Family Encouragement Made Me Feel Better: Varea
Sera Varea, originally from Naseakula, Labasa, is one of the survivors of breast cancer. Married with four children, Mrs Varea feels happy to be able to see her 12 grandchildren’s faces. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 after one of her regular visits to the Labasa Hospital. “I felt a lump on my right breast so I went to the hospital to have it checked,” Mrs Varea said. “Upon my visit I was told by the doctor that the result of my checkup was not good because the lump was a sign of breast cancer. “When they told me I had breast cancer, I was scared because my mother was also diagnosed with breast cancer at an early age and died few years later.”
“On October 10, 2014 during Fiji Day, I was finally admitted in the hospital for my surgery,” she said. “I was scared at the thought of going in for the surgery but the thought of wanting to stay with my family made me face these doctors with their needles.”
Mua Varea, her husband, said she was scared at first but a few words of encouragement from her family members, made her feel better.
“Those days were difficult times for all of us but we managed to get through each day until she fully recovered from her surgery,” Mr Varea said.
“She has fully recovered from cancer after her right breast was removed.”
Now living with her husband, youngest son and his wife and children, makes her feel blessed everyday to see the support from her family members.
“My family is everything and I am grateful to them for being with me during those years of pain and struggle,” Mrs Varea said.