Businessman Harold Beharry and his wife beat the disease together   

Oct 29, 2023 Features / Columnists, News, Waterfalls Magazine

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Diagnosed with cancer in the same year…

Waterfalls Magazine – Often when stories of cancer survivors are told, it incorporates how that person’s spouse or life partner’s support was vital to them beating the disease.

You often hear that the survivor leaned on his/her partner for strength as they went through treatment until remission. But have you ever wondered what happens when both persons in the relationship are battling the same illness almost at the same time?

That was exactly the case of prominent businessman Harold Beharry and his wife, Gloria.

The couple was diagnosed in the same year with the terminal illness but this did not stop them from looking to the future with hope. The Beharrys fought and won their battles with cancer. This week, the usually private couple opened up to The Waterfalls about surviving the terrible ailment.

“I couldn’t imagine what I would have done if I did not have my wife by my side,” Beharry said. He received a doctor’s report that he had prostate cancer on August 24, 2012. The businessman endured four months of rigid treatment before his wife received a breast cancer diagnosis.

He said, “It was a difficult situation but we had each other to lean on for support.”

In Beharry’s case, a routine checkup with his doctor led to the dreaded discovery. He recalled, “After a test my PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) was high, so the doctor recommended I do a biopsy, which is a medical procedure to determine if you have cancer or not.”

Looking back, he noted that it wasn’t a very comfortable situation given the fact that he didn’t know what to expect of the results.

After the biopsy results came back and it indicated that he had cancer, the businessman was left to process the news.  Beharry noted that with cancer there are many options and his treatment options included radiation and chemotherapy but his biggest worry was how he was going to break it to his wife. Beharry recalled his wife’s silence when he first broke the news.

“I said, I have cancer and she looked at me and she couldn’t talk for a little while, because cancer is something that you don’t want to get because it can be fatal,” he said.

Despite this, the businessman who is not much of a religious person said he turned to his faith for strength. He said he believed that there was nothing to do about it, except trust God, live his life, and undergo the necessary treatment.

“Worry wouldn’t help it, it makes it worse, I remember in the Word of God Matthew 7, Jesus said “Don’t worry,” he said adding that, “if you worry, you can’t change it.”

As such, instead of making the decision to undergo treatment immediately, he travelled home to Guyana and worked for three months while he weighed his pros and cons.

Eventually, Beharry decided to undergo treatment at the Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he met his specialist, ‘Dr. Glen.’

After discussions with the medical professional, the businessman was able to determine the best treatment option available for him to fight the disease.

Consequentially, Beharry underwent radiation for 45 days in succession and he would have experienced a total deficit of energy.

“My wife would accompany me to every doctor’s appointment because even if I drive to get there, I would be too weak to drive home after the sessions.”

He continued, “My wife was a constant source of physical and emotional support.”

However, Beharry said there was one aspect of radiation that proved somewhat of a struggle for him. Since he had prostate cancer, he would have to drink 2 bottles of water an hour before treatment.

“You are not allowed to go the bathroom before the session and spend 20-30 minutes on the machine,” he explained.

Laughing at the situation now, the businessman told this magazine that “holding the liquid proved a challenge by itself, as soon as you finish radiation there was a line for the bathroom.”

After those 45 days of having his energy sucked out of him from the heat the treatment administered, getting back into his normal routine was not easy.

However, Beharry took it easy since his energy levels weren’t originally what they used to be.

As the couple celebrated completing his treatment and the progress he was showing, just a few weeks,  after his beloved wife got diagnosed with breast cancer.

Beharry recalled that he mustered his strength to now offer his wife the similar care and support she had shown him. He noted that her journey was different since she chose the chemotherapy route.

“So she was taking care of me and then I had to take care of her after, and she had to go for chemo and that was more difficult.” Though her treatment time was shorter, it was more intense and she even lost her hair. He recalled that Beharry made it her mission that her husband would never see her without her hair.

“So, she would wear some headband or something and during the time when she lost her hair, I never saw her without hair. Even when her hair was growing back, I never saw her without a headband until she had a lot of hair on her head. It was very funny.”

Seeing that he already went through treatment, Beharry said he was able to be patient with his wife, he understood the situation,  and they were each other’s constant support system.

Over the years the businessman has used his experience with prostate and breast cancer to offer guidance to those battling the disease.

He told the Waterfalls that he has shared his story with quite a few people. Beharry’s battle with cancer ended later 2012, and his wife’s journey began and ended the following year.

His advice now to persons battling the disease is, “If you have cancer, you have to face the fact that it is there.”

“You have to condition your mind to handle it, if not just being diagnosed with cancer alone could make it worse for you because healing has a lot to do with the condition of the mind, and once you approach it in that way, you have a better chance of surviving it,” he said.

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• businessman, disease, Harold Beharry, incorporates, support

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