Waynesha’s fight

Waynesha Symonette’s daughter was just a few months old, when she received devastating news – she was diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer. Her only thought was that she had to live for her daughter, Anteya Goodman, who, at almost two years old, is her pride and joy.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said Symonette who was diagnosed in February 2020 while in hospital, as they tried to determine why she was constantly bleeding. “I wanted to cry, but couldn’t right then. But after the doctor walked off, I couldn’t hold it anymore.

“The most heartbreaking thing was that it wasn’t expected at all. I’m young and I just had a child, so that was heartbreaking.”

Symonette was diagnosed with stage three cervical cancer.

Cancer is a disease in which cells in the body grow out of control. It is always named for the part of the body where it starts, even if it spreads to other body parts later.

In March 2019, Symonette said she was ecstatic to learn she was pregnant. She bled her entire pregnancy, which put her into the high-risk category and led to her giving birth to her daughter at 35 weeks via Caesarean section.

After giving birth, she continued to bleed, and sought medical attention, and found herself in and out of the hospital for six months.

“There were some days where I was so weak to move and even scared to stand up, because I knew that a fountain of blood would come flowing down my legs,” she recalled. “At that time, I was literally the woman with the issue of blood.”

After multiple blood transfusions and a biopsy on her cervix, she received the devastating news at only 27 years old, and a new mom, that she had cervical cancer.

“The blow was immense,” she said.

Like any human being, Symonette said she shed her fair share of tears. But she knew she had to fight. She had to live for her infant daughter.

“I knew that I have a beautiful baby girl who is depending on me.”

Hospitalization meant Symonette was away from her infant daughter. She was consoled by her mother Faustine Symonette who she said would send her videos while she was in the hospital of simple things like her daughter eating.

While she may have missed out on many in-person firsts, due to being in and out of hospital and receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatment, she did not miss out on her daughter’s first step.

“She was about seven months then, and was trying to walk, and I did get to see her first step in person. I was very excited. Now, at almost two years old, she knows her ABCs,” Symonette proudly said that she and Anteya’s dad, Reuben Goodman, taught her.

The cancer fighting treatment took a toll on Symonette, but after they were completed, she said she received great feedback from her doctors. But it was at her six-month check-up that she again received devastating news – while her cervix was clear of cancer cells, the cells had metastasized into her chest.

She now has to undergo another set of chemotherapy, with a much stronger dosage, for a longer period of time. Her medical bills have also increased, and Symonette has no health insurance.

Her first battle with cancer, which comprised a course of six chemotherapy and radiation treatments, cost her $30,000. She still owes $26,000 on that bill.

Now that she has to undergo another set of chemotherapy at a much stronger dosage, for a longer period of time, she has taken to crowdfunding to assist with defraying her medical bills.

Symonette has taken to gofundme.com to try to raise $150,000 to assist, an amount that she said also factors in the amount she already owes. The page, which was created on July 23, has realized $5,833 in donations to date.

While she said her doctors say they are aiming for longevity for her, Symonette said she is grateful for any and all donations and that anything counts toward helping with her medical bills.

As she fights her second battle with cancer, to date, she has taken two cycles of a 17-cycle course of treatment, which run approximately $4,800 per treatment.

As she fights for her life, Symonette is devastated at the precious time it will take away from her daughter.

“Last year, because I was doing radiation and chemo at the same time, I couldn’t deal with my daughter at all; my mother had her. Now that it’s just chemo, two to three days I feel nauseous, and 10 days afterwards I start to feel like myself, but the minute you recover, you have to go back for another course of treatment.”

As she battles, Symonette said the most precious thing for her right now is the quality time she gets to spend with her daughter, and she takes every opportunity she can to take her to the park, the beach, or the movies.

All women are at risk for cervical cancer. It occurs most often in women over age 30, according to the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC). Long-lasting infection with certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer. HPV is a common virus that is passed from one person to another during sex. At least half of sexually active people will have HPV at some point in their lives, but few women will get cervical cancer.

Screening tests and the HPV vaccine can help prevent cervical cancer. When cervical cancer is found early, the CDC says it is highly treatable and associated with long survival and good quality of life.

Symonette recalls getting an abnormal pap smear in 2016, when she was 21-22 years old, but said being young, she brushed it off. It was after that, that she started bleeding abnormally, but the bleeding, she said, stopped after she went on a birth control shot.

The bleeding returned when she learned she was pregnant.

According to the CDC, the most important thing a person can do to help prevent cervical cancer and reduce risk is to have regular screening tests starting at age 21.

Early on, cervical cancer may not cause signs or symptoms. Advanced cervical cancer may cause bleeding or discharge from the vagina that is not normal.

Screening tests that can help prevent cervical cancer or find it early, include the Pap smear and the HPV test.

Cervical cancer is treated in several ways. It depends on the kind of cervical cancer and how far it has spread. Treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.

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