Charmaine Anderson

At the time, I thought she just wanted a chat—one of those comforting sisterly conversations we always shared. I loved hearing Barbara’s nurturing voice. It was always a pleasure. But this time, there was something different in her tone.

She said, “I was having a shower, and I found a lump.”

My first reaction was: Is it moving or fixed?

She replied,“ It’s fixed, not moving.”

I urged her—go see your doctor immediately.

That moment changed everything. She had missed her annual mammogram that year due to financial reasons. I can’t help but believe that if she’d had it, the scan might have picked it up earlier. It was a deeply worrying time for our family. She was the eldest of us—the one we all looked up to. We had so much love and respect for her. She was our nurturer, the one with a selfless soul. Her presence grounded us.

She underwent surgery and had a mastectomy. One breast was removed—the other, thankfully, was unaffected. According to the professionals, the operation went well. But emotionally, it was incredibly difficult for her. Living in Jamaica, she didn’t have access to reconstructive surgery. The healthcare system there offered limited resources, and the cost was simply too high to have it done privately. She faced the loss of her breast with courage, but also with quiet pain.

When it came time to choose a path forward, my sister decided against chemotherapy. Instead, she chose a holistic, alternative route. At the time, we didn’t agree. We were scared. But ultimately, we had to step back and respect her decision.

In our hearts, we knew it was a risk. And sadly, the person she turned to—a so-called “herbal doctor”—had no medical training and wasn’t equipped to give her the care she truly needed.

Within a year, her health began to deteriorate. Her life was cut short due to the lack of proper health care and access to information which would have allowed her to make better decisions about her health.

Ultimately on January 21st 2016, my beautiful sister lost her battle to this horrible disease—CANCER.

Her absence left a silence in our lives that words can’t fill. But her spirit—her love, her strength, her laughter—lives on in us. This piece is a tribute to her journey, her courage, and the deep bond we shared.