Dedicated volunteer for cancer patients
Cancer may have caused trauma for Jhia Enad after three of her family members died of it.
But along with the grief and trauma was Enad’s realization and growing desire to help others who are fighting cancer.
Enad, a registered nurse, is one of the volunteers of the Eduardo J. Aboitiz Cancer Center (EJACC) of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc., assisting in EJACC-initiated lectures and cancer screening.
As a volunteer, she is motivated by the cancer-related deaths in her family.
Her childhood was marred with sadness when her favorite grandmother passed away after ovarian cancer claimed her life. At 11 years old, she saw her lola suffering. She would often wait by the door of her lola’s bedroom for her parents to give her health updates of her grandmother.
“My grandmother was so warm and loving. We were very close. As a child, I would always ask her money to buy my favorite ice cream or toys. Whenever we go to her house, lola was always ready to give me a big hug. I was really saddened over her death,” Enad recalled.
Her grandmother eventually passed away after her ovarian cancer brought complications reaching to other organs like liver and pancreas.
Her lola’s death was followed by the death of the sister of her grandfather due to breast cancer. Just last year, her uncle, who is based in the US, died because of cancer in the pancreas.
“I felt traumatized by cancer because of these deaths. One thing I realized, though, is that I want to help others. I realized I need to do something in order for more people to be protected from cancer,” she said.
Before dying of cancer, Enad’s uncle asked her to volunteer for EJACC, where his uncle donated medicines for cancer patients like him.
She was overwhelmed by the kindness of her uncle who was cancer-stricken yet still managed to help others.
“I was really inspired by the kindness he showed to others,” Enad said
With her desire to help sick people in whatever way she can, she took up nursing in college. After graduating with a nursing degree in 2010, Enad volunteered for EJACC and assisted in its screening, lectures, Pap smear, and medical and dental missions.
She assists doctors who are also EJACC partners in conducting breast and cervical cancer screening activities for women.
She also handles lectures on early detection and prevention of cancer in various places in Cebu.
“Because of my experience, I realized cancer patients need time, support and love. I volunteered because I want them to know that there are people like me that they can always lean on to. I want them to realize that there is hope,” Enad said.
Enad, who is managing her online contact lens business while finishing her master’s degree in nursing at the Cebu Normal University, said that she would always make time to volunteer through EJACC.
She is happy with what she is doing, never feeling tired in helping others. Her parents are also very supportive in her endeavors and encouraged her to help cancer patients as a tribute to their deceased relatives.
“No matter how busy she is, Jhia always allocates time to help cancer patients through EJACC. Her dedication as a volunteer really shows,” Gina Mariquit, EJACC project officer, said.
Last October 2011, during one of the breast cancer screenings of EJACC, Enad discovered she has a lump on her right breast.
Enad, a volunteer of the activity, decided to undergo a mammography. She was extremely nervous and even cried.
“What if I have breast cancer? What if I will die soon? Those were the questions running around my head when I discovered I have a lump on my breast. But thank God, the results were benign. God is extremely good,” she said.
Enad also thought that patients suffering of higher stages of cancer must be undergoing much more than she was emotionally and physically when she discovered her lump.
A cancer patient she met during one of EJACC’s cancer screening activities was a mother who was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. The patient at first was hesitant to let her family members know about her illness because she does not want to be a burden, Enad recalled.
The patient, according to her, does not want the family to spend money for her medication, insisting that she preferred to die without a series of medical treatment, such as chemotherapy.
Enad, together with the EJACC staff, convinced the patient to undergo chemotherapy, which the patient later did.
“The beauty of being a volunteer is I get to meet a lot of people and contribute to their lives in my own little ways,” Enad said.
Aligned with EJACC’s advocacy, Enad’s goal is also to let people know that cancer can be treated if it is detected early. She hopes that her fellow nurses would also allocate time doing volunteer work in various causes, such as medical missions.
“A volunteer do not just touch the lives of cancer patients, but he or she might also save theirs by advocating to them the importance of undergoing early screening tests,” Enad said.
