October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. The early goal of Breast Cancer Awareness Month was to educate women about breast cancer and early detection tests so that they could take charge of their breast health. One of their key goals that they wanted to achieve was to promote mammograms as an important tool to be used in the fight against breast cancer. Asian Voice spoke to Breast Cancer Survivor Rina Gunnoo who shared her journey and lessons with us for our readers.
A twelve-year-old Rina Gunnoo lost her mother to breast cancer. Three decades later, Rina first noticed a lump in her breast when she was at the gym. “I could feel a raised bump on my breast which I knew wasn't right. I was 24 when I found it,” Rina said. She then made an appointment with her doctor, who referred her to a hospital for a mini biopsy.
She said, “The results of the biopsy came back with the lump being benign. I told my grandma about the lump and she advised me to just get rid of it, as she was scared as she didn’t want the same to happen to me what happened to my mum.”
“So I went back to the doctor and said that I would like the lump to be removed. When the lump was removed it was tested. I was told that the lump results had come back active and they needed to do a second operation from where they found a lump as they had noticed cancerous cells. They removed more tissue from where they found the lump and tested that too. Luckily they managed to catch the cancer in time, thereafter I had to go for a checkup every three months, for a period of three years,” she added.
Breast cancer and its repercussions weren’t new to Rina. She had learnt many valuable life lessons from her mother’s battle with the condition. Rina said, “I learnt that you should never leave something that may be very important to your life and survival. If my mum didn’t have cancer and didn’t go through what she did, I don’t think I would’ve taken myself seriously with my lump. My mum also discovered a lump and she didn’t think much about it, thinking that it would go away but eventually she went to the doctors and they said that they would refer her to the hospital. Once she had her operation the results came back as being an aggressive lump. She had the option of going through chemotherapy or radiotherapy for her treatment. She went for the radiotherapy treatment as when she was working with some of the Asian ladies at work they said that losing your hair is a sign of losing your husband. I could remember her coming back from her radiotherapy treatment and having pen marks on her body. I used to ask why have you got the pen marks and she explained the doctors know where to do the radiotherapy. I saw my mum go through a lot of pain and wouldn’t want anyone else to go through the same.”
We all read and hear a lot about breast cancer awareness, but what is the first thing a patient must do when they're diagnosed and what kind of emotional and financial support do they require? According to Rina, if a person realises there is something different about their breast area they must get it checked out immediately. If they don’t feel comfortable about getting their area checked out, they need to speak to someone whether it’s a female doctor or a female friend or even a family member, who can support them through this time of need. “There is no need to be embarrassed as it can save your life. Finding anything different early on can save lives. There are a lot of support groups and speak to your doctor and they can offer counselling sessions. I don’t know how it would affect someone financially, for my mum she was working throughout her cancer stages and I know she was finding it difficult. In those times I think she just had to get on with it,” she said.
We asked Rina about how she prepared herself for the surgery and whether or not she had the right psychological counselling to navigate through this tough phase.
Rina said, “I didn’t prepare myself as I thought once my lump was removed that would be the end of that issue. I didn’t expect the tests on the lump to come back as active and my emotions were all over the place as all the memories of mum came flooding back and what she went through. I thought I was going to die and I couldn’t stop crying. I went through counselling after this as I don’t think I grieved for my mother when I was younger.”
Sharing her advice for women so that they do not overlook symptoms and learn to educate themselves about breast cancer, Gunnoo said, “I would advise them not to ignore the issue, if they find a lump or see anything different to get it checked out straight away. What is potentially a little embarrassment, when it may save your life. Especially if you’re a young mother with the responsibilities of being a parent. You don’t want your children left having to grow up and fend for themselves without a mother.”
Rina also spoke about the taboo and apprehensions associated with cancer, like losing hair, or scars on body parts. Her take on it is as follows: “The taboos I witnessed when my mum discovered that she had cancer were that our family didn’t want to accept that she had cancer, as no one in our family had previously suffered from this disease, they kept saying it was nazar (evil eye). They kept taking my mum to temples and mosques for blessings to get rid of the disease but the fact was she had cancer and these choices would not provide a cure. She also had women at work influencing her by saying that losing her hair is a sign of losing her husband. I think we need to get rid of these superstitions as it can influence people not to go get themselves checked out and this can cost whether they live to survive in the future.”
