‘I had much more to live for’, cancer survivor says
A cancer survivor shared a message of hope and inspiration recently for persons suffering from the dreaded disease, suggesting that a positive mindset after his diagnosis helped put him on the road to recovery.
Temulji Hughes, a stage-four cancer survivor, recently spoke with JTV News about his battle with cancer two years ago and explained some of the trials he experienced amid his determination to succeed in that fight.
The 29-year-old, who initially shared his story through a Facebook post, said his body was going through changes at first that he never quite understood and recalled that doctors were equally baffled about his symptoms as well.
According to Hughes, he lost a lot of weight early in 2020 and an initial diagnosis was that he had gallstones. But after doctors performed an operation, it became clear that there were no gallstones.
The cancer survivor related that a COVID-19 lockdown happened subsequently and he was hospitalised for about two weeks.
Hughes related that he was jaundiced for quite sometime and was later airlifted out of the territory to a Florida hospital for further evaluation.
Stage four meant no hope
After enduring a number of tests, he said doctors determined on September 11, 2020 that he indeed had stage four cancer.
“Stage four (cancer) means that you basically don’t have any hope, most people who have stage four cancer, it’s the end of (life) for many persons,” Hughes related.
Hughes shared that he endured through a lot of positive thinking and hard work while going through the motions.
Before finding out his diagnosis, the cancer survivor said, he did not imagine that it would be a determination for stage four cancer but suspected that it may have been stage two or something of that nature.
“I can’t say that I had an immediate reaction of a death sentence. It was a sense of calm almost,” Hughes related. “I heard it and I said OK and I immediately said how do we beat it, because for me, I just couldn’t die. I didn’t see myself dying from this, and I immediately remained positive throughout the experience because I knew I just had much more to live for.”
Hughes further related that his mindset has always been ‘if you were brought to it, then you can get through it’.
In a lighthearted moment, Hughes also shared that he did not want a ‘COVID-19 funeral’ and explained that this was one of his motivations for pushing through.
“I did not want any protocols in place, so that in the back of my mind, subconsciously, I did think, ‘you know, what is a funeral with just 20 people? – [That is] a no for me,” he said.
Hughes also expressed that he has had other challenging situations in life and said his experience has been that situations always have to get worse before they get better.
“That (diagnosis) was just the worst for me, and I really thought that it had to get better,” he said.
During the interview, Hughes also shared the finality he experienced when he discovered that doctors placed plastic stents (small tubes) in his body instead of metal stents to help relieve blockage.
“Once I came through it, and once I found out that I was in remission, I asked – and I had to get the stents changed – I asked why didn’t you just put metal stents in so that I could continue on. They said usually when we put plastic stents in, to be honest with you, it’s because we don’t think that a patient will live.”
Hughes said this put things into perspective for him at the time, “For whatever reason, doctors said no, but honestly, God said, yes,” he said.
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YES! Keep your eyes on God. Absolutely.
I’m not gonna be negative this is an awesome and inspirational story. What I don’t like though with these sort of survivor stories are. What were the treatments used? How did you just beat it being positive. There are many persons in the BVI and around the globe are facing some of these same challenges. These pieces should include more; such as diet or anything preventative to avoid getting it. Cancer has been on the rise even more over the l last 20 years are there studies being done locally? Anyhow it’s great that you beat but it’s unfortunate that I’ve lost few family members to this dreaded disease.
ARE DOCTORS ON COMPUTERS WITH A LICENSE TO PRESCRIBE MEDICATIONS , AND THEY HAVE FON ON THEIR PATIENTS / SOME ARE ARE SHARKS ,ITS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY ( IF A DOCTOR TOLD YOU THAT YOU HAVE GALLSTONES AND THEN ORDER AN OPERATION AND THEN FI D THERE IS NONE , WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU , ITS NOT EVERYONE THAT IS GOING TO TAKE THAT LYING DOWN / IN CERTAIN CASES ISN’T NECESSARY BUT THOSE PREDATORS WILL USE IT AS AN EXCUSE TO EXPERIMENT ON YOU USING SCARE TACTICS ( ITS ALWAYS GOOD BTO HAVE A SECOND ⁹0 OPINION / ESPECIALLY WITH THESE LICENSED PREDATORS ON THE LOOSE
Amazing story! RESPECT!
I am so glad you survived this! God bless you!
Great. But it shows the screening here is not up to date. They doesn’t have a good pathologist nor the equipment to test certain things for cancer and they must send samples overseas for testing why then NHI does not cover this cost. How are the doctors going to treat you without those overseas reports. Doctors at the government hospital want overseas histology cause they cannot do those testing here but patient have to bear cost 100%
The power of positive thinking. Great lesson.
God Bless you Son…
Usually when the doctor suspect that you have gallstones you are referred to a specialist where ultrasounds and certain routine tests are done. It seems maybe the full story has not been given to the public, because going for a suspense straight to an operation seems quite farfetched.
Not sure if most people do it, but any medication given to me by a doctor I try to research it before filling the prescriptions. Understanding what it does and the side effects. What can counteract with it, etc. To me without doing these research we could actually be doing our body more harm than good. I also try to note separately what the dosage is suppose to be and how much times a day it is to be taken. One time I filled a prescription and the pharmacist made a mistake with the dosage and I could have identified it from my notes and asked her to correct it. Yes we should rely on them, however, before they have these professions they are human beings and can make mistakes.
God bless, brother
Thanks for sharing your story and I am glad that you have kicked Cancer down.
Please share what kind of Cancer and what treatment was used. This vital information can help the next stage four person to live.
Yes please share what you had to do to beat this dreaded disease. We would like to know so that we know what can be done to recover. Did you change your diet, did you have to go through chemo? Did you do target therapy (new drugs being developed)
I was thinking the same thing as you. Information on treatment used could help someone in that situation but I am if the view a change in diet, exercise is an utmost importance.
I only said what is what / and yes wd all make mistakes / but when it’s your body , you will understand what’s it like to be on the receiving end ( no offence
must have taken the jab
The story was very positive but lacked a lot of details. The journalist / editor really failed the readers in this regard with a short piece. This young man has a story to tell and we want to hear more of it. People don’t usually come back from stage 4 cancer so this young man’s story offers a glimmer of hope but how did he beat it? What knowledge has he gained that can be of help to others? What were the symptoms he had that alerted him something was wrong? How does losing weight lead to a diagnosis of gallstones? What tests were done to confirm he had gallstones before operating, or did the doctors fail to confirm before surgery? BVI News please tell this young man’s story fully along with a link to his Facebook post. Clearly he wants to share his battle with cancer and we want to hear his testimony. May God continue to bless this young man and keep him cancer free. Thanks for giving God the glory. Stay strong.
The that mean the jab save him then you idiot. I can tell you don’t read books empty brain no hope in life minimum wage or not employed.
So happy that you made it though bro . … I don’t know what more alyo wanted them to share on this man personal medical information. I can’t even recall they mentioning what type of cancer he had . Just be happy and know that anytime is possible-Simple
It’s a shame that a lot of people here don’t have the ability to seek better care elsewhere. Best of luck to you Mr. Hughes
The people at NHI don’t have a clue. It is even much cheaper to go overseas and get better diagnoses a lot of the time.