EveryWoman

‘Cancer can be beaten’

 

Wikipedia defines breast cancer as cancer that develops from breast tissue. Its signs may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, fluid coming from the nipple or a red scaly patch of skin. There are many breast cancer survivors across the globe and in Malawi, Vivian Chilangwe is one of those. Today, she lives to tell her survival story while encouraging others on the importance of cancer screening and seeking early treatment when diagnosed. She spoke to Brenda Twea, and here is her story.

One night, in 2009, when she was just about to go to bed, 53-year-old Vivian Chilangwe felt a small lump in her right breast. She said it felt like a marble.

Women gather for a cancer awareness match
Women gather for a cancer awareness match

The mother of five admits it was a strange feeling, so the next day she went to see doctors at Kamuzu Barracks where it was confirmed there was, indeed, something in her breast.

Chilangwe was referred to Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH). There, she was injected in the breast, to draw some fluid to be tested.

“The doctor told me it would take longer for me to get the results if they were to send the specimen to College of Medicine laboratories than it would if I went there myself. So, I opted to go there myself because I needed to know what was going on as soon as possible.

“The Army (where my husband works) provided a car and we went to Blantyre. On March 26 2009, doctors confirmed I had breast cancer. They told me I needed to undergo surgery to remove the breast and four days later, I had the operation,” she explains.

She later, in 2012, went for radiation in South Africa as they did not provide it in the country at the time. She was there for four months.

As Chilangwe recalls, she never felt any pain before the breast cancer was discovered. She advises women to be having their breasts checked regulary for any strange lumps.

She believes it is best if the cancer is diagnosed in its early stage because then it can be managed, rather than letting it spread.

“Once in a while, try to lie on your back and lift your hand up to the back of your head, then feel the breast. Every woman’s breast has a lump, but the cancer lump feels different. If you find any strange lumps rush to the hospital and get checked. Do not get complacent and send yourselves to an early grave,” she advises.

Chilangwe is part of a 15-member Breast Cancer Survivors Association which, among other things, raises awareness for the disease.

They also visit in hospitals encouraging women who are about to undergo breast surgeries.

However, she says breast cancer survivors in the country have one major concern—there are no breast shops in the country and this forces them to stuff some rugged cloths where the breast was removed before wearing the bra so that it does not look awkward with one breast.

“Some of the cloths used by survivors might not be the cleanest, posing a danger to the area,” she says.

Ever since she underwent the surgery seven years ago, the business woman adds that she can no longer carry anything weighing 10 or more kilogrammes using the right hand.

Wikipedia adds that outcomes for breast cancer vary depending on the cancer type, extent of the disease and person’s age.

It says survival rates in the developed world are high, but poorer in developing countries.

Worldwide, breast cancer is the leading type of cancer in women, accounting for 25 percent of all cases, according to Wikipedia. The cancer is more than 100 times more common in women than in men.

Chilangwe has for years been travelling to Zambia, South Africa and Mozambique, buying and selling different items. She now dreams of raising enough money to go beyond, to China.

Having been in business for quite long she has seen the good and the bad and advises that operating a business requires one to be strong.

“In business, especially cross-border business, you face a lot of challenges. One needs to be strong to overcome those challenges. You also get to meet a lot of people in foreign lands, who might want to take advantage of your being a woman, but it is important to always remember what you went there for and do just that, and return home,” she advises.

However, she thinks she needs to quit the cross-border trade and concentrate on the quails business she embarked on two years ago.

“I am getting old and need to stop the travelling and operate a business from home. I now have an incubator. I put eggs in and after 14 days the quails are born. We leave them there so that their feathers can develop better and then I move them to a warmer room. Once they mature, we sell them,” says Chilangwe who currently has over 230 quails.

She is a mother of two daughters and three sons, the oldest of whom is 32, and the youngest is 25.

She comes from Chakana Village (Ndirande), Traditional Authority (T/A) Kapeni in Blantyre. n

 

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