Carlene’s new hope

Carlene Bruno helps survivors like herself to embrace their bodies after breast cancer.

Carlene Bruno out-rightly rejected the term "in remission."

The 55-year-old mother of two said she is cancer-free and intends to remain that way.

"You see that remission thing… I don't believe in it. I am cancer-free. I did my treatment. I am alive, that's all behind me now," Bruno said confidently.

Not only has she weathered that storm gracefully, but she has also found a way to a new career path, while making an impact on the lives of other women. She is the founder of Carlene Bruno's Formations Centre, which offers formation bras and prostheses to survivors who had mastectomies like herself.

There is more to her business, though than just that, she added.

Bruno, whose surgery and treatment were done in the US, saw the need to provide patients and survivors with more information to prepare themselves better for what was about to happen to them.

"The things I noticed abroad was that the cancer society there picked up and dropped patients from home to their treatment, and that they, including me, were given booklets and info on all that would be done, the after-effects, what to expect etc. So I looked at that and I asked God, 'What would you have me do?'"

She distinctly heard Him tell her to gather as much information and pass it on to help other women. When she returned to TT she approached a senior member of staff at the St James Cancer Centre about what she wanted to d,o and this developed into a working relationship.

But she recalled when she was not as confident.

On March 11, 2011, after feeling a lump in her left breast, Bruno was worried enough to visit her doctor. This, though, had not been the genesis of her discovery, as two years earlier she had had a mammogram and was told the lump then was small, and not to be overly concerned.

However, during her second mammogram, her concern grew when one technician called another to view her slides.

"I knew something was wrong this time. I told my husband, and he recommended I go abroad to seek another opinion. I was also told a biopsy was needed," she recalled.

Bruno took his advice, consulted with her brothers and travelled to the US, where a radioactive biopsy was done.

She was given the dreaded news and immediately heard a death sentence.

"I was devastated. I thought why in my family, when no one else had ever had cancer, as far as I knew, did I have it? I cried – and then straight away blew my nose and informed the doctor I was about to ask him a whole bunch of stupid questions. He smiled and told me no question was stupid when it came to one's health, medical care and cancer," she remembered.

Doctors recommended a lumpectomy, but with chemotherapy first to shrink the lump. This was done and she could literally feel the lump get both softer and smaller, before the surgery. However, the doctors realised they had not got all of the cancer cells and spoke of removing the marginalised cells.

Instead, Bruno thought of the risks of more surgery, and doubted it would remove all of the mass.

"The doctors were all about preserving the breast and wanted to make a second attempt to remove the remaining cells. I felt like I was going to be holding on to something (her left breast) that was going to be a risk to my health and my life. I told them cut it off and eliminate the mass entirely. It's a decision I have never regretted."

That procedure and subsequent treatment saw Bruno in the US for over a year.

Her sons, Kernell and Keaun, were 24 and 19 respectively at that time, and took the news hard. It affected them even more that she had to be away for her treatment, or cut calls short because of short breath or weakness, but they made up for lost personal time through daily Skype "family moments."

Her husband Pernell Bruno, a former councillor for Barataria, died in July last year, but her memories of him by her side in the US as she took her treatments live on.

As for how her body endured the treatment, Bruno said she thanks God every day that she did not suffer any major side effects from the chemo. The only negative aspect, she recalled, was losing the "taste" in her mouth and not being able to enjoy meals.

Even losing her long hair and sporting a completely bald head was done with a certain
je ne sais quo. Bruno recalled being complimented on her look and was deeply moved by ta comment from one woman she met on a trip to Philadelphia, who was also battling cancer.

"She expressed amazement that I was brave enough to not cover my bald head from shame or lack of self-confidence. I told her I owned what I was going through and I was alive, and that was all that mattered to me."

Now, Bruno can be found at hospitals educating patients on cancer using booklets, advising them and offering words of encouragement.

Aformer graphic artist and public servant, she said she had made some drastic changes to her diet, by choosing no longer to eat meat, and drinking lots of coconut water. She has since reverted to eating meat in moderation, but not beef or pork.

One regime she sticks to is juicing fruits and veggies at the start of every day.

"When you are diagnosed, take care of yourself. My best advice is to not sit and wait for others to instruct on what you need to do. Get up and educate yourself, do something to know more about what you are living with. This is your second chance at life – don't throw it away."