CHERYL METIVIER
Breast cancer survivor Sade Weekes has been busy, even during her treatment.
She has completed her bachelor's degree in performing arts with specialisation in music, and has registered her music school, Sade Songbird.
But most recently, together with a small group of like-minded people, she incorporated a non-profit organisation (NPO), the All Cancers Group TT (ACGTT), through which she hopes to become partner with a range of medical professionals.
Once these professionals commit to offering support, ACGTT will establish a database to match patients with partners and services leading to a greater number of positive outcomes for a greater number of patients.
Weekes told Newsday this was a vision that was birthed during the final stages of her chemo treatments.
“Once I had recovered fully physically, and gotten back on my feet, I was able to jump right in.”
On the back end, she will commit to undertaking aggressive fundraisers like the barbecue planned for June 29, and seek out potential investors.
She is aware that this will neither be easy nor straightforward, but she remains inspired and undaunted. Her vision is that once the group gains traction, the pool of stakeholders will expand.
Among the entities she has targeted is the Ministry of Health, as well as private labs and clinics. The expected input is not limited to financial contributions, but also time, subsidised scans and biopsies, counselling and therapy, as well as assistance in creating more and better support groups.
Weekes was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020. Now in the final phase of her treatment, she must monitor herself carefully and consistently because she is "hormone-receptor positive" – having survived breast cancer, her tissue has certain hormone receptors which affect her hormone levels and places her at increased risk for ovarian cancer.
She visits the oncology clinic monthly for injections and to collect her prescribed pills. She is in year four of the ten-year treatment of this oral phase.
She said she meets other survivors during these monthly visits, and has encountered a number of people who have been recently diagnosed with various kinds of cancer. She is always mindful of how challenging her journey was, how difficult it was to figure out next steps, the financial burdens and bureaucratic labyrinth; and she feels compelled to do all that she can to help others navigate the whirlwind that is cancer treatment in Trinidad and Tobago.
“So many are waiting to get tested and staging, caught up in the backlog at the hospitals, many from as far back as covid19.”
[caption id="attachment_1090433" align="alignnone" width="768"] Sade Weekes, together with a small group of people, incorporated a non-profit organisation (NPO), the All Cancers Group TT (ACGTT) in her mission to help others navigate the whirlwind that is cancer treatment in TT. -[/caption]
Weekes said a number of patients have had to seek out private facilities to get their biopsies done, and hearing these stories has motivated her
