October happens to be the breast cancer awareness month. This is why I chose to interview an amazing lady to share her inspiring story with us. Meet the supermom of this week in the person of a lady I admire because of her strength, courage, resilience and strong faith in God. Read about how this lovely Atlanta-based, mom-of-four with a resplendently effervescent personality wrestled with breast cancer and became a survivor.
Can you please tell us about yourself?
My name is Faith Igunbor Omoregbe. I graduated with my master’s degree in social work 2013. I am a social worker by profession, an active youth and women leader in my local church, and a passionate volunteer at different non-profit organizations throughout the state of Georgia. I have always considered myself to be healthy, I ate responsibly and loved to exercise. I even started and maintained a fitness and nutrition awareness support group, where encouraged many to take control of their health and eating through portion control and exercise. I chose to study social work because of my desire to help or make an impact in the live of others. I am married to my best friend. I love to dance, cook and workout. My favorite color is red. I founded Have FAITH Foundation, Inc ( Breast and Prostate Cancer Financial Support foundation) during my personal fight against breast cancer in 2018.
How many children do you have?
I have four wonderful boys, 25, 16,14, and 9 years old.
What is your special mommy mantra?
“it can be done tomorrow”. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. “laughter is the best medicine” .“The Lord Himself Will Fight for me, just STAY CALM”. “Take it to the Lord in prayers”. “I love you son”. “I am proud of you son’. “Work hard now and enjoy more later”.
How can you describe your motherhood style?
I have to say my motherhood style is nurturing, understanding and reasonable, but sometimes I see a little bit of my mother coming out in me. My mother was a true Nigerian disciplinarian mother.
Can you tell us an interesting/ experience you had as a mom?
Just watching my boys growing up, watching the changes in their body and remembering how they where so attached to me everywhere to see them mature and become independent. My 3rd son followed me everywhere. I love to call him my “expensive handbag”. My oldest son’s nickname for me when he was 2-3 years old was “myfaithie”. My baby David, my last born is very emotionally, he cries when he see me crying, so I have to be careful around him. Lol
When were you diagnosed with breast cancer?
I was officially diagnosed with Breast cancer December 1st, 2017.
What stage were you diagnosed with?
Stage 2-3
How was it detected initially? Was it through scans or routine self-breast examination?
After taking a shower one day, I felt a small knot on my right breast and lymph node. I went to my OBGYN who scheduled my mammogram. After a long-awaited mammogram, ultrasound and an even longer wait time to see the doctor, they called my husband to come in and the pathology report read, “it does not look good”. I immediately felt tears rolling down my cheeks. I saw my husband cry for the first time as well. I was scheduled for a biopsy to fully confirm the result.
How did you feel when you first received the news?
On that fateful day on December 1st, I woke up that morning and opened by Bible for my morning devotion and Exodus 14:14 came to my attention. It read in bold letters “The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” I immediately knew God was telling me, “I will fight for you.” I was at work when I received a call from the pathologist who said, “As I suspected, you have an invasive breast cancer on your right breast and lymph nodes.” I became overwhelmed with fear for my loved ones, especially my children and husband. I started to think of how the treatment would affect us physically and financially, and how my children, husband and entire family would cope.
How did you tell your children about it and what was their reaction and response?
We did not tell our children right away because it was so close to Christmas and we wanted them to have good Christmas. My 1st chemo and port surgery were Christmas week, few days before that my sister came and took my children to NC with her so they could have a good Christmas which was a great idea. I was very sick and weak during that period. We told our oldest son; he cried and helped his dad in taking care of me that whole period. We told the rest of the kids when they got home and educated them about the treatment and assured them everything was going to be okay with me. We talked about the word of God and reminded them about the promises of God. They actually told us they knew something was wrong and they were glad we told them and telling them ceased their fears. I stayed positive throughout treatments, keeping my faith in God. God kept us in His perfect PEACE.
Do you have a family history of breast cancer?
No, I don’t have a family history. The hospital did all the genetic testing to determine the presence of BRCA 1 and BRCA 2, and no cancer gene was found.
How strong was your support system at that difficult time? How helpful were they?
