October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month



Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women and its a fact that one out of every 9 women will be diagnosed of it. To this effect, the month of October also called Pink October is set aside world over to raise awareness on this scourge, and also to raise money that will aid more research, diagnosis and treatment.

October is also a constant reminder of a lost loved one. I was driving to the office on that day when she called me and said she found a lump in her under arm. Calmly I told her to come out to town the next day so we could go to the hospital for a check. After various tests it was confirmed the lump was cancerous  and will be removed. And they did. But after various hospitals in Abia, Port Harcourt and Lagos, there was no end in sight. More hospitals. More blood infusions. More sleepless nights. More Prayers. Nothing changed.
     We took her to the prestigious Dana Faber Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. And then we received the shock of our lives. The surgeon in Nigeria did not properly excavate the cancerous tissues. So while we thought the lump had been removed, the tissues were still there...developing..rapidly and at that point had invaded the skeletal structures in her chest. Fluids were gathering inside her lungs. The Harvard doctors also confirmed that the chemotherapy she had received in Nigeria were just 1/4 strength. This had given the cancer enough freedom to spread to the bones.
    They did their best. She had more surgeries and she got better and started looking healthy and strong again but we ended up only buying her more time with the surgeries and drugs.
     It's been five years now and I still miss her. I miss those sumptuous tender corn on the cob that she cooks by throwing it into the open fire. Thank you for insisting even before your death that I get your beautiful ash coloured cardigan. Just know that your kids have turned out great.
     The International Agency for Research on Cancer predicts that by 2035, there will be more than 24 million new cases of cancer, with 13 million cancer deaths every year.
     We may think that what's gonna be is gonna be, but we can do our best and see how we can halve the above statistics. Ladies, biko weekly self breast examinations, eat healthy, juice your vegetables, exercise, prayers and more prayers. And if you are above 40 years, go for mammogram atleast once a year..like the picture I once saw on Instagram says, "Mammogramming your boobs is better than Intagramming them."

God help us all.

+Omoara Fagbuyi posing at the Longest Human Pinl Ribbon in Lagos



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