Woman Ends Breast Cancer Month with Completion of Treatment

If you’ve been seeing a lot of pink lately, you’re not imagining things. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Belizeans have been proudly wearing pink to show support. As the month wraps up, we end on a high note. Today, at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, Janine Cattouse rang the bell in the oncology unit, a powerful symbol that her cancer treatment is complete. It’s a story of courage and hope in the face of one of life’s toughest battles. News Five’s Britney Gordon has more.

 

Janine Cattouse, Cancer Survivor

“Ring this bell three times well. is told to clearly say my treatment’s done. This course is run and I am on my way.”

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Just over a year ago, in August of 2024, thirty-six-year-old Janine Cattouse received a diagnosis that would turn her entire world upside down: stage two breast cancer. Now, after a grueling year of chemotherapy, targeted drug therapy and radiation, she has completed her cancer treatment and rings the bell on new beginnings. At a gathering of family, friends, and her treatment team, she shared how grateful she is for all the support.

 

Janine Cattouse

“These people have really walked me through it from the very first day. Each nurse has done and have gone above and beyond what they’re called to do. And so I am so forever grateful to them for each of you, for taking the time to come here. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, you have also been a part of this journey with me, and I can’t tell you thanks enough. It’s been tough. And when I say tough, tough. This isn’t anything that I would wish on my worst enemy, and I pray that none of you would ever have to experience this.”

 

Cattouse is a literature and religion teacher at St. Catherine Academy. Following her diagnosis, she embraced her role as an educator to inspire the young women who look up to her. SCA Principal, Salome Tillett, shares how proud she is of Cattouse for her resilience on this journey.

 

Salome Tillett, Principal, St. Catherine’s Academy

“It’s a celebration for all of us. Janine is a warrior. She powered through this. On her low days, you couldn’t tell. She showed up to work, even said, Janine, don’t you want to be at home? Do you want to rest? No, I want to be here. I want to be busy. I want to keep going, keep living. And we could see in her an increase in her faith and increase in her willingness to share her story, to inspire all of us just by the growth we saw in her in the middle of her challenges.”

 

One in five women face triple-positive breast cancer, an aggressive type that demands multiple treatments. Janine Cattouse hopes her journey will raise awareness and inspire others to keep fighting. She says her students have been her greatest motivation to push through.

 

Janine Cattouse

“ I think one of the fundamental things is recognizing that there is a purpose for you. And sometimes we might overlook that. The challenges and the burdens, all the obstacles that you face may make you feel like you don’t have a purpose, but with God, that you know that there is a purpose. And so you continue to fight even on the days that it’s so hard to get out bed,  you fight because you know that there’s something bigger coming out of all of this.”

 

Through this experience, Cattouse’s faith has been strengthened. She says that even when things feel impossible to overcome, with prayers and the support of family and friends, anything is possible. Britney Gordon for News Five.