A DOUBLE WHAMMY

Marinet was reeling from the news of her son’s diagnosis when she discovered she too was suffering from cancer

- NADINE RAMONGANE

THE news was devastating. Her precious son, so young and innocent and full of life, was gravely ill with a rare form of cancer.

But it would be okay, Marinet Janse van Rensburg told herself. She would stay strong for the sake of her little boy and her teenage son and daughter.

There was no time for self-pity – life had to go on.

As a single parent, she had to be everyone’s rock. As the months went by, the hectic, challenging days became her life – visiting her son in hospital, worrying about the staggering medical bills, making sure her teenagers were cared for, trying to keep up with her job as office manager at an organisation that trains service dogs.

She was constantly tired, but she ignored it, assuming the exhaustion was because of the stress of daily life.

Then one day she felt a lump in her breast – and tests confirmed her worst fears: she had breast cancer.

“Of course I’m scared,” the 39-year-old mom from Cullinan in Gauteng says.

“But I’ll keep fighting. Marlo and my other two children need me.”

But there has been more bad news since her cancer diagnosis. Marlo (4), who has embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, a form of cancer that occurs mostly in children and can spread to the neck, genitals and organs such as the liver, is deteriorating fast.

Doctors have told Marinet her son’s cancer is terminal and there’s nothing more they can do for him except keep him comfortable.