Best For Breast

Early detection is key to surviving breast cancer so get checked out.

- Jane Surtees 

THEY’RE three little words you never want to hear – you have cancer.

For Nomsimelelo Somagaca they were particularly painful, as her mother had died from the dreaded disease a few years before and she was convinced this diagnosis was also the end for her.

Nomsimelelo (42) was diagnosed with the most common cancer in women around the world – breast cancer. Luckily, she received treatment in time and is still with us to share her story.

Her traumatic journey began three years ago. “I had a big lump on the side of my right breast,” she recalls. “But I didn’t think anything of it because I was still breastfeeding my little boy, Chulumanco, who was three at the time. However, a colleague told me I should see a doctor.”

The mother of two from Delft, in Cape Town, listened to the advice and went to a clinic.

“The doctor on duty didn’t examine me properly and just gave me antibiotics and vitamin B pills,” she tells us.

Neither made any difference and a few months later she returned to the clinic but this time saw a different doctor who gave her a proper examination and referred her to Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital for a mammogram and ultrasound. The results led to a biopsy, which is when a sample of tissue is taken for testing.

“The biopsy confirmed my worst fear – I did have cancer and it was already stage 3b,” Nomsimelelo says. This meant the cancer had extended beyond the tumour and invaded nearby lymph nodes and muscles. The good news was it had not yet spread to other organs.

Even so, the news was devastating. 

“The first question I asked myself was, ‘Am I going to die like my mom?’”

Nomsimelelo says she was lucky to be surrounded by a loving family and great colleagues who helped her through this difficult time.