Survivors give hope to breast cancer patients

By Tumininu Ojelabi Hassan

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020, or nearly one in six deaths. The most common cancers are breast, lung, colon, rectum and prostate cancers.

Breast cancer used to be major caused of death among women and its diagnosis seemed to be a death sentence. However, the rising incidence of survivors is giving hope to patients that recovery is possible

Based on Global Cancer Observatory Statistics in 2020, about 124,000 cancer cases were recorded in Nigeria, about 78,000 cancer patients died that same year which is about 60% mortality rate.

According to World Health Organization, In 2020, 2.3 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer and 685,000 deaths globally. As of the end of 2020, there were 7.8 million women alive who were diagnosed with breast cancer in the past five years, making it the world’s most prevalent cancer.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and it occurs in every country of the world and prevalent in women at any age after puberty but with increasing rates in later life.

Breast cancer is the abnormal growth of breast cells likely caused by a combination of hormonal factors, genetic factors, other non-hormonal physiological factors (Age), environmental and lifestyle factors.

In Nigeria, breast Cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths currently, representing about 23% of all cancer cases. In the past five years, the breast cancer cases in Nigeria amounted to 60,296, which is about 59.3 percent of all cancer cases in the country and 14,274 deaths attributed to it which is about 18 percent of cancer cases.

Our correspondent in an interview with a breast cancer survivor who narrated her experience, treatment and healing process, can report that ignorance and delay in diagnosis are the main cause of mortality..

Mrs. Joyce Olisemeka, a 54-year old businesswoman, explained how she found out she had breast cancer, and process to her recovery.

“Before then, I had been reading about breast cancer and I was aware of Self Examination, which involves standing in front of a mirror, massaging your breasts to observe any changes and abnormality.

“As a woman, you need to understand your body because it can come in form of a lump, breast discoloration, pimple or boil and changes in the nipples. I usually do self examination every morning.

“In February 2018, I was doing my self examination as usual when I noticed a very small lump in my breast. It was quite different from the other side of the breast, I hadn’t felt it before then, it was unusual. So I overlooked it but was always checking it every time. If I wasn’t doing regular self examination, I wouldn’t have noticed because the lump wasn’t painful. I didn’t even think it was breast cancer but I knew the worse it could be was breast cancer, so I kept praying and hoping it wasn’t it.

“It kept getting bigger. So in May 2018, after my mum’s burial, I went to Optimal Cancer Foundation, Surulere owned by Dr. Femi Olaleye. I did Medical check up, a lump was noticed which I was already aware of. I was told I needed to do a Mammogram and I was referred to a Laboratory nearby. Afterwards, the result showed there was a lump about 2cm. Then I proceeded to do Fine needle aspiration to determine if the lump was cancerous or not. I waited for two weeks to get the result.”

According to her, 80% of breast lumps are benign and only 20% is cancerous.
“Unfortunately, my lump was cancerous and it had gotten to Stage two. I got two referral letters from Dr. Femi Olaleye. One to the hospital he directed me to and one to general hospital. I hadn’t made up my mind on the hospital to use due to the money involved, I needed to carry my family along.

“I started conducting research on google to know more about breast cancer and the side effects of Chemotherapy but it didn’t help matters at all, it heightened my fear. A lot of people discouraged me from taking Chemotherapy because they believed it kills people. A particular video was circulating then, where a woman mentioned that her daughter died after taking chemotherapy.

“Then I went to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in June 2018, the doctor told me the treatment process was to firstly do a biopsy; secondly chemotherapy, then undergo surgery and lastly another chemotherapy. I asked the doctor certain questions, which I couldn’t get adequate answers to.

“Along the line, I received a call from my friend, advising me not to take chemotherapy and sent me the video I talked about earlier. Before the call, I had made up my mind to go for treatment but after the call I was discouraged and left the hospital. Also, one of the things that discouraged me was the fact that I lost my younger brother to leukemia, even after he took all the treatments.

“At a point, I asked God for direction because I was confused. I didn’t want to die as a result of the treatment neither did I want to stay without treatment until it gets beyond control and I eventually lose my life. During this period I lost a lot of weight, not because of the cancer but because I wasn’t eating well due to ignorance and people’s advice. I used to be size 16 but after I was diagnosed, I came down to size 10.”

In addition, she narrated the beginning of her treatment: “Fast forward to October ending, which was after 9 months, I made up my mind to go to the hospital. I was referred to Mediservice Community Hospital, Ipaja owned by Dr. Ajayi Majebi. According to the doctor, one of the reasons people die of cancer is late detection but if it’s detected early, the person will survive it.

