Tributes, testaments and tea to raise awareness of breast cancer

Guests were wearing pink and some were cancer survivors or had lost loved ones to the disease.

Guest speakers for the day were leading breast cancer expert Prof Carol Benn and Claire Stoop.

Denise Manning opened proceedings with a heartwarming tribute to her aunt, Iris Hollywood, who was a member of the Catholic Women’s League.

Manning handed out pin badges with her aunt’s name on them to league members.

Benn reiterated the importance of detecting cancer in the early stages.

“There are so many ways to treat cancer. It is important that women don’t think that when they have cancer they are going to die tomorrow.

“When someone is diagnosed, they can live for years while undergoing chemotherapy, radiation and other treatments. You don’t have to fear losing your breasts – I tend to believe that removing breasts is not always the best option.”

• Stages

Benn explained the four types of cancer stages.

“Stage one means that a cancer is relatively small and contained within the organ it started in.

“Stage two means it spread into surrounding tissue but the tumour is larger than in stage one. Sometimes stage two means that cancer cells have spread into lymph nodes close to the tumour, but this depends on the particular type of cancer.

“Stage three indicates that the cancer is now larger; it has started to spread into surrounding tissues and there are cancer cells in the lymph nodes in the area.

“Stage four means the cancer has spread from where it started to another body organ,” she said.

Self- administered breast examinations are very important, Benn said, because this can help detect cancer in its early stages.

“Find someone you trust to go with you to the doctor when you want to test for cancer, like your husband, a friend or family member.”

• Survivor

Stoop shared her touching story and struggle with inoperable stage four colon, liver and lymph cancer.

“My diagnosis came as a shock. I was a young mother; only 30 years old, with a five-month-old daughter and had no history of familial colon cancer.

“I was considered far too young to have this type of cancer that was so advanced. I was told my cancer was inoperable, however, I persevered through conventional treatment as well as complementary alternative treatment and lifestyle changes.

“With incredible support from my husband Justin, my daughter Laurienne, friends and my extended family, I was last week told that I am essentially cancer free,” she said.

Stoop has documented her journey on her Facebook page (Claire’s Light). Here she openly shares her experience and interacts with many other cancer patients and hopes to ultimately write a book, start a charity and get involved in motivational speaking, following this clean bill of health from her doctors.

• Success

President of the Catholic Women’s League Boksburg Sophia Dooley said the aim of the event was to raise funds for cancer-related organisations.

“Every year we host a fund-raiser. This year’s event was a success and we thank everyone who supported us, as well as our sponsors who donated items for the raffle prizes,” Dooley said.

Tickets for the cancer tea were R100 and raffle tickets were sold at R10.

The late Iris Hollywood’s husband donated a prize worth R7 000, in honour of his wife.

Learners from St Dominic’s also assisted at the event.

According to Dooley, all proceeds raised on the day will go to cancer-related organisations.

She did not disclose how much was raised on the day.