancer, saw her health quickly deteriorate which unfortunately ended in her death.

Out of this tragedy, however, Bowen decided to change the narrative for family members of other cancer patients around the country who are often left to carry the burden of depression, anxiety and grief all on their own, and form a support group with a difference, based on the experience she herself witnessed.

“She presented to the hospital in late January and by March 17th she had passed away. The cancer at that end stage had resulted in blood clots, she had kidney failure and she was in a lot of pain with a lot of swelling.

“Mentally there was a bit of decline as well, and she lost a significant amount of weight.

“My mom as a person, she was only 63 years old, she spent half of her life within the culinary arts but unfortunately, she was not able to work because of NCDs, I would say diabetes.

“Fortunately for me I had the assistance of the Cancer Support Services, they came in and they helped me tremendously with mom, there was also the Palliative Care Association here in Barbados who assisted us through this process, being that I was her only child, it was all at me to work and also take care of my mom…emotionally it was very traumatic,” she explained.

While some may have slowly drifted away from the public’s eye after such a loss, Bowen pivoted into an unlikely direction, however, after feeling the pressing need to provide more support for persons, not just suffering with cancer, but to those around them who are often left with the heavy task of taking care of their loved ones at their
darkest hour.

“Coming out of this experience, I decided to make a group on Facebook, called Life After Loss: Cancer
Support Group of Barbados, and it’s essentially a community-centred group where persons can join who have had a similar experience, whether they had a relative, a loved one who has died of cancer or they have someone who is currently going through cancer, and they need that contact, they need that support, I want the group there to provide that guidance.

“It’s only recently been created, but it’s definitely my aim to provide information on where persons can get counselling, if they need support within the home, I also want to build a volunteer group to come and help others with whatever they need, whether they just need someone to get groceries for you while you take care of that ill person.”

She also added that she intends to plead the case, for more women to be screened regularly for cervical and other cancers, in order to give themselves the best chance of dealing with the ailment at an early stage.

“I am putting myself out there to be an advocate, to really push more women out there to get tested. It’s a very simple test, it can be very uncomfortable but it only takes a matter of mere minutes.

“If you can do something that can save your life, that can reduce the chance of you losing a very important pillar of your family, like for me my mom was everything.

“To lose her in such a tragic way, really opened
my eyes to how short life is, and how I needed myself to go get tested.”

Though she stressed that testing was a must for Barbadians, giving the high cases of NCDs and heart disease on the island, the fear surrounding the topic of cancer is not one that can be ignored, with more resources being required from all areas, financial and otherwise, to tackle the health issue.

“It can be very hard for persons to be this vulnerable… some people say you are brave. I guess for everyone you have to process that whole situation, about a loved one being ill, that relationship you have with the person before and during, and also realising you will be having that absence, that person will soon leave your life.

“I think unfortunately because persons are often going that situation on their own, even within a family, that it’s really difficult for persons to share that experience. Cancer is a big NCD issue in Barbados, everyone can’t do everything, and you need people to pull resources together.”