In March 2017, at the age of 59, Elfrieda Pretorius from Jeffreys Bay went for a routine mammogram, something she admits to not going for as regularly as she should, and she received the devastating news that she had a very aggressive form of breast cancer.
Thankfully, after at least six chemotherapy sessions, she has been in remission for at least five years and is now urging women to go for their annual mammograms.
Pretorius, who was working as an estate agent in Pretoria, went for a mammogram in 2017, where sonar detected four spots on her breast.
“My radiologist said he did not expect it to be cancer but to be safe he did a biopsy on three of the four spots that were detected,” said Pretorius.
Three days before her 60th birthday, her radiologist informed her that the results from the biopsy were positive and that she had HER2 positive breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer, which only affects 20% of female breast cancer patients.
Pretorius said she was home alone when her radiologist called her to give her the news.
“When my radiologist informed me about my diagnosis, I just went quiet and did not say anything. He asked me if I was okay and I told him that life is like a tar road with speed humps, there is no way out and you just have to deal with it,” said Pretorius.
When she shared the news with her husband, Pieter Pretorius, and three children, Leilani Coetsee, Yolanda Grobler and Jaques Pretorius, they were heartbroken. She also has three grandchildren.
“I quickly realised that I was not alone on this road and that my Father would carry me through,” said Pretorius.
With guidance, support and love from her oncologist, Dr Ananda Vorster, she was advised to undergo six chemotherapy sessions, one session every 21 days.
“After every chemotherapy session, I was so nauseous and no medication worked. I also had diarrhoea for about 10 days that forced me to wear diapers,” said Pretorius.
Despite the side efforts of the chemotherapy, she said she began feeling better from the last 11 days leading up to her next session.
She said that she lost her hair after the third session but decided she was not going to wear a wig, instead bought herself nice hats to match her clothes and to give herself a boost in confidence she often wore make-up.
Pretorius said that even though she felt motivated, her situation took a turn after her third chemotherapy session.
She said that one Saturday night, she fell ill, felt herself slipping into depression and she did not believe she was going to make it through the night.
Despite her worry, Pretorius continued to pray throughout the night and the following day, when she woke up feeling no different than on the previous night, she put on the TV to watch the Sunday morning service delivered by the Morelettapark NG Church.
To her surprise, church minister Johan Smit’s sermon was for people who were diagnosed with cancer and were undergoing treatment.
Pretorius said she believed that God was talking to her at that moment and began praying.
Before her next chemotherapy session, she went for sonar which revealed that her cancer cells were gone but she still had to complete her remaining three sessions, which she did despite feeling very ill.
“I knew I had to finish more chemotherapy sessions to ensure that there were no more cancer cells in my body and my Father carried me through each day,” said Pretorius.
Finally, in August 2017, she completed her chemotherapy sessions and had a double mastectomy the following month.
She said her double mastectomy meant that she was choosing life and has continued to live by the motto ‘Live in the moment’ which allowed her to retire in Jeffreys Bay four years ago and now she loves playing around with creative art like refurbishing old furniture into something unique.
“The love and support of my family, friends and most important my Lord helped me through this journey. I could not do it all alone,” said Pretorius.
After her double mastectomy she had to go for tests every six months and a CT scan, blood tests, bone density and heart sonar once a year.
In January this year, she received the all clear to do all the necessary tests once a year.
“I would advise all women to go for their mammograms at least once a year. I was lucky but it could have been so much worse because I did not test regularly,” said Pretorius.
