POLOKWANE- The month of July is known as Fibroids Awareness Month and the Breaking Boundaries organisation is using this opportunity to raise awareness encourage women to go for regular medical visits.
The founder of Breaking Boundaries Khomotso Komape regards herself as a fibroid warrior and says that it is not a walk in the park to live with the condition.
She told the Polokwane Observer like any woman, she saw herself with children and a husband, but her dreams did not become a reality due to the condition.
Fibroids are noncancerous growths of the uterus that often appear during childbearing years.
Symptoms include excessive menstrual bleeding, menstrual periods lasting over seven days, bulginess in the pelvic region, trouble emptying the bladder, constipation, and spinal or leg distress.
Komape was diagnosed during her first pregnancy in 2016 and as a result, lost her baby. She described it as the most emotionally draining period of her life.
Her doctors gave her two surgical options to ease the fibroids which included a myomectomy and a hysterectomy.
Komape opted for a hysterectomy, which is the permanent removal of the uterus.
After the surgery, she was left with a scar that reminded her of her unborn child and the trauma she went through.
Due to not being vocal about her ordeal, Komape was also diagnosed with depression, which she said was an eye-opener for her.
“After I was diagnosed with depression, I moved to another place and that changed my life. In some cases, you do not need a therapist but someone who went through the same journey as you to can see that you are not alone,” she said.
She then started a Facebook page to break the stigma on female health matters. “I use my life story to educate people and to change other people’s lives for the better,” she said.
She added that women should avoid myths about any female health matters as that might put their lives at risk and encouraged them to go for regular pap smears.
