Rochelle Cameron draws inspiration from breast cancer survivor mom

Rochelle Cameron was shaken when her mother, Marcia Cameron, a breast cancer survivor, said, “Can you imagine that God chose to save me?” These words struck Rochelle deeply, as she had been concerned about her mother pushing herself too hard after surgery.

Marcia, who serves as a pastor in the United States, was to officiate a funeral less than a month after undergoing surgery in 2023, and Rochelle aimed to stop her.

“She did her surgery, and while we were in the hospital, the most remarkable thing happened. I’m listening to her have a conversation, and she was asking about some details on a funeral because she is a pastor ... So I said, ‘Lady, you just did a surgery’ and a mastectomy this time, so I said, remember that your tubes and so. She said, ‘Nuh worry ‘bout it, man. We just goin’ hitch dem up’,” Rochelle, chief executive officer of Prescient Consulting Services Limited, told The Sunday Gleaner before bursting into laughter.

She continued, “I was concerned about it, and I was very angry with her because I thought she needed to rest, and she turned to me and said, ‘Can you imagine that God chose to save me? And having chosen to save me, I get to go to somebody’s funeral that could have been mine? To inspire others to keep on living’. She said, ‘Hush your mouth!’”

Rochelle said the day of that funeral was a turning point where she realised that her mother was chosen and specially selected, as every other woman who is either fighting or has fought breast cancer, “for a role of challenge, because warriors have to be trained for a purpose”.

The latest breast cancer diagnosis for Marcia was not the first, but one that came immediately after a knee replacement surgery in October 2022, which caused Rochelle to question the Creator as to why the recurrence took place at that time.

“She lives overseas, and I went to attend her knee replacement surgery. After she came out, she said to me that it looks like she can do some marathons now because she has a bionic knee, so when she had done her test [for her knee], she had also done her breast cancer test. Ten years before, she was diagnosed, and she had been cleared, so just before I left, her doctor called, she listened, and a few moments later, she said to me, ‘Angel, guess what.’ I said, ‘What?’ She said, ‘It’s back’,” Rochelle shared.

“And I thought to myself, ‘Mighty God of Daniel, we are here about the knee, why would it be back now?’” she said.

Surgery was arranged for February 2023, and it was postponed and rescheduled to June. The Thursday before Marcia’s surgery, Rochelle’s grandmother was admitted into hospice care overseas.

“While I was flying up, I thought [to myself], ‘Wow. When you choose us, you go hard, God. Thanks!” Rochelle told The Sunday Gleaner.

As a first-hand caregiver for someone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, when Rochelle went to do her mammogram at the start of the year, she said it was extremely emotional for her. She went by herself and cried. The doctor asked her why she was crying, and she asked her to tell her story, followed by the tough question, ‘Suppose you do [have breast cancer]?’.

She said that conversation reminded her that she had inherited a courage of strength from her mother just by witnessing her fight breast cancer repeatedly.

“For a moment there, I thought, this is what she went through for each of [those] times, and she still showed up. When I called her and tell her foolishness, [such as] ‘Mommy, I put on my shoes today, and the tip drop off’, and she’s like, ‘It’s okay darling. Find another shoes’. And I’m saying to myself, ‘Wow, you’re dealing with so much’,” Rochelle said.

Rochelle has words of encouragement for physically healthy persons when faced with challenges or sadness.

“Think about your own lives. There are some days you do not wish to get out of bed. There are some days that you say, ‘God, I know you have chosen me, but could you have chosen someone else? Couldn’t you have chosen me for the Lotto! Why this?’ “ she told said.

She applauds “the thrivers” and “the survivors” who have kept the awareness march going for testing and early detection.

“You are the example of greatness and courage through pain and uncertainty,” she said.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com