Grimacing slightly, she runs her forefinger over the top of her left breast, where a deep hole has opened inside.
Dora Owusu has battled breast cancer for 14 years.
“About 14 years ago, I had a discomfort in my breast so I visited the hospital, and after several tests, I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” she said
The 65-year, Dora Owusu, used to sell second-hand clothing but has had to stay home after she exhausted her capital on cancer treatments.
“ I fought it the first time with everything I had, my children were young then and I couldn’t afford to die, though it was difficult to beat the disease” she narrated.
The self-motivated woman said she went through numerous scans, mammograms, chemotherapy, and a mastectomy; a surgery to remove a breast at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
“My right breast was removed in 2009” she recounted
The pains and frequent hospital visitation were finally over for Dora.
She got her life back and could now live a normal life.
But just before her 65th birthday, the canker reemerged, this time with a more aggressive spread.
The 65-year-old has begun fighting cancer all over again.
“Obviously, I have advanced in age and so my body is not as how it used to be, apart from financial constraints, the treatment has not been easy on my body,” she said
According to her, life has been unbearable.
Dora has four children, a pharmacist who has been down with hemorrhage since November 2022, two others who are struggling to secure a job, and a nurse who got posted less than a year ago.
She has already started the treatment and has been told there would be another mastectomy to remove the other breast but first, she needs to run a few sessions of mammograms, scans, and radiotherapy.
“ I have exhausted all my savings and that of my children’s, I am in dire need of support because the cancer is spreading rapidly, so when I heard about the Meena Breast Cancer Foundation I decided to come and seek help,” he said.
Through the Meena Breast
According to the 2020 GLOBOCAN report, Ghana is estimated to record 4,645 new breast cancer cases, more than double the estimated 2,062 new cases in 2012, with nearly 50% dying.
The high mortality rate is attributed to late-stage presentation, and most women affected with breast cancer are below 50 in Ghana.
However, there are no specialized breast cancer hospitals in the country.
“Governments across the world allocate money to HIV/AIDS every year, but AIDS is not as deadly as cancer,” the Executive Director of Meena Breast Cancer Foundation, Ibrahim Oppong Kwarteng said in an earlier interview.
The Meena Breast Cancer Foundation was launched on October 6, 2022, in Accra in memory of Mrs. Amina Oppong Kwarteng, who died of breast cancer on July 18, 2022.
To support the project, kindly send your donations to 054 5822 773.
