As Score4Cancer uses football to raise awareness about the disease, one survivor reflects on the diagnosis, treatment and life after cancer.
For 34-year-old cancer survivor Abby, the hardest part of her journey was not confronting her diagnosis, but navigating the testing and treatment process while trying to be there for her children.
Abby, who was diagnosed with vulvar cancer, a type of cancer affecting the external female genitalia, said her journey was no walk in the park. She said the most difficult part was accessing the treatment she needed during the four years she battled the disease.
A frustrating road to diagnosis
“Getting to the scans, before even discovering I had cancer, because the process of the scanning in Trinidad felt so backward. It’s like by the time they detect the cancer, the majority of the time it’s like too late,” she said. “So I would say the testing and the part where you have to do your biopsy and these things is the most frustrating part.”
For Abby, the difficulties went beyond the physical and emotional toll of cancer. She said the financial burden of testing and treatment could also place significant pressure on patients and their families.
“Financially on their pockets, majority of the scanning and testing are not available. So you have to do them privately, then go back to St James for them to read the results,” she said.
According to Abby, the financial strain affects people regardless of their economic circumstances, and greater support is needed for cancer care in Trinidad and Tobago.
“It financially affects a lot of people, whether middle class, poor, or well off,” she said. “And sponsorship is urgently needed for the St James Cancer Clinic, where they would be able to help out even more cancer patients, probably with more support and acknowledgements in the local health centre, and not only have to run to the centre in St James.”
Abby, a mother of three, said she believes maintaining a healthy lifestyle is important and that events such as Score4Cancer give hope to people affected by cancer.
Football for a cause
Score4Cancer held its ninth consecutive annual fundraising event at the Queen’s Park Oval on October 4. The event featured eight all-female teams competing in a football tournament aimed at raising funds and awareness in the fight against cancer.
Tournament organiser Marie Mouttet said this year’s goal was to work with the St James Cancer Clinic for Women.
“One of our new members in the club is actually a doctor there. We’re going to liaise with him and start to do projects with them,” Mouttet said.
She said the organisation also provides assistance to families affected by cancer, including a young man currently battling skin cancer.
“Right now we’re looking after a young fella. He has skin cancer. So we buy all his medical supplies and anything he needs,” she said. “We’ve looked after a few families over the years. Anyone can come to us and say, ‘Look, we need some sort of assistance.’”
Mouttet said this year’s fundraising total was expected to reach approximately $25,000 once all fundraising activities were completed.
Encouraging women to get screened
Mouttet said another major focus of the event was cancer awareness and encouraging women to get screened.
“Our main concern was people getting tested. We work with the Cancer Society and we usually have the truck, the mobile truck there, and they would also do mammograms and pap smears for the girls,” she said.
Unfortunately, the mobile screening unit was unavailable this year because of a double booking. However, Mouttet said its absence did not change the importance of the message.
“It’s more like cancer awareness and be prepared to, you know, look after your body and go and get checked,” she said. “We found that a lot of ladies do not get checked. They just don’t go and they’re 30, 40 years old and they’ve never done a pap smear and never done a mammogram.”
Supporting women’s football
Head coach of the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) Patriots women’s football team, Ayana Russell, also participated in the event, coaching her team to victory.
Russell said she tries to support Score4Cancer each year because of its cause and the personal impact cancer has had on her life.
“I think it’s a great cause. It’s to bring awareness also to something that, you know, a lot of us probably have lost loved ones to. I personally lost my dad to cancer also,” Russell said.
However, Russell said the event also creates an opportunity to highlight the importance of women’s football and youth sports.
“I’m an advocate for youth football, women’s sports,” she said. “So I think it’s just any opportunity that you get because women’s sports is, I guess, not just football, it’s an underserved sport.”
Russell said events such as Score4Cancer could help rebuild interest in women’s football while bringing former and current players together.
“I think it’s just events like these, it’s what is needed across the board, you know, to improve and rebuild the sport and also build the camaraderie between all the other teams.”
Looking ahead to next year, Mouttet said organisers hoped to expand the tournament by inviting schools to participate, along with male teams that had already expressed interest.
‘You are important in someone else’s eyes’
For Abby, however, the importance of events such as Score4Cancer goes beyond the football field and fundraising. To her, they bring recognition to those in need.
Now cancer-free for one year and two months, she said her children were the biggest reason she continued fighting throughout her battle with the disease.
“They kept me going because I knew I had to survive for their well-being,” she said.
Her message to anyone currently fighting cancer is one of patience and self-worth.
She said those going through the fight needed to give themselves grace and remember that there was someone who wanted them to live, whether a family member or a friend.
“Never forget that you are important in someone else’s eyes,” she said, encouraging other cancer patients to keep fighting.
