MIPtalk - conversations with the world's most interesting people.

1. admin
   Key Master
   Posted 1 year ago #
   

   

   http://www.miptalk.com/molebatsi-pooe-shongwe/

   Listen to the episode here - http://www.miptalk.com/media/MIP054.mp3

   3 separate doctors told 'Batsi Pooe-Shongwe the lump under her breast was benign. Just before her 37th birthday a specialist confirmed it was malignant.

   She started the organization BreastSens in South Africa with the goal of ending the shame associated with cancer. She explains that patients there sometimes turn down chemotherapy for fear of being shunned by neighbors who mistake the treatment's side effects with AIDS. Batsi knows of one young woman who refused to have a mastectomy because she was afraid it would harm her chances of getting married.

   Here she tells a little about about her story:

   Let me introduce myself. My name is Molebatsi Pooe-Shongwe, person living with cancer - currently in remission- and founder of BreastSens. I was diagnosed on 25 April 2006 – (28 days after my 37th birthday) after I had had a lumpectomy to remove a “benign lump.” My world froze after my specialist surgeon informed me that “the harmless benign lump” – as I had been reassured by THREE doctors, was in fact malignant. I felt breathless, my stomach was in knots and I wanted to throw up. It felt like I had been punched in the gut. This, I imagine is how you feel at the moment. Petrified. Devastated. Overwhelmed. ALONE IN AN INSANE WORLD. I empathize.

   I had a bilateral mastectomy on 18 May 2006 – followed by 6 sessions of chemotherapy. My nightmare did not end here. I was diagnosed with chemotherapy induced cardiomyopathy (congestive heart disease) a week after my last session of chemotherapy. Talk of a double whammy!!! I was scheduled to have a transplant this month (October 2007) but mercifully I am grateful to share that my heart muscle has “miraculously restored” itself. I am as healthy as a fiddle. There is hope and I am a true embodiment of that. Let my recovery be a light in your hour of darkness. BreastSens is here for you – please allow me to hold your hand as you walk this treacherous path. Reach deep within yourself and discover your will to live. Your inner strength.

   We caught with with Batsi at the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative.

   Secret

2. Jode_ster
   Member
   Posted 1 year ago #
   

   Thanks to Batsi for sharing her story! A young friend of mine sadly passed away from breast cancer at only 31. She was a young, breastfeeding mother and was told by doctors that the lump she felt was simply due to breastfeeding. Eventually her instincts told her otherwise and by the time she could get a doctor to investigate further it was too late. She was given 6 months to live. She left behind a husband and almost-two-year old son. I too had a scare at the age of 27 and had to wait for over a month to see the breast screening clinic. It was a month filled with mixed emotions and plenty of fear. Thankfully in my case things were clear, but I feel for all the women who aren't so lucky.
   Sending all my best wishes for the "BreastSens" organization and the wonderful things I'm sure they will achieve. ~J~

3. Brad Rowe
   Moderator
   Posted 1 year ago #
   

   Thanks for your share, J. I would love to hear more stories like yours. Please pass this link on to anyone you know who is or has been through something like this. I think we get strength in numbers. Right?

4. Jode_ster
   Member
   Posted 1 year ago #
   

   Yes, I think we do get strength in numbers. It's a disease in which the numbers are increasing rapidly, and sadly, in younger and younger women. I think a lot more education is required, not only for women, but for doctors and medical staff, too. Many don't seem to focus on those patients that seem too "young" to have the disease. I think the most important thing is for people to listen to their bodies, and, like Batsi, seek a second (or third) opinion till they are satisfied that things have been checked properly.

   Register

5. ypstars
   Member
   Posted 1 month ago #
   

   In the days before air conditioning, PVC door in many apartment buildings were outfitted with not one door, but two: A solid piece of wood, and a lighter screen with wooden slats, which one could close for privacy while still letting air circulate. With the advent of central air, these "louver doors," also known as paint wood door, largely disappeared from new construction.

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