During this challenging time, my husband and children became my caregivers. The support and love we received from friends, family members, church members, and complete strangers were unforgettable. Family members and church members brought us food, cleaning supplies, hats and scarves to cover my hair loss, clothes for my changing weight, prayers and words of encouragement. We are thankful for the assistance we received from people during my treatment. Every little bit we received made a great difference and helped me focus on my healing and helped my husband focused on being my caregiver.
Can you kindly share your treatment process with us?
I went through several rounds of chemotherapy, surgery and radiation and was declared cancer-free. I vividly remember feeling pain all over my body, being easily fatigued after performing simple tasks that we all take for granted, such as walking up and down the stairs, doing laundry, cooking, walking, and cleaning the house. These simple tasks during that time became daunting chores. I also remembered experiencing a loss of consciousness episode after fainting at the hospital the night of my breast surgery. I had several blood transfusions and even had to go back for another surgery to remove the blood clots found a few weeks after my mastectomy.
Did you face any challenges or set-backs during your treatments?
Everyday tasks became challenging, joint and bone pains from chemo, skin burnt from radiation. From someone that was consistently on the move, running 5k around metro Atlanta, working out 5-6 days a week to someone that could hardly walk up and down the stairs. There is a tendency to believe that if you are young, healthy and have no family history you don’t get breast cancer. To say that it rocked my world is an understatement. I went through all the phases. At first, I experienced disbelief. “I can’t have cancer”. It went against everything I believed to be true. I am young, I have faith in God, I am healthy and have no family history, I can’t get breast cancer. At least that’s what I used to think. I quickly learned that cancer doesn’t discriminate, but I truly believe my faith in God, being healthy and active before my diagnosis helped me get through it. I remember requesting during our prayer session that I wanted to feel the love of God all around me throughout the journey and I did. God showed me how much I am loved by Him. I still experience some set back. I am still working on losing the weight I gained during treatment and trying to get my stamina back or close to where is used to be.
Can you share with us how you overcome those obstacles?
“The Lord Himself will Fight for You, Just STAY CALM”. After the diagnosis, We started praying about everything and focused on the promises of the WORD of God. God started to open doors from the right facility, treatment plan, resources and support. My husband and myself started studying and listening to every preaching regarding FAITH in the healing Blood of Jesus. We prayed over every treatment and asked GOD to perfect everything that entered my body, we prayed over the doctors and nurses that were on my treatment team, we prayed over the chemo, medication, we prayed for financial favors and blessings that will make these burden light. My husband prayed for me every day. The words of God helped us overcome the obstacles. There is power in the word of God. Isa 53:5 “By His stripes, we were healed”.
What message do you have for women out there?
“The first thing sisters is finding your relationship with God and knowing who you are in Christ Jesus. I love this quote “However softly we speak, God is near enough to hear us.” You are not alone even when you feel lonely. Know that you are loved, nothing can separate you from the love of God. Sisters, you are beautiful, fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. Take care of yourself, know your body. Go for your annually check-up and yearly mammogram, don’t compare yourself. When you fall, rise again. There is no perfect mother. The power of life and death is in the tongue. Speak life to your children in every situation. Its okay to love on yourself too. Sisters, lets lookout for each other .”Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” 1 John 4:7,8(KJV)
One is the things that stood out to me about this interview is the fact that when she learnt the news, her initial thoughts were about ensuring the emotional well-being of her children. When she was going through the greatest fight of her life, all she was thinking about was ensuring her kids were safe and happy. Her desire was that they would have a great Christmas even when she was getting a “crappy” one. A mother’s heart! Truly inspiring.
Another striking statement in this interview that almost brought tears to my eyes was that fact that she said “My husband prayed for me everyday”. We all need husbands, friends, rock-solid support systems that will pray for us everyday and help make light our personal daily burdens.
I hope you have all been truly inspired.
Remember, take your health seriously, never joke with your monthly self breast examination. Keep your diaries marked with your screening appointments. Get your pap smears. Get your yearly mammogram if you are over 40. Eat healthy, think healthy. Exercise and basically make healthy choices daily. Kudos, moms for all you do !
“The most beautiful people I’ve known are those who have known trials, have known struggles, have known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.”
—Elisabeth Kübler-Ross