‘Put your plans on hold. Don’t plan to go back to Varsity this year; this might be very rough for you and the future is very unpredictable.’
These are the words that the third-year student, Jeané Myburgh heard while still lying in a hospital bed at the beginning of this year. She had already packed to return for her final year of studies at the Puk. But, instead of going back to Potch to resume her life as a student, she was diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer and was told that everything was going to change now.
Jeané is a resident of Kasteel Dameskoshuis and was supposed to complete her third-year B.Com Industrial Psychology degree this year. In January, she was very excited to return to Potchefstroom, see her friends and enjoy another year as a student. But she had swelling and pain in her abdomen and had to get it checked before she left Durban, where the family lives.
Since a previous x-ray never showed anything, they assumed it was a symptom of stress. ‘I went through a sonar and an emergency operation. A malignant tumour the size of a one-litre Coke bottle and an ovary bit the dust. All I wanted to know when I woke up was, ‘When will I be good to go back to Potch – life is waiting?’’
A biopsy brought the terrible news that Jeané has PNET Ewing sarcoma, an aggressive, life-threatening cancer that needed urgent treatment. Instead of coming back to Potchefstroom, she is now in a daily battle with cancer.
‘At first, I couldn’t believe it. This only happens to other people, older people even. Fear like I’ve never known in my 20 years gripped me, sadness, anger, disbelief,’ she said.
In the past six months, Jeané has been through 16 sessions of chemotherapy, two PET scans and countless weekly blood tests yet the cancer keeps getting worse.
‘After the four months of chemo, I was 15 kgs lighter, without my hair and eyebrows, without dignity and a physical mess of aches, spiking heart rates, severe hot flushes and constipation. The latest scan showed that the cancer had spread,’ she said.
Jeané was booked for a full hysterectomy but because of the number of growths and lesions on her abdominal organs, the doctors could not operate on her and said nothing could be done to save her.
‘All the positive confessions, the faith we were holding on to, the debilitating chemo and illness, the hard work I kept on putting into my assignments to keep my Varsity work going in spite of the chemo, it all vanished in a moment of disappointment.’
Jeané now had to decide whether to wait for death to knock on her door or to keep fighting the cancer that is swiftly taking over her body. She has chosen the latter. She knows she needs a miracle but has already made plans to come back to Potchefstroom next year and finish her studies.
‘What has sustained me thus far is the love and care of friends and family, ‘she said. ‘There is nowhere to go but forward. My heart is sore for not being able to complete my degree this year but I am fighting hard to be back in 2019.’
Jeané’s medical aid has reached its limit and she has to undergo another four months of chemotherapy. Anyone who can help her and her family cope with the financial expenses in the next phase of treatment can donate at https://www.backabuddy.co.za/supporting-Jeane.
All help will be greatly appreciated.
https://www.facebook.com/jan.myburgh/videos/10158121547807837/
