Women celebrate remission milestones during Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Julie de Robillard, Landy Yeatman, and Lerato Ngobeni are total strangers to one another, but yet have one thing in common – they all won the battle against breast cancer.

As hard as it was for them, these local heroes recounted their journeys with breast cancer during International Awareness Month for the illness.

De Robillard was grateful for watching a talk show that tackled the topic of cancer and subsequently taking her daughter’s advice and finally deciding to visit a medical facility in Lonehill. This happened after she felt a lump in her right breast for three months but didn’t do anything.

“I had a gut feeling that it might be cancer. So, I felt anxious, and I did not tell anyone about it. That was in November 2014, then January 2015, while watching the talk show with my older daughter, and the guest opened up about her breast cancer. I nearly stopped breathing when she mentioned the symptoms. My nipple was inverted, and my areola was a bit lumpy which was part of cancer.

“Then for the first time, I had a mammogram, thereafter I went to see an oncologist. He broke the news and said I had stage two breast cancer. I did not know whether to cry or scream.

He said to me, ‘You’ve got two to three years to live if you do not go through the treatment and you will lose your hair. Then I began my journey for treatment.”

Yeatman, on the other hand, was on a hectic diet because she wanted to live a healthy lifestyle and tone her body as she was single and ready to mingle. But little did she know, she was also getting ready for a shocking discovery.

“It was in September 2018, after I managed to lose about 12 kgs. One morning, I had an itch on the side of my boob, I scratched it then I felt a lump. The reason I mentioned my diet is because my oncologist said if I didn’t lose those kilos then I would never have felt the lump. So, at first, I thought it was nothing, but I had my suspicions and went to see a doctor for checkups to confirm the following day.”

She said the lump was not painful at all, “That is one of the scary things about breast cancer, that it’s, sometimes, pain-free.”

But that was not the case for, Ngobeni as her lumps came with very sharp and unbearable pain. She was only 15 years old when she was told she had breast cancer.

She said at the time, she was not really informed about cancer so she brushed it off and thought she would feel better with time. However, it didn’t take too long for her to start worrying.

“My family decided to take me to a medical facility because I was in pain. The doctors ran their tests, and I was told I had early symptoms of cancer. I was admitted and had surgery to remove those lumps.”

Most breast lumps are not dangerous. However, it is advisable to consult a doctor when you suspect something unusual and regularly do checkups.

According to the cansa.org.za website, the changes you might notice when you have a health problem that affects your breasts include the following:

• A puckering of the skin of the breast
• A lump in the breast or armpit
• A change in the skin around the nipple or nipple discharge
• Dimpling of the nipple or nipple retraction
• An unusual increase in the size of the one breast
• One breast is usually lower than the other. Nipple at different levels
• An enlargement of the glands
• An unusual swelling in the armpit

Poor diet habits, being overweight, smoking, not exercising, consuming alcohol, and exposure to chemicals are some of the risk factors that increase chances for breast cancer.

Did you know:

According to cansa.org.za website, research has shown that regular breast self-examination (BSE), plays an important role in discovering breast cancer, compared to finding a breast lump by chance. A BSE should be done once a month, preferably at the same time of day, following a woman’s menstrual cycle.

Here’s where to get screened for breast cancer in Joburg

• PinkDrive – The organisation hosts a lot of events to educate about breast health. Do check out their website, pinkdrive.org.za for a calendar of upcoming drives.
• The Cancer Association of South Africa (cansa has centres in different locations, be sure to check them out on their website cansa.org.za
• Pink Ribbon Breast Screening Centre – their main purpose lies in their name, and this is the website to get in touch with them pinkribboncentre.co.za

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