By Mabinty M. Kamara
Siminge K. Mondeh, a breast cancer survivor, on Thursday told a group of women that breast cancer, though fierce, is not a death sentence as there are chances for survival.
Mondeh’s testimony was part of a session organized by the Well Woman Clinic, a reproductive health facility that campaigns against breast cancer. The event was part of ongoing commemoration of the Breast Cancer Month – October.
During the event, volunteers of Well Woman provided free screening for breast cancer for the participants.
Cancer refers to a disease that results when changes in the body cause the uncontrolled growth and division of cells. There are several types of cancers, including skin cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer.
Breast cancer, which is a cancer that forms in the cells of the breasts, is said to be one of the most prevalent cancers in Sierra Leone. Yet the country has no cancer treatment facility.
Well Woman is one of a very few facilities that provide basic support to cancer patients and sensitization for prevention. Mondeh is one of hundreds of women who have benefitted from their interventions. She had the last (4th) stage cancer, which requires a “radical surgery”, which means that the entire infected breast is removed in order to prevent the cancer disease from spreading further.
“A radical Mastectomy was what was written on my medical paper. I prayed day in and out. I cried. I lost everything, including a relationship. But I refused to give up,” Monday, 46, a mother of one, recounted.
She was diagnosed in 2017 and the surgery was done in 2018.
Mondeh said she never associated the ailment to any superstition, nor did she deny doctors’ advice or recommendations to remove her entire breast.
“…because it is better for me to live with a single or worst no breast, than to fight for keeping the breast and lose my life in the process,” she said.
Mondeh admonished other women to be breast cancer conscious and report any abnormality immediately, rather than wait until their case reach where hers reached, to the extent that she had to undergo Chemotherapy.
“Chemotherapy is a very terrible experience. You see my palm, it made me black like a monkey. But that was because I allowed it to get serious and they needed to save my life. So anything they could do to save my life was welcomed,” she said.
The audience was drawn from across Freetown. It followed weeks of sensitization, encouraging people to turn up for the session which lasts for two days (October 10 and 11).
Tina Davis, Reproductive Health Consultant at the Well Woman Clinic, said that there are higher chances of survival for patients who notice and report abnormalities earlier than those who wait till they get worse. She said this is why from time to time they (Well Woman) have been engaging in outreach and awareness raising about breast cancer as a commitment to support women who are survivors and those who have the potential to get breast cancer.
“Over 1000 breast cancer cases were recorded last year in just the Western Area, which means there is more happening in Sierra Leone because Freetown is not Sierra Leone,” she said in an interview, stressing the need for breast cancer awareness and outreach programs to cut across the country.
According to Davies, their experience over the years revealed that breast cancer is no more limited to the ages of 60 and 65 years. She said its victims are getting younger and younger, which is why they are not leaving the school going girls behind.
According to the Sierra Leone Breast Cancer Society, breast Cancer accounted for 80% of total cancer cases in women reported in 18 medical units in the Western Area, compared to 17% cases for cervical cancer. Other forms of cancer amounted to 3%, while in males prostate cancer accounts for 48%, liver 29%, eye 11% and other forms of cancer 12%.
Between 2015 and 2018, a total of 2, 782 cancer cases were recorded in the country.
Davis said awareness raising has helped bring out more reports of breast cancer, but that the lack of the necessary services is the down side of their work.
Nurse Adijatu Salaam, a facilitator during the session, noted that so far there is no known specific cause of cancer, which calls for people to stay off things that are harmful to their health, like cigarette and alcohol. She also said ensuring proper diet is crucial for strong anti-bodies to fight off any disease.
© 2019 Politico Online
