October 17, (THEWILL) – In commemoration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October, lawyer and breast cancer survivor, Chinwe Omoaka-Godwin, speaks on her experience and why more women should be informed about the deadly disease, in this interview with IVORY UKONU. Excerpts:
How did you discover that you had breast cancer?
I discovered I had breast cancer through normal routine checks. It wasn’t like I was ill or something. No, I wasn’t. In fact, a very close friend requested that I accompany her to a good radiologist to have her breast checked and I did. While we were there, I decided to get mine checked, although I had done a breast ultrasound and mammogram four months earlier in a different facility and no lump was detected. This time, a suspicious lump was discovered. Further examination confirmed the lump was cancerous.
What was your first reaction on making this discovery, did you panic?
As I always say, being diagnosed with breast cancer is usually a huge shock and extremely hard to digest, especially when there is no history of breast cancer in one’s family. It was like a dream to me on that day the suspicious lump was discovered. A biopsy was conducted and it was confirmed that I had cancer. My head was immediately filled with uncountable questions that searched endlessly for answers. After sometime, while still at the diagnostic centre, I suddenly gained inexplicable strength and I said to myself, “life has thrown another challenge at you and you must handle it. You just have to”. That was how I passed through that initial shock.
At what stage was the lump?
I didn’t know the exact stage and the type of breast cancer I had until I travelled to the United Kingdom for treatment. I left for the UK within a week after my diagnosis. The only thing I was sure of was that it was at the early stage. I had surgery at The London Clinic. The histologic result came out a week after the surgery and my prognosis was fantastic. The day I went to see my doctor for my histology result, which was a week after the surgery, I sat in front of him, waiting to hear the stage and the type of cancer I had so we could commence chemotherapy immediately and perhaps, radiotherapy later. To my greatest amazement and to the glory of God, my doctor said: “Chinwe, I have good news for you. Your histology result is out and your prognosis is very good”. Then, I hadn’t known much about breast cancer and I asked myself, what could be good news about breast cancer? He continued, “You had a very early disease which was in stage zero, all your lymph nodes were clear, it hadn’t spread to any part of your body. Hence, you wouldn’t need any chemotherapy or radiotherapy. You are cured. God loves you and your family”. That was when I found out that breast cancer is not a death sentence. That was when I knew that one could have breast cancer and not go through all those harsh treatments for breast cancer. That was when I also found out that early detection could save you.
How long was this journey, between the time you made the discovery and when your treatment ended?
One month, precisely. My treatment journey was very easy because the disease was detected in its very early stage. My treatment ended immediately and I recovered from my surgery, as I didn’t go through chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I am currently on a drug known as Tamoxifen just to prevent a recurrence.
Who were your support system and how did they support you?
God was and still is my first support system any day. Aside God, my family was of tremendous support. My husband supported me and was there for me all the way. He paid all my medical bills from start to finish. He continued to pay the bills for my yearly check up in the UK until his office enrolled us with BUPA Global Health Insurance, which I currently use for my yearly check-up abroad and in Nigeria. My mum and my siblings never relented in their prayers for me. I also had the support and prayers of very close friends who I told about my diagnosis. The show of love left me speechless, but it gave me the strength I needed at that time.
At the time you were diagnosed, did you ever think you wouldn’t survive it?
No. I never thought I wouldn’t survive it. Besides, I wasn’t ill. This is the reason I advocate regular breast screening. Unfortunately, many people don’t know the importance of yearly breast screening until breast cancer hits them. It may be too late by then. But we will keep doing our best to raise awareness through the Worthy Wellness Initiative, a foundation I run, while we hope for positive results.
What is the foundation all about?
After my journey with breast cancer, I realised that breast cancer is completely treatable if detected early and the patient will still have a good quality life. I use myself as a reference. If I didn’t speak up about my experience, no one will ever know I went through it. I live a completely normal life because the disease was detected early and treatment was easy. I am fine. I decided to create an avenue to raise awareness of the disease and help women, particularly the low-income women, with breast screening and awareness campaigns. We advocate regular screening and also ensure that women who are diagnosed with the disease have access to treatment and after care. It is our desire to help women diagnosed with breast cancer with funding for treatment, but this hasn’t been achieved due to the fact that we are relatively new and still in search of sponsors. Nevertheless, we still support with the little fund we can muster and ensure they have access to good medical advice and treatment. That was how Worthy Wellness Initiative was born.
October is generally known all over the world as breast cancer awareness month. What is your foundation doing this month to raise awareness about breast cancer?
We have resolved to organise a free breast cancer screening and awareness campaign every October to mark breast cancer awareness month. We are collaborating with BM Empire Multi-Specialist Hospital and Psych.wellnessng in Surulere to achieve this. Our free breast cancer screening for this month is slated for October 30, 2021 at the aforementioned hospital, which is our screening centre. We are still shortlisting women for this exercise. We have consultants in various fields of medicine to attend to them. We have the general surgeons, the radiologists, the pathologists and the mental health care consultant to attend to these women. The pathologist, who will perform biopsy on the lumps will further examine women that lumps will be found in their breasts. They will be educated by the general surgeons on how to examine their breasts to check for any abnormality and lots more.
Besides what you do through your foundation, do you think there is enough awareness about breast cancer?
