On Thursday, the information campaign Life after Mastectomy began – addressed to women who have contracted breast cancer. Breast cancer does not have to mean a death sentence, said the participants of the press conference organized on this occasion.
Early cancer can be overcome, it can be treated effectively and much cheaper than advanced cancer, which is why prevention is so important. It is better to die + too late + than too early – said Irena Santor, who was diagnosed with breast cancer almost exactly 10 years ago. – I’m enjoying life and I’m recording a new album – added the singer.
Even if the treatment ends with surgery, you can live and function normally. The website www.pomastektomii.pl., About which Dr. Sławomir Pyszniak, the main medical expert of the Life after Mastectomy campaign, talked about during the Thursday conference.
The aim of the website is to provide women with breast cancer with practical medical and psychological knowledge, but also to be a communication platform for exchanging experiences and thoughts.
The information provided in an accessible way concerns not only the disease itself and its treatment, but also rehabilitation or the intimate sphere. You can ask questions to psychologists, there is a database of hospitals and clinics and a library of books. A separate section is devoted to complications such as limb paresis or lymphoedema – tissue swelling caused by the stagnation of the lymph, leading to chronic inflammation. Hardly anyone is aware of the presence of lymphatic vessels in their own body – noted Dr. Pyszniak.
The My History tab is of particular importance, where the stories of the ladies from the Warszawa Centrum Amazons Club, collected in the book And Cancer Came To Me will be published. Nothing is so comforting as the words of women who have passed the disease and show that even after a negative diagnosis one can live normally and be happy – emphasized Dr. Pyszniak. He added that mastectomy is not a death sentence, and breasts are not the only attribute of femininity.
Elżbieta Kozik, the president of the Polish Amazonki Ruch Społeczny Association, who supported the action, drew attention to the discrepancy between official optimism and reality. It is said that you can get to the oncologist without a referral and without a queue. In fact, there are weeks or months of waiting – she said, adding: We want to not only criticize imperfections, but also help in the fight against cancer.
Every year, more and more cases of breast cancer are diagnosed – which is partly due to the increasing effectiveness of diagnostics and the increasing awareness of patients. Mammograms are particularly important in women over 50 and – in the case of younger women – palpation tests performed independently (once a month, 10 days after the end of menstruation) and during visits by a gynecologist.
In 2007 (this is the latest available data), there were 14 cases of breast cancer and 482 deaths. As noted by Dr. Joanna Filipowska, although breast cancer is the most common cancer in women (about 5 percent of all cancers), it may give way to lung cancer as women smoke more and more (PAP).