Elizabeth Awo-Ejeh, Breast Cancer Survivor and Advocate, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“The day I heard ‘You have cancer,’ I started planning my funeral before I even started fighting for my life.
Don’t die before you die.
When I first heard those words, my mind went to the darkest place possible.
Immediately, I started planning my funeral… before I had even taken my first treatment.
I remembered a Nollywood movie I once watched: a woman loses her hair, ties a scarf, and before you know it, she’s gone. And in that moment, I thought, ‘That’s me.’
I began planning how to tell my husband to move on and be happy without me. I imagined calling everyone in my contact list to apologize for anything I might have ever done wrong. I was literally writing an Africa Magic script in my head… acting out my own ending before the story had even started.
Then came chemotherapy. The moment I heard the word, I panicked. In my mind, I pictured myself skinny, frail, bald, and fading away. I had heard all the myths: ‘It’s the chemo that spreads the cancer.’ ‘It destroys you faster.’ Truth be told, I almost gave up before I even began.
But something happened that changed everything.
One day, I stumbled upon a video of a breast cancer survivor on YouTube. She was vibrant, alive, and sharing her story with so much strength. And I thought: ‘Wait… people survive this monster?’
That video shifted something deep inside me.
My mindset went from dying to fighting.
From fear to faith.
I told myself: ‘If she can survive, then I can too.’
So I made a choice. Even with my bald head, I refused to ‘look like cancer.’ Instead, I chose to slay through it. Every chemo session, I walked in telling myself: ‘I’m surviving this. Cancer, you messed with the wrong girl.’
It wasn’t easy. There were tears. There were fears. There were days my strength felt small. But my faith in God and the mindset I chose to nurture kept me going.
And here I am today: still here. Still standing.
I share this for one reason: to remind you that whatever battle you are facing, don’t die before you die.
Don’t let fear k.i.l.l your spirit before the fight even begins.
Don’t script your ending before life has a chance to surprise you.
Don’t bury your hope before you’ve even stepped into the ring.
Even if there’s only a 1% chance, it’s still worth fighting for. Because survival starts in the mind before it shows up in the body.
To anyone walking through cancer, or any storm in life:
There is hope at the end of the tunnel.
There is life after the diagnosis.
And there is strength inside you that you haven’t even met yet.”
More posts featuring Elizabeth Awo-Ejeh.
