Durban - While a diagnosis of cancer is devastating news to most people, it wasn’t unduly alarming to Joan Deare. As provincial director of the Cancer Association of South Africa (Cansa) in Durban in the 1990s, she had come into contact daily with cancer patients and had seen many survive and live healthy and productive lives.
“Because I knew how common cancer was, it was not a matter of whether I would get it, but when,” says the vibrant 73-year-old, who was diagnosed in 2011. “My knowledge of cancer was a good thing. I had seen how survival rates had increased, so when it happened to me, I wasn’t afraid.”
Far from slowing her down, her encounter with the disease and her recovery has spurred her on to spread the message of cancer awareness, early detection and education. She has become an ambassador for Be Cancer Aware – an educational initiative of health care company Roche – and emphasises that cancer is not something to be terrified of, but something to be dealt with.
“Despite knowing the symptoms, I ignored them,” she says. “I had had a routine bowel cancer screening, which was clear, so I felt reassured nothing was amiss. I was wrong.”
Active
At the time Joan was living in London, working as a social worker in a child protection team. She had retired from Cansa in 2000 and had headed to the UK. She loved the energy of London and lived an active life, which included being part of a hiking club that took her on trails throughout the UK and Europe. Life was good and cancer was not on her radar.
Then one day, on a train, she was struck with excruciating abdominal pains. She stopped at a pharmacy and bought an over-the-counter remedy, which helped.
After 10 years in the UK, she returned to Durban and consulted her GP about her continuing gastric troubles. The doctor confidently diagnosed irritable bowel syndrome.
But when symptoms persisted, Joan sought a second opinion. A scan suggested stage one liver cancer but Joan’s brother in Perth, radiologist Dr James Anderson, looked at the scans, disagreed with the diagnosis and suggested a colonoscopy.
This showed a tumour and confirmed that Joan had stage four colon cancer.
“I decided to have an open mind and take one step at a time. I didn’t see it as a death sentence,” she says.
She was referred to an oncologist who prescribed six months of chemotherapy and surgery.
“I had 76cm of my intestine removed but my surgeon managed to prevent the need for a stoma bag,” says Joan.
Throughout the treatment, she still managed to do her job as a social worker at a women’s refuge in Greyville and says she could not have managed without support from her family.
“They kept me in touch with normality when all I wanted to do was lie and look at the ceiling.”
At first, she had to be careful about what she ate, but now she can eat almost anything except for foods with skins, small pips and seeds. Two-and-a-half years down the line, she is back to her energetic self, doing voluntary work at Cansa and is devising a programme to help families with parenting skills. As a single mother of four, and her experience as a social worker in the childcare field, she is well qualified to do this.
She is passionate about spreading the message of early detection.
“So often, diagnosis is a box-ticking exercise and cancer is a last box,” she says.
“Many other conditions are tested for, wasting valuable time.
“My message is: ‘Listen to your gut’. Inform yourself. If you are worried and feel you are being fobbed off, get a second or third opinion.
“Don’t be in denial,” says Joan. “If you have symptoms, get checked. It could save your life.”
Colorectal cancer – cancer of the colon or rectum – is the fourth-most common cancer in men and women in South Africa and the third-most common cancer and cause of cancer-related death worldwide – yet it is rarely spoken about or publicised.
Common symptoms include:
l A change in bowel habit that lasts for more than a few weeks.
l Blood in the stool or rectal bleeding.
l Pain and discomfort in the abdomen/stomach area, which is continuous. This could be in the form of cramps, gas or just pain.
l Pain and discomfort in the abdomen/stomach area during, before or after bowel movement, especially if this happens every time.
l The feeling that you can’t empty your bowel completely.
l Weight loss that is unexplained.
l Weakness, fatigue or exhaustion that is not caused by physical activity.
Most often, these symptoms are not due to cancer. See a doctor to be diagnosed and treated as early as possible.
Through the Ignoring a Gut Feeling campaign, Be Cancer Aware aims to highlight the disease’s signs and symptoms.
The risk of being diagnosed begins at 50 and increases as you get older. Risk factors include poor diet, lack of exercise, obesity, family history of colorectal cancer and ageing. - Daily News
Visit www.becanceraware.co.za or see the Be Cancer Aware Facebook group.