Last week, Kimberley Bourne was reliving the moment she got devastating news that would change the course of her life. The now 35-year-old was diagnosed with cervical cancer four years ago and during the interview with EASY magazine, she paused, took a deep breath and said: “Right now, telling you how I was given the news, was like I was right back in the doctor’s office on that same day.”
Kimberley has been cancer-free for the past four years, having done a radical hysterectomy to make sure all the cancerous cells were eliminated from her body. That means she has no womb and therefore cannot have any children
It started as a routine day doing her annual check-ups in January 2014. She had left the dentist and was in the doctor’s office doing a pap smear. The test came back irregular and she was advised to get it redone.
“I went to the Barbados Family Planning Association and paid for it. Again the results were abnormal. Dr Archer who was there then did a colposcopy.”
Kimberley said all this was in a space of a few weeks.
A phone call from Dr Archer asking if she could come in didn’t faze Kimberley. She was just surprised the results were back so early.
All this time, she was being bubbly and jovial in the interview.
But then her mood changed.
“I went into her office. She [Dr Archer] said, ‘we have the results and I have to tell you it is Stage 1 cervical cancer.’
She paused in the interview, and glanced to the ceiling and then took a deep breath and with a chuckle said: “I felt like I was reliving that moment just now. But when Dr Archer told me I was literally stuck in that moment. I just sat there and it felt like forever to me. I remember her asking me if I was OK. I didn’t know what to say at that point,” she told EASY.
But Kimberley was not OK. Dr Archer said they had to act quickly so the cancer cells couldn’t spread.
Proactive, Dr Archer had already called an oncologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), Dr Chatrani, who was on vacation at that time. He scheduled an appointment for Kimberley to meet him when he returned.
Kimberley exited Dr Archer’s office, walked down the steps, still in a daze, not even knowing what her next step would be and immediately called her best friend of 30 years, Lisa Jackman-Corbin.
“She was there in about ten minutes and we went and talked about it. She is very strategic and started planning the next steps to tackling this issue.”
Kimberley said it was a two-week wait for the appointment with the oncologist and in that time she spent it all on the Internet researching cervical cancer.
She didn’t have any symptoms or signs to say she had the disease: “The most I can say is I had irregular periods, but they weren’t even able to tell me yes or no if that was even linked to the cancer.”
What was astonishing was that in that two-week period, Kimberley hid the information from her family and her 13-year-old daughter Kiara Bourne.
“I told my boyfriend and another close friend. I didn’t want to say anything to anyone else until I found out myself what was going on and the next steps.”
Her boyfriend went with her to the appointment with the oncologist and when he heard the treatment proposed Kimberley said he was more shaken than her.
With the options on the table, Kimberley picked the radical hysterectomy.
“I had always wanted a girl and because of my age he asked what about more kids . . . . My boyfriend didn’t want any and I had Kiara and I said if that is what I had to sacrifice to handle this situation then so be it.
“This option gave me a better probability of the cancer not returning.”
So now it is March and Kimberley was doing a ton of tests, having blood work done and she called her dad who was living in Brooklyn and told him about her reality.
“I am a daddy’s girl, so I told him first before I told my mum. He was my rock. He told me everything was going to be OK and have faith. There were times I would spend hours at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital doing tests and blood work and I just remembered my dad telling me to have faith.”
Kimberley’s birthday was in May and ironically, the operation was finally scheduled for that month after quite a few admittances to the hospital for various reasons.
“I told the doctors, please don’t let me be in the hospital for my birthday. So May 15 was my birthday and I had gotten discharged the week before. I asked for a later date so I could spend my day with family and loved ones. On May 24, I went to do the operation.”
Kimberley was cool and collected as she walked me through the procedure – of being wheeled into the operating theatre at 10 a.m.; the longer-than-it-was-supposed-to-be surgery as they had to also remove her pelvic lymph nodes which were not in the plans.
“I lost my cervix, uterus, the top of my vagina and the lymph nodes,” she said matter-of-factly.
She stayed in recovery for eight days, just to make sure everything was what it should be.
Her bedside was full everyday with visitors, even her daughter who sneaked in.
She went home to start the healing process.
She now has a scar about six inches long . . . running from her navel to the top of her vagina.
“I had to go back to Dr Chatrani in three months time for a check-up and everything was good. The second three months was also good and then is when I asked him if I could get a tattoo,” she said, laughing loudly.
The tattoo is of significance. It is a pink ribbon, the symbol of cancer, surrounded by thorns and it rests next to the surgical scar on her right side.
“This was exactly six months after the surgery. The scar was healing and I wanted something to remind me of my fight.”
She started getting tattoos at age 18 and each one has their own special meaning. She has a Japanese koi to represent peace and prosperity and a butterfly on her left arm. A moon with an angel sitting on it and the word Kiara etched into it is on her right arm. On that same arm she has started an half sleeve – a Japanese armour, again symbolising protection.
Kimberley said since the surgery she is living and loving life everyday. She hangs out with her small circle of friends, goes to the beach and hits the gym.
But in all that the Queen’s College alumna is fervently pursuing her passion of being a chef.
“I have had quite a few different jobs, having done courses at the Barbados Community College and BIMAP and working in the banking sector, tourism, in sales and marketing and now I am pursuing my dream of becoming a chef.
“I grew up between my parents’ home and my grandmother in St Philip . . . . Between Mangrove and Union . . . . My dad was a caterer and while I was taught by him and my grandmother, back then I never saw it as a career.
“If so, I would have done home economics and gone on to do culinary arts. I only realised my passion for cooking about ten years ago and even then it was something I just did at home and as a hobby. Now I have done the courses and gotten my certification I am looking to become a private chef.”
For Kimberley, the loss of her womb was a bit unnerving at first, as she felt like a huge part of her as a woman was missing . . . she was incomplete.
“But I knew it was for the best. To save my life. And now four years on, I am still cancer-free.
“I participate every year in the cancer walks. I bring my friends along, even my daughter . . . The whole posse.”
Kimberley said her social media time ine is flooded with messages of hope and inspiration.
“I tell all my friends and even women who ask me to make sure to get their check-ups. No one in my family had cancer, so I was the first. Don’t put off the checks.”
Next month is a big one for Kimberley. She will once again be entering the National Independence Festival of Creative Arts Best Bajan Cook competition.
“I got a pork dish that I am perfecting that will knock your socks off,” she said with a grin. (NS)
