WOMAN IN FIGHT FOR HER LIFE AGAINST BREAST CANCER

Linda, who hails from Isi Umuozu, Nwangele LGA of Imo State, and is mother of a two and a half-year-old boy, is fighting the battle of her life against late-stage breast cancer.

In the hope to win the battle and survive, she is currently undergoing expensive chemotherapy at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Idi Araba, Lagos.

Linda who described her ordeal as the worst imaginable, is passionately appealing to all well meaning Nigerians for financial assistance to complete the therapy and to go abroad for further treatment.

Writhing and groaning in pains, she told a moving  tale of anguish, regret and lamentation of the genesis of her ordeal.

“I discovered the lump in my breast by accident and called my husband’s attention to it. Together, we went to a diagnostic centre in Pako, Ajegunle area of Lagos State where a scan was prescribed. The result indicated that the lump was benign. We were told it was actually a cyst and not a malignant tumour as we initially feared.”

Linda said was prescribed Augmentin tablets and some other antibiotics and the couple was made to believe that the drugs would melt off the lump. She didn’t know it then, but the decision to follow the prescribed treatment turned out to be her undoing.

“To my surprise, the seed started growing even faster. The growth was so fast it covered almost half of the breast in no time. I became alarmed and on advice of concerned persons, decided to try out  herbal medicine   which I took orally and applied superficially on the breast. But there was no improvement.”

Linda has since been running from pillar to post in her quest for a cure.  Her search for relief took her to various native doctors, traditional healers and  Churches within and outside Lagos. But it was to no avail.

“I came back to Lagos hopeless. I went the NTA for help but unfortunately, they did not attend to us. My condition went from bad to worse. The lump became hard as stone and eventually covered my entire breast.

“It was at this point in time I was referred to LUTH where  a medical consultant  revealed that it was the  antibiotics  that triggered the abnormal growth of the tumour and worsened my condition. He said I ought to have removed the seed while it was still tender. He advised that the best option was to cut off the breast, but fear gripped me instantly at the thought of cutting off my breast at such a young age. I told my husband about the doctor’s advice and he did not buy the idea either.”

Linda went back home, but as time went by, the breast began rottening and falling off bit by bit until it fell off entirely on its own.

“People thought I was going to die and I had no option than to go back to the hospital. With the little money we could gather, we went to LUTH again. The doctor chided me for not listening to his advice earlier.”

A Medical report from LUTH indicated Linda is being managed for invasive ductal carcinoma, SBR Grade III, synchronous bilateral breast cancer.

“This is a late stage cancer,”  noted Consultant Oncologist and Head of the Department of Radiation/Oncology, LUTH, Professor A.T. Ajekigbe, while confirming Linda was   registered at the surgical outpatient department of the health institution on April 26, 2013. Ajekigbe recalled the patient had earlier reported at the Accident & Emergency on 20th March, 2013 and was diagnosed with right breast ulcer.

Lamenting that most cancer patients present late at the hospital,when only palliative care can be provided, he urged that the  earlier the presentation, the better the mangement. “Let this be a warning  to others.  Examine your body and if you find anything wrong, give a shout and people will come to your assistance.

“When she got to the Accident & Emergency, her case was bad. She had history of difficulty of moving the right hand. Also had some oedema, then she was referred. When she was first seen it was at a late stage. She had the disease at least 15 months earlier before presenting. She had difficulty breathing for about one week  before presenting,” he observed.

Further, Ajekigbe said what Linda has on the right arm is known as Lymphodema. “It is different from oedema. In lymphoedema, the lymphatic system is involved as a result of which the swelling does not easily go down. What we do is to manage it to reduce the complications.

Further, the Consultant Oncologist explained: “The axilla is the armpit and the breast they are related. I call them first cousins. what ever happens to the breast most of the time will stretch to the armpit near it, and what happens to the breast may come from the armpit, they are  so related. It is called the lymphatic drainage system. The upper part of the breast drains into the system. if a doctor examines your breast for whatever reason, the doctor must also look into the armpit to see if there is anything there. he must check the  lymph nodes.

“Occasionally when breast cancer  spreads to the axilla, it blocks the lymphatic drainage system. The fluid comes down quite right, but cannot go back because of the blockage, hence the swollen arm. We advise patients to alleviate that part as often as possible. “Often, we use crepe bandage to push the fluid back. We may also apply  fortified cream through massage to  push the fluid back.