 Welcome back, it's the Breakfast in Plus TV Africa and we're back here to talk about breast cancer, very important. And that's because October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign that raises awareness about the impact of breast cancer. We just go straight to it because we do not have so much time. We have a health aspect who's with us this morning, Nesou Chi Ibukoi. She joins us all the way from New York. It's good to have you join us this morning. Pleasure to be with you. All right then. Can you quickly bring us up to speed with the month of October and the fact that it has been designed to be a month for the campaign raising awareness about breast cancer? Why and what should we know about this month? So the month of October is a key month that puts an emphasis and a focus on breast cancer awareness. Especially in a country like Nigeria where a lot of cancers, especially breast cancers are under diagnosed, it's a time for us to make the public aware of exactly what breast cancer is and what some of these signs and symptoms that might manifest in any individual to look out for so that you know when it's time to go and see a doctor for an evaluation. So first and foremost I think the general public need to understand what exactly is breast cancer. You have to have the fundamental knowledge first of what is a cancer in general. And in general a cancer is an abnormal proliferation of damaged cells. So in our body we all have these healthy cells and over time some of these cells can become damaged. When these damaged cells begin to grow rapidly out of control in various regions of the body then it can manifest as a cancer. So when this process of abnormal cell growth of damaged cells occur in the breast then one can have a breast cancer. It can start in one breast, it can start in both breasts, but the bottom line is there are these changes to the cells in the breast manifesting as a potential tumor. With that said the public needs to realize that breast cancer the majority occur in women but men can also obtain breast cancers as well. So I think the key thing is to recognize what breast cancer is and understand what your risk factor for developing breast cancer might be and what some of these signs and symptoms are. Alright so for those who are watching would like to know more about the risk factors and then for the signs and symptoms what do they need to look out for. I'm particularly interested also because we don't really talk about that much in the fact that men can also develop breast cancer which is quite surprising. So please throw some more light on the symptoms of signs and risk factors. Okay so in regards to signs and symptoms there are a couple of these red flag signs that everyone really needs to know about to kind of sign and ring the bell that you need to see your doctor ASAP. So one thing that most people know about already is noticing a new lump in the breast. So most people know about this kind of sign or symptom of a new lump. That is a red flag sign to see a doctor but other signs and symptoms include the following. Nipple discharge, nipple discharge outside of normal lactation in a woman. So if you are a woman that is not breastfeeding and not lactating you should not have nipple discharge. So if you do note that that is a red flag sign that you should see a doctor. Another red flag sign may be thickening or swelling in part of the breast, any skin area of the breast. The skin can potentially develop into what appears to be the skin of the orange, the way that the orange skin peel looks. It's what we call Poe de Honge. That is a red flag sign that you might need to see a doctor immediately. Something else to note, if you now notice a breast change such as inversion of the nipple, that's another red flag sign that you need to see your doctor immediately. The bottom line is anytime you notice a change from your baseline that's pretty much an indicator that you need to get checked out. So with all of these potential red flag signs people need to also note that some of those symptoms that I mentioned can occur in other conditions. So that's why it's pretty much key that you talk to your doctor anytime you notice something outside of the ordinary of your baseline. Alright, so quickly, let's talk about the lump for every time you probably have like that. Does it really mean that that's a sign that you have cancer? So as I was saying, it's not necessarily a sign of cancer, but it could be any new lump or lesion that develops in the body warrants a full evaluation. You would go to see your physician or doctor and basically they can do certain tests. If biopsy is warranted, they can test certain cells to determine is this something that's malignant? Is this something that's a cancer? Is it something that is benign? I think the key takeaway is when you notice a lump or a bump or a change in this part of the body, it's not something to really sleep on. You need to get this checked out. It's not that it's necessarily going to be cancer, but if it were to be a cancer detecting it earlier pretty much helps your outcome. It makes it better to easier, I should say, to treat when these things are diagnosed at earlier stages. In terms of having a mammogram, how often should anyone have a mammogram? So in regards to the screening and mammography, first the general public, you need to know when we're talking about mammography, this is just an X-ray of the breast. So we're visualizing that tissue to determine and detect if we're seeing any kind of abnormalities. So different regulatory bodies have pretty much different potentially controversial guidelines about when we should initiate these discussions and this testing and screening, I should