GYN CHRONICLES
CANCER OF
THE CERVIX
By Dr. Maureen Owiti
N
yambura (not her real
name) walked into the
examination room. A 35 year
old hairdresser in town. She had the
characteristic odour and I fear to
say the odour of cancer. Once you
inhale that specific scent you never
forget it and it’s the same regardless
of the cancer we are dealing with.
No history, no examination, and no
need to jump to a diagnosis.
She was full of life but looked as if
something was deeply bothering her.
I welcomed her into the consultation
introduced myself and asked her
what had led her to come to visit
today.
Nyambura had been married 15
years and had 4 children from the
union but about 1 year ago she
started noticing a watery discharge
that was very unpleasant in smell.
She went to a nearby clinic and was
treated for a vaginal infection. The
smell reduced but the discharge
didn’t and then she started
noticing that whenever she and her
husband made love she would spot
afterwards.
After seeking treatment in several
places she decided to seek the
opinion of a gynaecologist hence her
visit. Several questions later it turned
out she had never gone for screening
for cervical cancer and after the
examination it was evident there was
a lesion on her cervix.
I explained my findings to her and
as is customary we are not allowed
to give a diagnosis for any cancer
without a histological diagnosis.
This meant Nyambura had to
have a procedure to get the biopsy
specimen that would undergo
‘‘What? Can cervical cancer be prevented?
If you didn’t know that already I will repeat:
Yes We Can Prevent Cervical Cancer!
There is no single way to completely prevent
cervical cancer, but there are things that can
greatly reduce your risk.’’
70 MAL 12/16 ISSUE
analysis and determine the cause of
t he ailment.
I however had to tell her that I
feared it could be cancer so the
gravity of the situation was apparent
and took instructions seriously. She
was scheduled for the procedure and
following that it came out she had
advanced disease and cancer of the
cervix. She subsequently was booked
for courses of chemotherapy and
radiotherapy.
The question is could all this have
been avoided? The answer is yes.
One of the most heart breaking
things in medical practice is seeing
women suffer from diseases that
could have easily been averted or at
least treated much earlier.
Prevention
What? Can cervical cancer be
prevented? If you didn’t know that
already I will repeat: Yes We Can
Prevent Cervical Cancer! There is
no single way to completely prevent
cervical cancer, but there are things
that can greatly reduce your risk.
The only advantage of cervical
cancer, unlike other more common
cancers such as breast cancer, we can