"Breast cancer need not be a death sentence," says breast cancer survivor Nan Austin, while addressing local women about her personal experiences during a breast cancer breakfast at the Wyvern Club on Friday.
"Breast cancer need not be a death sentence," says breast cancer survivor Nan Austin, while addressing local women about her personal experiences during a breast cancer breakfast at the Wyvern Club on Friday.
October is marked as Breast Cancer Month which gives women an opportunity to get together, share their stories and find out more about the disease. The event was part of Grahamstown Hospice’s way of raising awareness about the disease and to raise funds. According to one of the organisers, Cathy Braans, more than R10 000 was raised during the talk.
Austin said that the chemotherapy that she had to undergo was dreadful. "After three days of chemotherapy I felt awful and I just wanted to sit in the corners and face the wall,” she said. When encouraging women to go for mammograms, she said "it’s important to check for lumps and if it’s diagnosed at an early stage, there’s no problem." She says she had cancer in both breasts which was a very traumatic experience for her.
Kate Read, a radiologist from Drs Visser, Erasmus, Vadwa and Partners, strongly encouraged women to examine their breasts regularly and says "it must be done once month." She also said that radiographers look at your clinical history because most cancers are hereditary. Read said that cancer shows itself in varying ways and that people shouldn’t wait for symptoms because sometimes it tends to hide itself. She added that there are so many South Africans who are unde privileged and who don’t have medical aids and urged women to assist their domestic workers if they have are mediaclly insured themselved.
In a pamphlet distributed by Drs Visser, Erasmus, Vadwa and Partners, it is stated that breast cancer begins as a lump -usually a small one in the breast- and then gradually begins to grow and spread to other parts of the body. Although it’s a disease that is mostly associated with women, men can also develop it. Lifestyle factors that may lead to any form of cancer include smoking, alcohol, obesity and a diet high in saturated fats. It is further stated that "mammograms are the key to early detection and an integral tool in the fight of breast cancer." Mammogram screening is the most effective way to detect possible abnormalities.
Although women are advised to self-examine once a month, Grahamstown residents have to travel to Port Elizabeth for mammograms to be conducted. Drs Visser, Erasmus, Vadwa and Partners says that you can make an appointment to do so at their Greenacres, Mercantile, Uitenhage and St George’s branches in Port Elizabeth.
