“How I survived breast cancer.” Mrs Jacqueline Ugorji-Nwanesi.
3 min read
The founder of Queens of 1990, a group of girls that graduated from Girls Secondary Technical School Umuaka in 1990, Mrs Jacqueline Ugorji-Nwanesi has expressed her profound gratitude to God for saving her from the excruciating pains of breast cancer. While holding talks with Umuaka Times correspondent in UK last week, Mrs Nwanesi enjoined all women across the world to be seriously mindful of their bodies, especially the breasts regions. In her passionate message to her fellow women, she disclosed to Umuaka Times that the day the bad news was broken to her, she saw herself in another world after thinking of her children, husband and family. She described the day as the worst day of her entire life.
Mrs Nwanesi told Umuaka Times that there are different types of breast cancer and the type she suffered was as a result of her body metabolism. She confirmed that her only saving grace was that she was able to discover the lump on time after breast massage.”I want our women to start doing breast massage at least 3 times in a week. When you discover a small lump, please seek medical assistance immediately. Don’t waste time on the grounds that the lump is painless.”
On the side of Nigerian women, Mrs Nwanesi who herself is a General Nurse Practitioner based in the United Kingdom, seriously frowned towards the attitude of some Christian women who would tell you, “it is not my portion” and go home and relax, hoping that the problem has been solved by faith. “I never believed that it would come to me. but when it came, I went into intervention immediately,” she told Umuaka Times.
According to her, the action to take immediately any lump is discovered within the breast region is to seek medical help and follow the medical instructions. “You need to go to a good hospital for the diagnosis but very bad, I can’t see any good hospital in Nigeria. A relation of mine who had breast cancer had to travel from Imo State to Enugu for breast cancer diagnosis. Here in the UK, the news is totally different . The day I did my mammogram was the same day I did the follow-up which is biopsy and asked me to come for the result in three weeks. Chemotherapy then followed.”
On a very sad note, the General Nurse Practitioner seriously lamented over the state of Nigerian hospitals and blamed the government over the emergency. “Do you know that if I were to be in Nigeria, I would not have survived?” On a very good note also, she disclosed to Umuaka Times that all the whole process from the examinations to the last treatment she took, she never paid anything till date.
Another medical issue Mrs Nwanesi raised with Umuaka Times was the issue of armpit boils which occur to many women. She confirmed that it is really a bad medical omen because some of the boils are signs that breast cancer may set in very soon if properly not taken care of. “When you notice such boils in your armpit, please seek medical attention for further explanations. “Do your own and seek medical assistance when the need arises. I really thank my husband for his role during my trying days of the fight against breast cancer. Our women should start breast massage immediately.”
