06 May 2018

A registered nurse at Sekgoma Memorial Hospital, Ms Chaikwa Lobatse has advised people to be alert of body changes and visit health facilities for medical attention.

Ms Lobatse said this at a cancer awareness event organised by Serowe Lions Club in collaboration with Sekgoma Memorial Hospital and other stakeholders on May 5.

“We should try by all means to pay attention to all the changes that happen to our bodies and visit the clinic or hospital for medical check-up,” she cautioned. She decried that people only visited health facilities when the cancer was at an advanced stage, hence their decision to organise the awareness event. “We are distressed by patients who come for tests and treatment late thus reducing their chances of survival,” she said.

Ms Lobatse indicated that they had partnered with Lions Club in order to sensitise people about cancer and cancer related issues. She added that they had also brought cancer survivors as living examples that the disease existed, and give hope as well as motivate those with new infections. She however noted that their focus was on cervical cancer which was most prevalent among women. “Cancer is a life threatening disease that happens when parts of the body grow the wrong way.

For most women with pre-cancer of the cervix, there is no pain which they feel, which is the reason for testing even if they do not experience any pain,” she said. She indicated that men and women could at some point in their lives get the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cancer. “A man or woman can give HPV to each other without knowing it.

 People may feel healthy, but HPV can also go away by itself without medicine or treatment. If HPV stays in the body and does not go away, it can cause cancer of the cervix. It takes 10 to 30 years for HPV to cause cancer,” she said.

 Nevertheless, she indicated that fortunately, there was was what they termed ‘see and treat’ where health workers checked women for pre-cancer of the cervix, a method she said was safe, effective and with instant results. “Cervical cancer is easy to prevent before it happens and in this instance, if the pre-cancer is found it can be treated and cured in the same check-up. Any woman who has had sex can get cervical cancer and those with HIV may have more risk, thus the reason for testing,” she said.

Sharing his experience, Mr Seema Ramotswiri,78, noted that it took him five years to recover after fighting stage four cancer of the bladder.

“I was first diagnosed with cancer in May 2010 and hospitalised until 2015. The cancer that was originally contained in a single small tumor had spread to multiple parts of my body,” he said.

He noted that it was through his oncologist and Sekgoma Memorial Hospital staff that his spirit was uplifted, giving him hope, given their experience in treating cancer.

He appreciated the level of professionalism and confidence from the staff, adding that it was through such that he was motivated to follow and complete the treatment. “I have had radiation treatments over weeks, plus rounds of chemotherapy sessions and I am now fully treated, recovered and cancer free,” he said ENDS