By Toyin Adeniyi
For Mrs. Tenidade Adejoke Omar, hope and faith in God were the lifelines that sustained her through a trying journey of survival and a relentless battle with stage three cancer. The experience has made her appreciate life better and also put her in a vantage position to counsel those going through similar experiences.
Omar who shared her experience with Church Times recently was quick to counsel people with challenges not to lose hope,
The battle she has had to go through in the last couple of years has made her become an apostle of hope and faith. She tells those facing battles, “When you lose hope, it means you have already given up.”
Her story is one of resilience, faith, and an unshakeable will to live. Beneath her quiet demeanour is a woman with a strong spirit.
Married to Mr. Kehinde Omar, now late, and a proud mother of two wonderful sons, Mrs. Omar who retired recently from the Lagos State Civil Service as a director would have become history. But God did not allow the unthinkable to happen to her.
How it all began
The whole experience started during a routine evening at home in 2018. After a long day of supervising WAEC examinations, she felt a niggling concern. She decided to perform a self-examination, a habit she occasionally indulged in when she discovered a lump in her breast, accompanied by fluid seeping from her nipples. Her findings set off an immediate alarm in her brain.
But then, she thought it was just a benign lump. She told a friend her findings, and together, they sought out a clinic in Surulere, Lagos for further checks. Just as she was planning to go to the clinic she heard about another hospital where she was told she might undergo surgery to excise the lump.
The cost of the test, fear of a possible surgery and the thought that the lump was something inconsequential made her jettison the idea of following up on the development.
Yet, as days passed, the symptoms persisted. The fluid continued to discharge from her breast, and a sense of unease crept into her thoughts. Eventually, she made her way to the clinic in Surulere. It was there, in a sterile, cold examination room, that her world was turned upside down. The diagnosis was stage 3 breast cancer.
Oma and friends at retirement thanksgiving ceremony
The herbal option
The news shook her to the bones. Cancer had never been a part of her family’s medical history. She had always tried to maintain a healthy lifestyle and had never experienced any symptoms like dizziness, fever, or fatigue, and yet, here she was, facing a disease that had silently taken root within her.
The journey that followed was anything but easy. The first step was to inform her family, who immediately provided support for her. She was referred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), where doctors prescribed medication for her to undergo chemotherapy, the next critical phase of her treatment.
But as she contemplated the road ahead, Omar, 59, was scared. She could not imagine the consequence of experiencing a Chemo. The image of several videos online warning of the dangers of chemotherapy, claiming that “chemo kills” flashed in her memory.
The thought of undergoing such a grueling treatment filled her with dread. “I don’t want to do chemo,” she declared to her family. “If this is the way God will call me home, I am ready to go.” Her family was distraught, pleading with her to reconsider.
Despite their pleas, Mrs. Omar remained steadfast in her decision until a friend introduced her to a doctor at Ijebu-Ode who specialized in herbal treatments.
Desiring an alternative, she traveled to meet this doctor, who prescribed honey mixed with other herbs to be consumed every morning. Her niece, however, was unimpressed and begged her to reconsider chemotherapy. Eventually, she struck a deal with her worried relatives: “Give me three months to see the results of this doctor.”
Colleagues and friends with Mrs Omar at her retirement thanksgiving ceremony
Chemotherapy
Time passed, and as the days turned into weeks, it became increasingly clear that the herbal treatment was not yielding the expected results. She realized that she could no longer afford to delay and so in less than three months after beginning the herbal treatment, she returned to LUTH, ready to face the chemotherapy she had once feared.
It was brutal. She underwent six grueling sessions, each one leaving her body weary and flustered. “The chemotherapy felt like a strange body is being imputed in my system, often leaving me feeling weak for days,” she recalled.
The treatment attacked not only the cancerous cells but also the healthy ones, which necessitated frequent blood tests to monitor her blood levels. Whenever her blood counts were dangerously low, she was asked to take blood tonics to restore her strength. At one particularly critical juncture, her blood levels were so low that she received two pints of blood to improve her blood count.
After enduring the six rounds of chemotherapy, she underwent surgery (mastectomy). But her battle was far from over.
Following the surgery, she was subjected to two additional chemotherapy sessions, further straining her already exhausted body. Then came 15 consecutive days of radiotherapy, which turned out to be a final onslaught against the disease that had threatened to take her life.
The expected news
But after all the pain and suffering, after every tear shed and prayer whispered, Mrs. Adejoke Omar received the news she had longed to hear, “she was cancer-free.”
Throughout this ordeal, her faith in God never wavered. She drew strength from her fellowship with God, leaning on her family, and church members. Her family was her rock especially her niece who she described as her biggest support during the trying time, standing by her through every difficult moment.
Her church members continuously prayed for her. Her boss at work showed immense understanding, allowing her time off whenever she needed to visit the doctor. At one point, when she felt her courage was waning, she met an elderly woman who had also survived cancer. This chance encounter reignited her resolve to live. “I said this is my story, I will survive this, I will not die,” she proclaimed to herself, holding hope as a lifeline.
Her faith was further strengthened by the support of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, who prayed over a handkerchief and oil that she used alongside her medication. Through her steadfast belief and the grace of God, she emerged from her ordeal, victorious and cancer-free.
Church members and family members at the retirement ceremony of Adejoke Omar
Retirement and life after
Now, as she enjoys her well-deserved retirement, she reflects on her journey with a deep sense of gratitude. “It wasn’t easy, but we thank God,” she says, her voice filled with the weight of the experience she has endured in the last couple of years. “This journey brought me closer to God and made me realize that God answers prayers.”
As she continues to navigate life after cancer, Adejoke Omar who holds a degree in Mathematics Education from the University of Benin, offers words of encouragement to people facing battles. “Once your time has not come and you believe in God, He will surely make a way,” she advises, her voice filled with conviction.
Her last place of assignment with the Lagos State Civil Service was Isheri Junior Grammar School where she served as Vice Principal before she retired last August. She has since remained vigilant. She goes for regular checkups twice a year. The cancer era is gone, never to rise again as the Lord lives. She now looks to the future with hope, a hope that was never lost, even in the darkest of times.