Adeleigh keeps on fighting
Adeleigh keeps fighting with the support of family and friends.
Adeleigh Carter (62) has been diagnosed with and beaten cancer again and again. The Brenthurst resident was first diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1996.
After a hysterectomy for the cervical cancer, Adeleigh was told she was cancer free in 2008. In 2014 she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, and in 2021 with colon cancer.
These were successfully treated with a combination of radiation, chemotherapy and surgeries. In May of 2022, Adeleigh had another surgery for laryngeal and cervical lymph cancer, claiming her voice.
She is still battling this cancer, and has a tracheostomy tube implanted to help her breathe. Despite this long and harrowing journey with cancer, Adeleigh hasn’t given up.
“What most cancer patients do is they feel sorry for themselves. It’s not a death sentence,” she said.
“It’s just something you have to live with.”
It hasn’t been easy to keep fighting.
“A lot of things I was used to are gone,” she said. “But my husband, kids, grandkids, family and the Geluksdal
Cancer Support Group support me in my recovery.
“Sometimes it’s hard, but now that I can talk a bit it’s better, but it’s owed to the only God that carries me.”
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Her advice to other cancer patients is that it’s just a word.
“Most take it as a death sentence, but it just brings you closer to God. Just pray and live your life,” she said.
Adeleigh has the support of husband Noble (57), two daughters Natalie (37) and Joniece (32) and her grandchildren.
Outside of immediate family, Adeleigh said that her voice therapist and doctor have also helped her a lot.
“They made me feel good about myself,” she said.
When she lost her voice, at first she felt very inferior because she couldn’t speak. Her voice therapist helped her see that she’s no less worthy for not having a voice.
Adeleigh is still fighting in spite of it all, and her hope for the future is to see her granddaughter, Brooklyn, go to university, and her grandson, Nailen, play on the national cricket team. She also wants to see her other grandson, Tylique Adolph, grow up.
