DOHA WHEN Amani Halawa first felt a lump in her breast, she took it lightly as do the majority of women would have, believing it that would just go away on its own. However, Halawa was not so lucky as she was later diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer .
She survived the disease successfully after sustained treatments that include mastectomy and chemotherapy one year after her diagnosis.
Narrating her personal survival story at the Breast Cancer Awareness Day organised by the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) on Saturday, Halawa said she could have avoided some of the sufferings she endured if only she had gone to the doctor much earlier to seek medical intervention.
To avoid going through similar experience, Halawa urged women aged 45 years and above to conduct monthly selfbreast examinations and benefit form the screening tests provided by the HMC.
She said: “Being diagnosed with cancer is not the worst thing that could happen to anyone because cancer is curable.
However, fear and depression that may follow afterwards are worse than cancer. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I chose to be brave for my family. I wanted to live to see my daughters get married. So, I decided to fight the disease and be strong.
I realise that strong will and positive attitude are better than chemotherapy.” Today, Halawi is a leader of the Hayat Cancer Support Group, which functions under the Qatar Cancer Society to provide moral support to cancer patients and their families in the country.
Another breast cancer survivor and a South African expatriate, Marlyn said, “I never smoked. I breast-fed and maintained a healthy lifestyle. I thought I did everything right. But cancer does not discriminate. It could happen to anyone. I had a friend who was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 38 and succumbed to the disease at the age of 41. She asked me to promise her that I would go for the early screening.
Thankfully, I did so and it helped in preventing the cancer from spreading further.” According to Dr Salha Bujassoum, director of the Breast Screening Programme at HMC, as many as 948 breast cancer cases have been diagnosed in Qatar since 2004. She said a national breast cancer screening programme would be launched under the Supreme Council of Health within two years.
According to experts, breast cancer is the leading cancer among women around the world.
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