say, with mammography. So in general, starting from the age of 40, one should initiate these discussions with their physician. And around that age, starting at the age of 40, an annual mammography should ensue. Of course, there are various different factors that might change when you're going to initiate your mammogram, such as if you have a family history, which is a huge risk factor for development of breast cancer. So if one has a family history, meaning that you have a first-degree relative, mother, sibling with a history of breast cancer, that magnifies and increases the risk that you can also develop breast cancer. So the screening for somebody with a family history would earlier and sooner than the age of 40. And in general, what you also need to know as well, in regards to these risk factors, there are certain risk factors that one can control to lower your risk of breast cancers. And there are certain factors that you cannot control that you have pretty much no control over. And I can go through those factors as well, because these are pretty key points that everyone should really be aware of. Okay, very quickly, please. Sure. So there are factors that you cannot control. Let's go through the factors that you can't control. You cannot control your gender being born female. Of course, that increases the risk of obtaining breast cancer, because most of these cancers occur in women. Another factor that you can control, your age, getting older. As we get older, the risk of breast cancer also increases. Other things that I also mentioned and alluded to, a family history. If you have a family history of a breast cancer, that increases your risk as well. If you've inherited certain gene mutations, so one of the most common gene mutations that one can inherit that can contribute to breast cancers, what we call a BRCA1, BRCA1, BRCA2 gene mutation. So those who have that kind of mutation, their risk is basically increased. And of course, the personal history of breast cancer. We have to let you go now, and that's because we're out of time, but we appreciate your thoughts. And we look forward to speaking with you as we continue in the month of October with the campaign concerning breast cancer. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me on. All right then. Dr. Neso Chiokike Mokoi is a health expert and she joins us all the way from the United States to be precise. New York, thank you. We take a break now, and when we... Yes, we have some other guests joining us to talk about a personal experience as far as a cancer is concerned. It's very important for people to be aware of mercy and to also have the information to go get checked. Like she said, once you get to the age of 40 and above, you need to check regularly. Apart from that, I see young people these days having cancer, babies having cancer. So as she said, if you notice anything that looks strange on the breast, you have to go check it out. But one thing she said I never knew. One of the things, if you have any discharge when you're not lactating from the breast, then it's a sign. And I thought that was, you know, it's normal to have some sort of discharge even when you're not lactating. Oh no, this is normal. You know, don't ask me how I know. I research. I research these things. All right, so I think we... I research these things. I'm a journalist, so I have to do some research. I understand. All right, we have our next guest. Mercy, do us the honors, please. All right, so I think we have Dennis, a drawer. Dennis, a drawer joins us this morning and she'll be sharing her experience with us as a survivor of cancer. I hope I got that correctly. Good morning. Can you hear me? Yes, please. Okay, good morning. I didn't realize you were talking. Okay, good morning. Yes, you did share it correctly. That's my name, Dennis, a drawer. All right, so Dennis, thank you for joining us once again. Thank you. All right, let's quickly hear you share your experience about cancer and surviving cancer. And also good to know that you are a CEO of Komod Cancer Foundation in the United States. Okay, let me do some corrections now. I'm the CEO of Komod Cancer Foundation and we're based in Nigeria and we run a cancer awareness. Yes, thank you very much for inviting me and it would be nice to talk about cancer. So let me talk about myself but before I do that, I want to welcome all your viewers and thank you. This is breast cancer month and currently I am at the World Cancer Congress in Geneva. So we are actually talking to you from there. Let's go. Go on. Yes, so go ahead. We'd like to hear your experience. I mean, how did it happen and how did you survive it? I survived it. I'm still in it. So let's go. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016. Methasizing in the brain, which basically means having breast cancer that has moved. So the tumors were found in the brain. I have had 12 tumors removed from my brain. I am in active treatment so I still take chemo. I still go through radiotherapy. I still have all the things that come with a cancer treatment. So someone who's going through cancer journey. I live with the disease and it's called living with cancer, which means that they cannot actually say this is going to be the final solution and we've got a drug that's going to work. There is no miracle drug. As a drug stops working, they have to find another drug to fight that drug. So I was diagnosed with it in 2016 and I have lived with it ever since. It has had its own ups and downs. It has resulted in me having three brain surgeries. That's, I mean, cuts to the brain of which one of them. The last one was done in March of 2022. It has a lot of side effects for us. However, whatever goes on in the cancer space, I