Times Ladies raises awareness on breast cancer

The Ladies’ Association of New Times Corporation (NTC) has held a breast cancer aware­ness event as part of activities to create aware­ness on the disease among women in the corpo­ration.

Clad in the corpo­ration’s pink breast cancer t-shirts, the ladies were educated by Ms Raissa Sambou, a breast cancer survivor who is also a staff of the corporation.

Speaking at the brief event, Ms Sambou said her breast can­cer journey started in Novem­ber 2019 when she felt a lump in her left breast.

She said after seeing the doctor, she was given antibi­otics with the hope that the lump would disappear on its own but it did not.

She said after two biopsy tests at the 37 Military Hospital and a private hospital, it was confirmed she had the disease.

According to Ms Sambou, her cancer was an invasive type grade three carcinoma. Carci­noma is cancer that forms in the epithelial tissue. Epithelial tissue lines are most of the organs, such as the internal passageways in your body (like your esophagus), and the skin.

“I went through eight cycles chemotherapy and 16 rounds of radiotherapy,” she said.

She explained that breast cancer was curable when de­tected early but could spread to the brain, lungs, spine and other vital organs of the body if not identified early.

Ms Sambou urged women in the corporation to pay much attention to the breasts, saying “you cannot afford to be care­less with your breast health.”

She said self-examination was key to the prevention and cure of the disease, advising them to always do self-exam­ination, starting from their armpits, neck then to the breasts.

“Take self-examination seri­ously because you know your­self better than the doctor,” she said, while urging them to support family members who had been diagnosed of the disease.

The Acting Editor of The Spectator, Mrs Georgina Naa- Maku Quaittoo in her remarks said the event was to join in the celebration of the breast cancer awareness month which is commemorated in October every year.

Mrs Quaittoo who is also the president of the Times Ladies Association (TLA) encouraged the women to regularly check their breast through self-exam­ination and report any abnor­mally detected in the breast at the hospital.

By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu