Well, as most of us know, the month of October is dedicated to cancer awareness world over and all of a sudden all my inboxes have “cancerous” topics if you know what I mean. And it gets me scared because at the end of some of them you see end notes like “one out of 26 women dies of cancer in a minute” and I’m like “what the hell?” In a third world country like ours you do know what that means right?
Among women the most common are breast and cervical cancer. Any woman from 18 years is at the risk of having cancer and as we all know there is no particular known cause for it but there are preventive measures but I will get to that later.
Well, my church, St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, as part of her way of creating awareness partnered with a group to screen women from the age of 18. While it was very unorganized it was an eye opener for those of us who have a comfort zone of “God forbid! Cancer is not my portion”. It may not be your potion but women die every day from this disease and it is eating deeply into our country as the figures keep going up every day.
The screening started at 8:00am and while I spent the whole day there waiting for my turn cos the turnout was massive, I did learn a few things on how to keep it at bay.
What I learned
• Female smokers are twice likely to have cervical cancer than non-smokers
• Feel your breasts one week after your menstrual cycle monthly
• Wear cotton panties
• Maintain good personal hygiene
• Do not wash your privates with medicated soap…avoid it, stick to normal soap or plain clean water
• Do not douche
• Do not insert stuff into urself
• Go for a cervical screening once in a year
• Do not wear ur bra to sleep
How to feel your breasts
• Put your right hand under your head, then with the finger tips of your left hand, beginning from your underarm (armpit) you feel for any strange hard lump and then proceed to your right breast and feel it in a circular motion…sideways, underneath and on top (@ least that’s what was done to me) and then you do the same to your left breast by feeling it with your right hand.
• After feeling your breasts, you press your nipple and check for any discharge especially blood cos as the attendant mentioned, most women with breast cancer have said that they see or saw a bloody discharge.
• As for the cervical screening, the doctors or nurses have to do it themselves as it is quite technical…there’s poking and feeling around the vagina besides, they know what to look out for.
My Experience
After waiting for hours (from 8am – to like 5pm), I tried to use my “church mind” because I mean I was in the Church so I figured I would just wait my turn (I could have entered if I wanted to since I’m quite known in the church…if I may say so myself) btu it got to a point and the shunting was just unbearable and I knew I could not return next two weeks especially after waiting for so long neither could I go to their office as my leave is so over so I played smart even though it was quite late. But as the saying goes “better late than never” right? So I played smart and got in.
Upon getting in the attendant screamed “next person” and while I was mortified that I had to take off my top in front of so many people, even if they are all women, I just had to cos really, nerves were frayed and it had been one long day. After taking off my top, it was all I could do not to cover my hands with my boobs…yes I’m self conscious even among women. So she tells me to do what I already explained in how to feel your boobs (pardon me but boobs is shorter than breasts and it’s 2am and there’s church). I felt odd I mean, here I was half naked and a chick feeling my boobs, it just felt odd but what the hell, better now than when I have cancer right…I mean I could losse my boob (singular…smiles). I ask “what will the lump feel like?” she says if she feels one she’ll let me know and I respond “God forbid!” but she says it is hard and you’ll know when you feel it. So I get done with that and join the queue for the really grueling one in my opinion.
When it got to my turn, I was asked to pull off my pants…no guys, they were all chicks and while it slightly made me feel better, I was still mortified but I remind myself that I am here to prevent cancer in my life. So I took off my pants and panties. Before you do a cervical test the following should be adhered to:
• You cannot do a cervical screening if you are on your period
• You cannot do it if you are pregnant
• You cannot do it if you had intercourse within 48 hours of going for the test
So on all counts, I passed then you had to give them your sex history – how many partners u’ve had, any venereal diseases suffered and some other personal stuff and Emmanuel Ogbebor tried peeking at my form.
I don’t think I want to get into the details of how it went but just know that you’ll be poked….d lady that did me was gentle and by the time she was done I asked “is that all?” I did feel violated but when you remember that cancer is very dangerous and incurable for now at least, you will do all you can to prevent it even if it means stripping in front of thousands of men. okay! Maybe I’m exaggerating a bit but it’s so true.
I was given a clean bill of health – no infection or whatever
So make out time to get screened as the only way to beat CANCER is EARLY DETECTION. Inspiration or is it Cool FM is always reminding us.
And don’t forget to drink lots of water, eat fruits, stay away from radiation as much as possible and just be safe.
I have to go now…my eyes are heavy and the yawns wont just stop.
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