will always say to anybody, you've got to fight. You've got to believe in yourself. You've got to be focused on getting through it rather than seeing the negatives in what happens with it. So I've had to learn to go through it because it brings about the mental health challenges, the financial burdens that go with it for cancer patients. And it doesn't matter what part of the world you're from. No matter where you are, everybody that has cancer has those challenges no matter what anybody thinks. It is one of those times when I think, I see the gratitude of God rather than the challenge in front because the surgeries have been very heart wrenching, if that's the words you use, where you really go through a challenge and you don't know if you're going to come out of it. And that's what cancer is. You really don't know what your prognosis will bring to you but you hope and you aim for getting through it. And that is by listening to your body. So if your body tells you you're tired, stop. If you've got a headache, you need to recognize there might be something wrong with you and follow it up. Cancer is one thing. The one thing I have learned from the diagnosis of cancer is knowing that if you have a persistent illness, a headache, a stomach ache, anything that is persistent, anything, it is advice that you seek help because it means that there is something seriously wrong. If there is, I mean, for those who are living in Nigeria, we know the access to the care, adequate care is not as affordable as, you know, at least for other people around the world. What are some of those things that you've noticed and you still need to be done to make it easier for people to screen and to also take care of themselves so they can, you know, be champions just like you are for this situation called cancer and also encourage other people as well. What needs to be done to make it easier for people to take care of themselves if they're diagnosed with cancer in Nigeria? First and foremost, I was diagnosed with cancer in Nigeria. There are a lot of hospitals and there are a lot of NGOs in Nigeria which, ours is one of them, that actually support cancer patients. The biggest challenge we have is the fact that because cancer is stigmatized, unfortunately a lot of people will not come out unsaid. But if we were able to all follow the rules and recognize when we are not in a good place and seek help then, then that is where it is easier to catch it at an early stage. If you look at breast cancer, which is one of the things, one of my two that I have, breast cancer in the early stages, if found early, is like almost to be said to be curable. And that is to a lot of cancers. If it's found very early, it is curable. However, when it gets to stages where it has moved and metastasized, that's where it becomes complex. So when I say to, if I'm saying to anybody, irrespective of where you are in the world, and Nigeria is not the only low income country in the world, we all have to take responsibility. When you see a family member or a friend who is saying, I've got a running stomach and it doesn't go, there is a problem. I have to address that problem and force the medical team to investigate rather than a doctor telling you, oh no, take this medicine and go away. Because that's what happened to me. I went to six hospitals in Nigeria, and that's in Abuja, Lagos, and Mina. And everybody just dismissed it as a headache until I did a scan in a hospital in Lagos and they said the tumors had moved. And I now had not one, but I have three. So it's important for us to recognize what I know now if I had known then, I may not have, I may have addressed it differently. So anything that is persistent, I'm not saying a headache, cancer is everyday disease. So it affects everybody every day. And it's just knowing that once one is, what do you call it, if it's persistent, go and seek help, seek help. All right, very quickly, because of time, for those who would like to reach out to your foundation, I mean with personal questions and maybe they need some support, how can they do that? They should go on to Nigeria Cancer Society, look for them on the website, on the website. Nigeria Cancer Society has the registered records of all cancer organizations in Nigeria and every cancer organization specializes in very different things. So it's to find what is most applicable to you and use it. We are Komod Cancer Foundation and we create awareness. So we are trying to stop people from getting the disease. We want you to understand that these are the signs, these are what you need to do, and these are how to navigate your journey no matter what it is. Okay, it's quite inspirational each time we get to talk to you, because I mean living with one cancer is a tough one, but living with two, it's quite heroic what you're doing. Also, I must thank you and commend you for coming out to say you want to use your experience to inform, educate, and enlighten others. I think that's admirable. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you very much. Well that's it. Thank you so much for being part of the Shortest Morning, Dennis Edgore. We appreciate your time and we look forward to sharing more of your thoughts as we proceed in the month of cancer, breast cancer awareness. And that's the size of our conversation this morning. If you missed out on any part of it, it will be great to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and do subscribe to our YouTube channel. It's a plus TV Africa and plus TV Africa lifestyle. My name is Messia Boubou. Have a great morning. My name is Kofi Portels. Please make sure you use all the information we've shared on the program today for your benefit. See you tomorrow. Good morning.