In this heartfelt story, Nadia shares her journey of battling triple-negative breast cancer, revealing the emotional and physical challenges she faced throughout her treatment. Despite the difficulties, she chose to remain hopeful and trust in God’s plan for her life. Through her trials, Nadia found strength, growth, and a deeper understanding of herself and her faith. She learned to embrace each day, to live in the present, and to be grateful for the support of her family and friends. As a warrior in her fight against cancer, Nadia encourages others to find peace and rest during their own struggles and to focus on the higher power that will help them persevere.
In March 2022, I went for my first mammogram after discovering a lump in my breast that wouldn’t go away and kept getting bigger and bigger…
The doctor who performed the mammogram initially said her diagnosis was that it was just fibroadenomas and that I could return in six months for a follow-up. She said it was my choice to have a biopsy, so I immediately called Jannie to get his opinion, and he said we needed certainty…
The biopsies came back the next day: April 1, 2022… April Fools’ Day of all days!
I had breast cancer, and my world would never be the same from that moment on. It was probably one of the worst days of my life, turning our lives upside down…
From the very beginning, I sang this song to myself: “I don’t know how you make a way, but I know you will…” because we didn’t know how we were going to manage our family, our business, or our finances through this storm… All we knew was that we had to make it through the storm to the other side…
The following week, we went to see the surgeon to explain the process.
At his office, we received all the information at once. The worst part was hearing the words: Triple-negative breast cancer; if you had to choose the type of breast cancer you would want, this is the one nobody would choose… Just imagine how our hearts felt after hearing those words… Jannie was with me every step of the way, faithfully walking the path of the diagnosis with me and encouraging me… Our hearts were broken and confused because it was such an unknown path ahead of us, and we knew nothing about this so-called triple-negative breast cancer, apparently the most aggressive type. I needed to see an oncologist as soon as possible… Within the same week, even.
The first chemo session: April 14, 2022
First, chemo every two weeks for four sessions, and then every three weeks for four sessions. It was tough juggling everything and not letting any balls drop. My mother flew in to look after our children every time we had to go away for chemo. Jannie took me each time and was there with me for support… My mother put her entire life on hold to help us for the next six months… We were so grateful; without her help, it would have been impossible for us…
We saw true friends come forward in times of need, taking our hands and joining the battle with us. We were incredibly grateful to them… Family really stands by you through such times, and they stayed with us until the end of our struggle… They prayed for us and carried us…
The chemo was rough; it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through. The mental battle was much worse than the physical one… There were days when my only prayer was, “Father, please help me get through this.” And one morning, as I prayed those very words before work, I clearly heard something tell me, “I will get you through this…” I was determined throughout my chemo battle to keep working and not lie down, no matter how I felt… Everyone said to take it one day at a time, and that’s where I learned that lesson: how to get strength for today and live just for today with the strength that’s given to us… Tomorrow is promised to no one; we only have the certainty of today!!!
We then had to go for BRCA gene tests, not knowing what they were, but after much reading, we began to understand what it was about. I also tested positive for the BRCA1 mutation. I couldn’t believe it; my heart was broken. I was so angry with God for allowing this to happen and for the possibility that it could affect my children’s future. It took weeks to climb out of that hole, but once again, God lifted me up and gave me peace that surpasses all understanding…
My faith was deeply tested, my true self was tested. There were days when I didn’t want to pray or read the Bible, and then things just got worse and worse for me. I was hopeless and negative, but fortunately, Jesus comes and rescues us from the enemy’s clutches, and He slowly but surely lifts us back up to where we were and need to be…
After chemo, I had to undergo a bilateral mastectomy, which was another tough battle. I wasn’t sure if I would be happy with myself afterward. During chemo, my eyelashes fell out, my eyebrows, and my hair as well… It was terrible; every day, I had to gather the courage to face people, and I felt so ugly… And I know it sounds superficial, but I realized it. God doesn’t care about our outward appearance; it’s our hearts that matter and what makes people love us for who we are… But I had to lose everything to truly understand that truth…
The mastectomy was actually a breeze; I don’t feel ashamed of how I look because every scar reminds me of the battle, how much I’ve overcome, and how far I’ve come… Months later, God restored everything I had lost in that battle, even better than before. I couldn’t see it at the time, but I now know that He put a Divine Protection Bubble around me to protect me and carry me through… I received new strength every day to carry me.
Next was radiation therapy, three weeks away from my family… It felt like my end… But it actually nourished my soul. I stayed with a friend I met in the chemo room, and she opened her home to me for those three weeks… It was my healing time, my time to find myself and reset my mindset to be positive and regain hope… Nature was my place of healing during those three weeks…
After radiation, I had to come to terms with another six months of chemo tablets. Once again, I had to choose to be “at peace” with the season in which I found myself…
Now I am at a place where I have accepted what happened to me and made peace with the fact that I will always have to undergo scans and hold my breath each time I wait for results… But I will not live in fear, and I will not give the enemy half a chance to pepper me with his lies that I cannot be healthy and have a future, because I can and I will, for I believe more than anything in God and His plans for me…
In 2023, I started with a new outlook, deciding not to be afraid of the future. I know what God has planned for me according to Jeremiah 29:11: Hope and a future. I believe in Him, I believe in His plan for me, that nothing can separate me from His love, and that He is my only way…
I choose “joy” and “happiness” every day and to be grateful that I am still here and that I still have today and NOW to live and try to make a difference. I trust God and that He will not let anything happen to me that is not in His will for me. We learn many hard lessons through the storms in our lives, but they bring growth and strengthen us, turning us into “warriors” more than anything else. We only see it once we’re on the other side…
You have already won the battle if you can just find peace and rest in your current trial. Don’t focus on the storm; focus on the ONE who will get you through the storm…
Nadia Jordaan
TNBC Warrior