“The doctor encouraged me and I agreed to go for the treatment. The first stage was undergoing surgery (Mastectomy) which was done on November 3rd, 2018, then it was in Stage Three. Histology and Immuno-histochemistry, which showed that the breast cancer was triple negative meaning the cause of the cancer was unknown. The type of cancer determines the type of chemotherapy to take as there are different types of cancer.

“Chemotherapy was the second stage, which I started three weeks after the surgery. I had six courses of chemotherapy, which was every three weeks. The chemotherapy ended on 20th March, 2019. During my treatment I experienced hair loss, barely two weeks after my first chemotherapy course, my hair went off.
“Another side effect was that I used to feel feverish. In July 2019, I had my radiotherapy treatment at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and since then I have been very fine, it’s been four years.

Also, she explained the cost of the treatment. The surgery was N350,000 , chemotherapy was N300,000 per course multiplied by six courses, radiotherapy, Computed tomography (CT) scan and other tests amounted to N980,000. In total, she spent about N5 million.”

Speaking on cure, she mentioned that the best thing is discovering it early. She emphasized on the importance of early detection. Early treatment and appropriate treatment hold the key between life and death. Although the major challenge cancer patients face is financial constraints, it is advisable to reach out to people in order to get the necessary help.

In addition, she said that doctors advised that once a woman is above 40 years old, she should always go for mammogram, because age plays an important role in this. She was diagnosed when she was 50 years old. It’s also advisable to run a breast scan, which can detect even the smallest lump, that is stage zero that a mammogram might be unable to detect.

Based on research, before the lump comes out, the cell would have been in the body for about five years. She mentioned that when it’s between stage 0-1, surgery and chemotherapy might not be necessary, only radiotherapy will be conducted.

Also, after the treatment, the patient will be placed on checkup every three months to confirm cancer remission. Meanwhile, some will be placed on drugs coupled with the check up depending on the type of cancer. After about two years, the checkup will be done every six months. Then after another two years, the checkup will be done once annually. The essence of these checkups is to avoid a reoccurrence. If it reoccurs, it will be noticed early enough and treatment begins immediately.

Our correspondent also spoke with another breast cancer survivor, Olushola Akapo, a cancer life coach. She explained her experience and treatment process.
“In April 2019, I found out I

had breast cancer when I went for my normal screening. A lump was noticed, it wasn’t painful. The cancer was in stage three when I was diagnosed. Then I went to LASUTH for treatment where I had Mastectomy and took six chemotherapy courses.

Then after a few weeks, I went for Radiotherapy, which was done at LUTH, Idi Araba, and I completed my treatment in July 2020. Some side effects I noticed were Neuropathy and body pain, which I still have till date but it gets better everyday. I avoid taking drugs unless in a severe condition, instead I do more of natural remedies.”

She added that, she goes for her medical checkup every three months, which cost about N45,000 and her yearly routine, which involves running comprehensive tests that cost about N180,000.

Also, she narrated how she coped within the one year of treatment and the challenges she encountered.

“I was depressed and emotionally traumatized within the year of my treatment. It took one year and it was during lockdown, so getting transport to the hospital was very difficult. I couldn’t afford the treatment, it was about N5 million so I had to solicit for financial help on social media. The stigmatization I faced from people put my mental health in a messy state.
“I’m into makeup artistry, my trainees started leaving so I wouldn’t infect them with cancer. A lot of people said God was punishing me for my sins. But I just had to be strong and didn’t pay so much attention to what people were saying. I’m of the opinion that it can happen to anyone although no one prays to have it”.

According to her, how to prevent breast cancer is to: Stay healthy, engage in physical exercise, eating healthy, and self breast examination. She also buttressed her point by saying, “Early detection saves live. Go for treatment immediately you are diagnosed, have faith in God,. Positive declaration is also very important, then ask your oncologist questions, you need to get adequate information.
In addition, she advised breast cancer patients to always stay hydrated.

“During my treatment, I was placed on a specific diet plan. I couldn’t eat red meat, no fatty foods. I ate more of Vegetables, I stayed hydrated always. My diet helped a lot during my healing process, it did 50% of the work.”

Based on research, some of the problems associated with treatment of cancer patients in Nigeria include: Low staff strength – there are less than 100 oncologists in Nigeria, which is extremely low for a population of 200 million. Lack of funds, as breast cancer is very expensive to treat. Some breast cancer patients die due to their inability to afford the treatment.
Another challenge is the lack of early diagnostic tools, little or zero awareness, and lastly lack of mental health care for breast cancer patients.