Obviously there is not enough awareness. Awareness is the first step in the fight against breast cancer. You cannot fight what you are not aware exists. Hence, raising awareness of breast cancer is paramount to fighting it. Studies have shown that the breast cancer mortality rate is higher in developing countries like Nigeria than the advanced countries. This is simply because they have more support than we do here. We just need more support from government, corporate bodies and even individuals to achieve enough awareness. Our theme for last year’s breast cancer month was “Everyone can help save someone.” Everyone can help in any little way to raise the needed awareness.
What about accurate diagnosis, do we have enough hospitals that conduct proper mammograms?
Misdiagnosis can happen anywhere in the world. The only difference is that it is commonplace in Nigeria. Perhaps, it could be as a result of obsolete medical equipment or lack of adequate training of some of our doctors. For instance, I had a mammogram and ultrasound four months before my diagnosis, but no lump was detected. However, a cancerous lump was detected four months later. The radiologist that detected the cancerous lump had to request my previous result, which I provided and he was perplexed that the lump was not detected four months ago both in the mammogram and the breast ultrasound. As you may be aware, an ultrasound examination is operator dependent. If the radiologist does not have adequate training, he is most likely to be missing cancerous lumps. So the government can get involved by ensuring that our general hospitals have current and functional medical equipment and that sound professionals train our doctors.
What exactly is the root cause of breast cancer?
Breast cancer occurs when some breast cells begin to grow abnormally. These abnormal cells then begin to divide more rapidly than the cells and continue to accumulate, forming a lump. The cells may metastasise through the breast to lymph nodes or to other parts of the body. Although no one can say accurately what causes breast cancer, researchers have identified hormonal, lifestyle and environmental factors as those which may increase the risk of breast cancer. So it is important for one to generally live a healthy lifestyle to minimise the risk of developing breast cancer or any type of cancer. Having said that, it is still unclear why some people who have no risk factors develop breast cancer and other people with risk factors never do. In all of these, we look up to God for answers.
What kind of healthy lifestyles should women lead to avoid breast cancer?
You can’t completely avoid being a victim of breast cancer. You can try, but you can never be too sure. However, as much as we cannot change our family history, we can modify certain traits to help lower the risk of developing breast cancer. Some of these healthy lifestyles are limiting alcohol consumption, watching your weight, eating a healthy diet, regular exercise, breastfeeding and many more, can help lower the risk of developing breast cancer.
What are the early signs of breast cancer?
Breast cancer generally shows no symptoms in the early stage. As I have said earlier, timely detection can turn a story of breast cancer into a survivor’s tale. Early signs of breast cancer may include changes in the size of the breasts or nipple, lump in the breast, pain in the breast that doesn’t go away, discharge from the nipple, swelling or lump around the collarbone or under the arm, unexplained redness, itching or skin irritation on the breast. These symptoms vary in individuals, hence it is important we do regular self-examination while we pay attention to any unusual change in our breasts.
Unknown to many, men can also have breast cancer. How is this so?
They do because they have breast tissues too. The only difference is that women have more breast tissues than men; hence women are more prone to breast cancer than men.
Do they also undergo mastectomy like women?
Yes they do. They undergo mastectomy to prevent the cancer from spreading to other parts of the body.
You say you are on medication to prevent a recurrence of the disease. How can there be a recurrence, if one is already given a clean bill of health?
A recurrence does occur. I haven’t experienced it and will not. A recurrence of breast cancer happens when cells that were part of the original breast cancer break away from the original tumour and hide nearby in the breast or in another part of the body. These cells begin to grow later and multiply causing a recurrence. The cancer may come back in the same place as the original cancer (local recurrence) or it may spread to other areas of the body (distant recurrence). This is why regular checkup after cancer treatment is advised.
What branch of law do you practise or are you just a general counsel?
I am into corporate and commercial law practice. I work basically for corporate organisations as an external solicitor.
What is it like being married to Mr Godwin Omoaka who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria?
We were already married before he became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, although I was a junior lawyer at the time I met him. He was also a junior lawyer then, but my senior at the bar. There is really no difference marrying a fellow legal person. The only thing is that being made a SAN has made him popular in the legal field and it also helps me in a sense that some people want to give me legal jobs to do, knowing that I have a SAN beside me to help me out in case I am stuck with any legal issues.
What was the attraction?
I met him in court actually. My husband is a very intelligent person and I have a serious likeness for intelligent people. My husband has law at his fingertips. He knows so much about law that he taught me most of the things I know today about the legal profession. Those are the things I use today in dealing with clients, staff.
I am sure you aspire to be like him one day
Like I always say, just be ready for anything that life throws at you. If it is becoming a SAN and going to the bench, just be prepared. I however aspire to go to the bench and if that is what life throws at me, fine.
How are you able to juggle your work with the foundation and ensure that all is well on the home front?
The secret to succeeding in this situation is simply having a very good structure in place and being consistent. My work, my family and the foundation are all being taken care of because there is a consistent structure in place. I will not fail to mention that we have an amazing team at the foundation. They make work so seamless.
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement in life so far?
You know the life of a woman is very interesting, yet very demanding. Being responsible could entail having a career, raising a family or both. I am doing both in addition to the foundation. And I am grateful I have been able to give back to society in the way I am doing at the moment. If I have the opportunity, I will do more. I am also grateful that I have been able to combine raising a family, my career as a legal practitioner and this foundation well. No side is lacking. And I am glad I have been able to do that. I see that as an achievement, although I am still a work in progress.
What is your greatest challenge?
My only challenge is funding for the foundation. But we are not discouraged anyway. Nothing good comes easy, you know.
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