Pretoria - It is not easy; it is difficult and emotionally draining, but we are positive and we trust that she will be cured, Hennie Groenewald says about the illness of his wife Alrita.
The family have had moments when they struggled to pull through. The support of family and friends has kept them going as she underwent cervical cancer treatment, he added.
“A mother is the glue that keeps the family together and, with her sick and in hospital at times, the pressure is high,” he said.
Alrita was diagnosed with stage four cervical cancer just four days after giving birth to her baby, Mila, in April.
There had been no symptoms of the disease throughout her pregnancy, and it was only during the C-section delivery that doctors noticed that something was amiss. Investigations led to the diagnosis that she had a severe form of cancer.
“We were in total shock. We had just had a baby, so it was from one extreme emotion to the other,” he said. The diagnosis left their two older children traumatised, and the newborn girl in the hands of her father and siblings while Alrita went through treatment.
But the support was overwhelming and, when they realised that it was not the end of the world, the couple adopted a motto, “stand up and shine instead of sitting down and moping”.
And the effects of their determination touched the lives of those around them, galvanising them into taking action to safeguard their own lives. Alrita’s close friend and work colleague, Kristi Maree, said her friend had approached everyone close to her and forced them to take pap smears to determine if they had cancer of the cervix like she did.
“She wanted no one to be caught off guard like she was,” said Maree.
Cervical cancer is one of the biggest killers of women in South Africa, and most women go through the initial stages without any symptoms. Regular tests are recommended as the disease can be cured if caught in the early stages.
The diagnosis of the friend she had known for 14 years made Maree and others wake up to the fact that life was not to be taken for granted.
“Everyone began to take stock of their lives and woke up to the fact that we had to take care of ourselves,” she said.
With the realisation that not enough information was available for everyone, they started the Facebook page Alrita’s Journey, and shared her experiences with cancer and information on cervical cancer.
People started sharing their own stories of fighting cancer, offering support and hope, Maree said.
“Some have taken tests purely from reading up on it on the page,” she said, adding that Alrita then posed a challenge to all the women on the page, to take pap smears before the end of September and share their results.
In spite of the awareness being raised “we want to go over and beyond that, we want to reach more people”, Groenewald said.
His wife would be going through the last stages of treatment in the first week of July. A six-week wait to find out if she was cancer-free would follow but the family were not oblivious to the fact she could need further treatment.
A benefit concert has been planned for next Thursday, through which they will raise funds.
Maree said: “The profits raised will go towards any further treatment but, if she does not need it, we will use it for awareness efforts.”
Other projects include one aimed at getting young girls immunisation from the Humano Papiloma Virus, which causes cervical cancer.
The support of local people, as well as from all over the world, has kept the Groenewald family going – through social media, people dropping in at the house, bringing supper and helping with the children.
“It has been very emotional, the support we have been getting, it has been encouraging and through it we are strong,” Groenewald said.
The concert is scheduled for the Atterbury Theatre on Thursday; for R300 per head, guests will be treated to a variety of top performances including song and dance.