Testimonies from Prostate Cancer Survivors

Mr. Okorie’s prostate cancer experience started in 2009 at the age of 43. His weight loss had been complained about by his wife and she persuaded him to see the doctor. He had barely stepped into the four walls of a hospital in years, so the doctor advised him to undergo some screening upon finding nothing significant that explained his weight loss. He undertook the tests, and two weeks later he went for another blood test as the doctor summoned him. At this point, he feared something might be wrong, but his doctor reassured him that there was really nothing to fret about for the time being.

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Medical checkup saves lives.

It was a bright Saturday afternoon at a traditional wedding ceremony. The atmosphere was jolly as guests exchanged pleasantries amidst the beautiful setting. The groom and bride had just been joined together and declared husband and wife, after which they made their way into the inner chambers, it was dance time for the guests at the party. One of the guests, a middle aged man in his late forties stepped forward giving a solo dance, he danced gently and gracefully to the music as the on looking guests cheered him on and then it happened.

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CAN I QUIT SMOKING? YES, YOU CAN!

Last time out, we talked about smoking and its numerous life threatening effects on the different parts of the human body system. We learned that smoking is a leading cause of numerous cancer types, causes damage to blood vessels and impairs heart function, affects reproduction, causes blindness and could cause impotence in men, these among many more were consequences attributed to smoking.

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SMOKING AND ITS MANY HEALTH RISKS

Smoking is a topic that has generated all sorts of views and comments over the years. It dates back to as early as 5000 BC in the Americas. The arrival of the colonial masters as far back as the 16th century has promoted the farming, buying and selling and resulting use of tobacco.  General pop culture portraying smoking as cool, affluent and attractive on social media and our television screen has not been in any way helpful. The menace smoking has posed to the different organ systems in the body and general health of smokers are quite alarming. Today, we will take a look at the effects of tobacco on the general health, and in subsequent posts, we will discuss reasons to quit smoking and even the journey to quitting.

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Tackling Ovarian cancer

So, it has been a period of enlightening us about Ovarian cancer as we celebrated World Ovarian Cancer day a few days ago. We trust you have been telling friends and loved ones on the need to know about ovarian cancer and prompt help seeking behavior whenever there is a significant index of suspicion.

We have had an overview of ovarian cancer, its risk factors, symptoms, types and diagnosis. Today, we take a look at its prevention, treatment options available and the survival rate.

Treatment

There are a variety of treatment options available to tackle ovarian cancer and help patients return to their normal day-to-day activities. However, the choice of treatment options is dependent on quite a number of factors comprising:

  • Level of cancer progression (stage and grade)
  • Type of ovarian cancer
  • Age of patient affected
  • General wellbeing of patient
  • Cost of treatment and affordability
  • Patients’ choice of treatment after considering the different treatment options.

The different treatment options include:

  • Chemotherapy: This involves the use of drugs to kill rapidly proliferating cancer cells. The drugs could be administered orally or parenterally i.e. through intravenous means. In some cases, the drugs are delivered via intraperitoneal chemotherapy, directly to the abdomen to target the region affected by cancer cells. The effects of chemotherapy could be widespread as it tends to affect the body generally. Chemotherapy can be used before surgery and it is often administered after surgery to eradicate any residual cancerous cells.
  • Surgery: this is the mainstay of ovarian cancer treatment. It is directed at excision of cancer tumors from affected sites in the body. However, the extent of the surgical procedure is dependent on the stage of cancer progression. For cancer in the very early stages which is yet to spread beyond an ovary, the ovary in question and fallopian tube is removed preserving the patient’s ability to conceive and give birth to children.

In cases where both ovaries are affected with no surrounding tissue anomaly, both ovaries alongside the fallopian tubes are removed leaving the uterus (womb). Patients in this category who are still of child bearing age and still have interest in having children have their eggs frozen and preserved for future fertilization. Patients who are well beyond child bearing age and have no plans to bear any more children often have their uterus, accompanying lymph nodes and surrounding tissues removed.

Please note that even with surgery, chemotherapy is often administered before and/or after surgery.

  • Targeted therapy: this form of therapy is poised at reducing side effects by aiming for specific functions that promote cancer growth. They come as a resort after previous cancer treatment options explored seem to have failed. Medical physicians collect sample cancer cells from patients and conduct research to know their vulnerability and choice of drugs the cancer cells are susceptible to. Extensive clinical researches are still ongoing on targeted therapy.
  • Radiotherapy: this employs the use of radiations specifically X-rays to kill cancer cells. It has been found to be helpful in advanced ovarian cancer cases.
  • Immunotherapy: The immune system of the body is known to help fight and mount defense against all disease inducing processes in the human body system. Boosting the immune system helps the body fight against cancer. Vaccination helps introduce substances into the body system that help identify and fight cancer producing cells.
  • Support: This involves all measures employed by the medical team, family and loved ones of the patient to help reduce pain, improve the patient’s illness experience and quality of life while the patient is undergoing other forms of treatments. The place of support cannot be overemphasized as it gives the patient psychological strength to overcome the disease.

Prevention

Ovarian cancer has no known fail proof way of prevention. However, a number of measures have been found to help reduce risk of developing the disease. They include:

  • Breastfeeding
  • Pregnancy
  • Use of birth control medications.

A lot of patients have been known to survive ovarian cancer, however survival depends on the type and the stage of the cancer at presentation. The type of cancer is what no one has power over, but the stage at presentation, yes you do have power over that, the earlier you seek help, the better your chances at defeating the disease. Please, save a life today by encouraging people around you on the need to seek help when anything unusual is noticed about their body.

For inquiries, clarifications and consultations, you can reach us on our Contact us page:

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OVARIAN CANCER DAY

Yay! It is World Ovarian cancer day and another opportunity to increase the awareness of this disease in order to improve our general understanding, and help our women of all ages easily recognize the disease pattern, its manifestation and their help seeking behavior with regards to the disease. This is all geared towards improving survival rate and life expectancy of our women.

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