Dr. Naa Adorkor Aryeetey and Aunty Gladys demonstrating how to identify a lump or a mast in the breast
Aunty Gladys Boateng had felt a sharp pain in her right breast a few weeks ago when she was dressing up, but did not pay any particular attention to it.
For her, nothing could possibly go wrong with her breasts; she was a mother of three, living a healthy lifestyle, until she visited the hospital for her routine medical check-up.
“I had gone to the hospital for my check-up and when the doctor examined me, he also examined my breasts. My doctor said that something was a bit hard there so a biopsy was done, and it was found out to be cancerous,” she says.
Aunty Gladys says the news of her having breast cancer struck her and made her fear she would be losing her life soon, but she went back to the doctors for medical advice.
“I got scared because the people I knew who had breast cancer died so I thought it was a death sentence for me too,” she says.
Her fears were further heightened when her doctor said she needed a mastectomy; (the removal of the breast).
She says although she was confused about whether to go for the surgery or not, the doctor’s explanation of the treatment and its importance to her survival convinced her to go for the successful surgery in South Africa.
It’s been 17 years after Aunty Gladys went through her cancer treatment and now lives to share her story to others who are living with breast cancer.
Through her organisation, Reach For Africa-Ghana, she has provided support to breast cancer patients and organised many breast cancer awareness programmes, giving women the opportunity to be aware of the curable but deadly diseases.
Scope of Breast Cancer in Ghana
Records at the Non-Communicable Disease Unit of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) show that 16,000 new cancer cases are recorded in the country every year.
Out of this number, Dr Efua Commey of the NCD Programme GHS says 2,260 breast cancer cases are recorded annually, with about 1021 females losing their lives.
She, however, indicates that 70 percent of the deaths that occur as a result of breast cancer can be prevented through early detection and healthy living.
Dr Naa Adorkor Aryeetey, a specialist radiation oncologist at the Radiotherapy Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) who has worked on cancer cases at the centre for the past six years, says the centre has been seeing about a 1,200 new cases every year, with breast cancer being the commonest cancer females present.
“When I came to the centre, we saw a lot of advanced diseases, it is not that it has changed too much but the truth is that these days we see some patients who have early stage disease as well,” she mentions.
Highlighting the extent of breast cancer females come to the centre with, Dr Aryeetey says most of the breast cancers are stage three, while others are stage four which is the advanced stages.
Early Detection/Treatment
Aunty Gladys had her entire right breast removed as the cancer had spread to a lymph node. She says after the doctor’s diagnosis, she realised her breast was getting swollen and it had an infection.
“So I was treated for the infection and had my chemotherapy and radiotherapy after the surgery,” she says.
She, however, believes if her cancer had been discovered earlier, she would not have had to remove her entire breast.
Dr Aryeetey says early detection is the sure way to survive breast cancer.
“The point of being a doctor is because we want our patients to live and our patients are more likely to live if we find their cancers early,” she adds.
The centre, she indicates, treats breast cancer cases with urgency and as a priority although it is not an emergency.
“Once the pathologist determines that it is a cancer, a decision is made as to the kind of treatment that you will be given at the tumor board meeting,” she says.
Dr Aryeetey expands that the intensity of the treatment given to breast cancer patients is fashioned around the stage of the cancer.
“First thing for us to do is to remove the tumour-based on how early it is seen. If it is early, we just remove the lump and a few lymph nodes so you continue to have your breast. If it is advanced, however, we have to remove the entire breast and then lymph nodes from your armpit as well,” she explains.
Dr Aryeetey, however, states that if the diseases is metastatic, then a chronic treatment is given, “so we give chemo if you respond we give you some break if it comes back we give you more chemo and if you are going to live for five years we will be receiving treatment for five years which his burdensome.”
She says the chronic treatment sometimes becomes frustrating because some of the patients think about selling their property to receive treatment.
“Trust me, no doctor is happy when that happens you know, the most difficult part of this job is knowing something can help a patient but they can’t have so most of the doctors have to raise funds for them,” Dr Aryeetey states.
Myths
Hearsay and words of mouth about what cancer is or is not and what happens to people with breast cancer has been the bane of cancer treatment in the country, Dr Aryeetey adds.
She says wrong information can push people into taking decisions that are not best for their condition and this is when people run to prayer camps and use all kinds of untested medicines.
She says the untrue information people are given by faith and traditional healers such as surgery will kill you and that the doctors want to kill cancer patients have contributed to females presenting with advanced stages of breast cancer.
“They are told that if they have surgery they will die, that’s not true because there are a lot more people who have had surgeries and are alive than are dead. There is no doctor who wakes up in the morning and plans to go a kill anybody at all. The whole purpose of medicine is to get people to be well,” Dr Aryeetey stresses.
“I was told if I went to the hospital, all my hair will fall off and I will die within one year. Even after the surgery, people were telling me I could not survive for more than a year but here I am since 1999,” Aunty Gladys says.
Dr Aryeetey says other women are scared of the deformity after the breast is removed and would, therefore, want to use alternative medicine to cure but she says there is a reconstructive surgery that can be done for those who do not want to use the prosthesis (artificial breast).
Survivors Testimonies
“The testimonies are countless,” Dr Aryeetey says. “I have seen so many people who have survived breast cancer but one that really struck a chord was this young lady who had cancer in one of her breasts.
At the time we saw her, she was not married and it was really difficult for her to decide where to have her breast removed or not because that was what she needed. After convincing her, she agreed to have her breast removed. She finished her chemotherapy, radiotherapy and was discharged.
Her fear was that her boyfriend would leave her, but he didn’t, they got married and she was on some medication for five years she finished the medication, she got pregnant and she has had two kids.
Another lady that had both her breast removed 25 years ago is living a normal life, Dr Aryeetey adds, wishing more survivors will come out and speak about it.
Aunty Gladys who is now the director of Reach for Africa-Ghana has lived the past 17 years of her life supporting people with breast cancer.
She says since the inception of her organisation 10 years ago, over 6,000 goody bags containing supportive kits have been distributed to breast cancer patients who had gone through surgery.
“I want you to know that this is not a death sentence, so go to the hospital, follow the doctor’s advice add prayer and it shall be well. Cutting of the breast doesn’t kill but the spread and delay in detection that kills,” she says.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri