When a miracle comes in the form of an unborn child.
We can never dictate who dies and lives from a deadly disease, car accident, rape, or any other misfortune that may take place in our lives… But we can dictate how we survive from such challenges, and in the end, that’s what makes us greater….I decided to survive and be a victor and not a victim.
My name is Regorapetse Serote, and this is my story. It was August of 2017 when I first heard the news that I was diagnosed with a rare disease, stage 3, Inflammatory Breast Cancer. To my advantage, I was told in the comfort of my home by my cousin, who had helped me get the tests and results quickly. As I sat there with her and my aunt, I cannot articulate the thoughts that were going through my mind but remember being in a daze, thinking about everything I had heard about breast cancer and how deadly the disease can be. I remember thinking of chemo and suffering and not continuing to fend for myself in the future. But at that moment, it was my aunt and my cousin’s strength that helped me get through the day. Their faith continued to carry me through what I believed at the time was going to be a road of hospital visits and feelings of weakness and despair. It allowed me to see that it is not the end but just the beginning of a new normal. They reminded me that God is our source, and through my relationship with God, I would be able to get through it all.
I learned so many lessons in this time of my life; let’s look into lesson number one; support. Since chemo didn’t get me down physically, it definitely broke me down emotionally, which is when nothing else matters. Still, people, no amount of money could ever equate to the amount of support I received from family and friends and, in particular, my partner at the time. I say in particular my partner because… SIGH… Let’s sidetrack a bit and biblically look at the meaning of the word love; Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy; it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others; it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hope, always perseveres. You see, I received the biblical meaning of love from one man that chose to stand by me and everything I was going through; he taught me another level of loyalty and commitment, and even though my challenges, in his eye, I was still the same person he wanted to be with. I have so many highlighted moments where my friends also stood by me through it all, but there was one time, in particular, I was blown over by the lengths they went through to make sure I was good. They surprised me with an all-expenses-paid weekend getaway, creating lasting memories.
Let’s fast forward to 2020; oh, what a year it’s been. By the end of 2019, my breast got worse, to the point where it became an open wound, and the pain was so excruciating. To top it off, in March of 2020, I found out I was three months pregnant and that the breast cancer had spread to my lung, and now I was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. When my oncologist told me that it had spread, there were so many different emotions going through my head, and still to this day, I can’t articulate exactly how I was feeling. To make matters worse, I had to entertain the idea of aborting my unborn baby cause the doctors were unsure how the chemotherapy would react to my body. But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t live with the fact that I had aborted a child, my child; so, I chose to trust and believe in God and that He would safely guard her and me. On the 11th of September, I gave birth to a healthy baby girl by C-section because the doctors found out I also had heart failure caused by the chemotherapy I took in 2017, and giving birth normally would cause way too much strain on my heart with the potential of it stopping completely. Anashe is my miracle baby, and I believe she is also healing me because when I look at her, she gives me hope that you can make it through any challenge. You have to decide that you will get through the challenges and believe that you will and you will. Today my daughter is 4 months with a lifetime ahead of her, and I believe I will be with her every step of the way.