Elizabeth Awo-Ejeh, Breast Cancer Survivor and Advocate, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“I Made the Toughest Decision of My Life… and I Lost Something Precious.
I didn’t know if I would survive this journey… but God kept me, shaped me, and rebuilt me. These scars are my testimony.
On November 25th, 2022, my life changed in a way I never imagined.
That was the day I had to make one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever faced.
I chose to remove my breast… not because I wanted to,
but because cancer forced me to choose between my body and my life.
When the doctor told me the cancer had already started spreading to my lymph nodes, I felt the ground disappear beneath me. Everything in me went quiet… numb… empty.
My mum broke down crying when she heard the news.
She held my face with trembling hands and begged me not to do the surgery.
She was scared of losing me, scared of the pain I would go through, scared of seeing her child suffer in a way no mother should ever witness.
Her tears made the decision even heavier.
I know it was hard for my husband, too, but he encouraged me and said,
‘If this will save your life, then do it. I’m with you… I’m not going anywhere.’
And even with all that love and support…
It was still a decision only my heart could truly accept.
The months after the surgery were some of the darkest moments of my life: painful, emotional, lonely.
There were days I couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror.
I wondered if I would ever feel like a woman again.
There were weeks I refused to go out because I felt like I wasn’t enough.
I felt different… broken… lost inside my own skin.
But time has a way of uncovering the truth.
Healing isn’t loud – it is slow… quiet… patient.
Today, when I see my scars, I don’t see loss.
I see strength stitched into my skin.
I see a woman who fought with everything in her.
I see a survivor God refused to let go.
My scars remind me how far I’ve come, how hard I fought, and how precious life really is.
If I had to make that decision again, I would still choose my life….over and over again.
Because I am still here.
Still breathing.
Still rising.
Still becoming the woman God kept alive for a purpose.
Happy Surgery Anniversary to me.
A living testimony.
A woman God kept alive for a reason.”
More posts featuring Elizabeth Awo-Ejeh.
