(Fatima)

The directives of Dr. Ahmed Kinsara have great merit after God Almighty, a humanitarian message for every Saudi woman (Fatima) .. The journey of pain and recovery from breast cancer A story written by: Muhammad Abdullah Daoud, a journalist specializing in medical affairs, Okaz newspaper

Mrs. Fatima (a mother of four) passed the age of fifty, and one day while watching TV, she felt a fluctuating pain in her right breast, and she could not sleep at night and overlooked the matter with painkillers, and the slight pain began to intensify the next day until she felt a palpable mass and that it was not I was silent on him, and at that time I decided to go to the gynecologist who did several tests, mammograms and some necessary analyzes.

Anxiety and tension began to plague Fatima when the doctor explained to her that she suffers from breast cancer, and she replied in a sad voice, saying, "God forbid, and he did not want it." And the doctor continued that she must undergo treatment before it spreads

Tumor ..

Fatima, who was satisfied with what God had written for her, decided with strong determination and will to struggle and fight the disease and discover its secret, and not to give in to despair, so she began the journey of knowing the disease ... its causes ... and its treatment

breast cancer

At first, Fatima went to the clinic of Dr. Iman Baroum, head of the radiology department at King Abdulaziz Hospital and Oncology Center in Jeddah, who provided a full introduction to breast cancer, and said to her:

Breast cancer is an abnormal and irregular division of breast cells in women and it often occurs in the cells of the milk ducts and leads to the formation of a latent tumor, and as a result of the multiple random cell division, the tumor grows rapidly in size and leads to its spread in the body through the blood and lymph channels.

The causes of disease

And Dr. Barum, by Mrs. Fatima, that the cause of the disease is not completely known, but there are factors that increase the chances of developing this disease, but the presence of one or a number of these factors does not mean that a person will have this disease, and these factors include: History of the disease, so the possibility of breast cancer is It is higher in women who have first-degree relatives (mother, sister, daughter) with this disease, where the percentage increases to double, but if the relatives are of the second degree (grandmother, aunt, aunt), whether on the mother''s or father''s side, the infection rate rises, but It is less than the first case, and a woman with cancer in one breast has a higher incidence of disease in the other breast or in another place in the breast itself, and radiation therapy in the chest area at a young age increases the likelihood of breast cancer. Some studies have shown that breastfeeding for a period of time A year and a half to two years slightly reduces the incidence of breast cancer, and not having children or having the first child after the age of 30 years, slightly increases the incidence of breast cancer, and the beginning of the cycle before the age of 12 years and its interruption after the age of 55 years slightly increases the incidence rate Cancer A. To the breast.

Asians are less

Dr. Barum continues her statement to Mrs. Fatima, "It is noted that white women are slightly more susceptible to breast cancer than black women, and Asian women are less likely to develop the disease than American women. It has become clear that the use of the hormones estrogen and progesterone for several years to treat menopausal symptoms slightly increases the incidence of cancer Breast, and weight gain in the body increases the incidence of breast cancer, especially if the increase began after puberty, avoiding smoking and exercising reduces the incidence of cancer, as walking fast for a period ranging from an hour and a quarter to two and a half hours per week decreases the possibility Incidence of 18%, and 5-10% of breast cancer cases are related to genetic causes related to abnormalities that occur in some genes, and women who have abnormalities in these two genes are at risk of developing this disease 80% more than other women.

Disease spotting

And Dr. explained. Barum to Mrs. Fatima on how breast cancer was discovered, and she explained: It is known medically that early detection of the disease gives much better results and treatment opportunities than late detection, according to the standards of the American Cancer Society, early detection is as follows:

Mammogram: Women aged 40 and over should have a mammogram every year until the end of their life.

Clinical breast examination: Women in their twenties and thirties must undergo this examination by a specialist every three years, but from the age of forty and over, this examination should be performed annually, preferably before the mammogram.

Self-examination of the breast: Starting from the age of 20 years per month after learning the correct way to do this by a doctor or nurse, so the girl or woman is aware of the nature of her breast, and thus it is easy for her to know any changes that occur to her breast when examining it and consult the doctor accordingly.

Two types of treatment

And Dr. Barum, Ms. Fatima, aspects of the treatment, saying: There are two types of treatment: topical by surgery and radiation to the breast area, and general or comprehensive to the whole body by chemical drugs and hormones, and immunotherapy is taken either orally or intravenously.

The golden rule

Mrs. Fatima was keen to meet with Dr. Mona Muhammad Basleem, Consultant Oncology Surgeon and Head of the Breast Diseases and Surgery Unit at King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah to monitor more information related to breast cancer. She explained to her: Early detection of breast cancer is very simple and depends on the woman examining herself and herself. Every month after the menstrual cycle, starting from the age of twenty-five and does not stop due to pregnancy or lactation, the goal is for the woman to get acquainted with her hand about the formation of her breast and the nature of the details inside it, and this qualifies her to notice any change that occurs in it at an early date and thus go to consult the experienced.

She added, "The golden rule in dealing with this disease is early detection, which consists of three steps: firstly, monthly breast self-examination, secondly, clinical examination by a specialist doctor in this field, and thirdly, doing mammograms annually or every two years for those of forty years of age. There was no complaint or problem because this helps to detect any changes early. If there are a number of family members suffering from breast or ovarian cancer, especially at a young age (under forty years), mammograms must be done for members of this family from the age of five Thirty ".

Dr. Mona Basaleem pointed out that if there is a mass or foreign tissue in the breast, this requires taking a sample with the needle and it is preferable to use a television X-ray machine at the same time to determine the exact location of the needle entry, stressing that taking the sample with the needle will not lead to the spread of the tumor as some believe. In fact, it helps to diagnose the problem without resorting to surgical intervention, because cases of cancerous tumors must be diagnosed with a needle first before the patient enters the hospital in order to determine the type of treatment that may be with chemotherapy drugs before the surgical intervention.

Breast secretions

After that, Mrs. Fatima went to the clinic of Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Aref as a consultant general and laparoscopic surgeon and associate professor at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah to inquire about the absence of secretions from her breasts or any signs that indicate that she has breast cancer. As a breakout, the emergence of secretions from the nipple may be milky secretions without pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding, and these secretions may come out from light pressure or even without pressure, indicating that these milky secretions are but stored inside the breast for a long time that may take other colors other than the characteristic white color of milk It may be yellow, brown or green, and here we must differentiate it from the exit of blood from the nipple, which is a very important thing that has different foundations in dealing with it and they are not concerned with the amount of milk or secretions that come out from the breast, and it does not matter if the secretions are in one side or in both sides. It may be accompanied by disturbances (or disappearance) of the menstrual cycle.

Dr. As a surprise to Mrs. Fatima that nipple secretions have no value except that they may indicate an increase in the secretion of the milk hormone called prolactin to the pituitary gland at the bottom of the brain, and the treatment here may be aimed at reducing the secretion to the normal range by giving pills that reduce the secretion of the milk hormone, but if secretions appear From the nipple that has blood or the color is red, then these are secretions that may come out from one of the twenty holes of the nipple (and this can be seen with a magnifying glass) or come out from multiple holes. This is a very important thing that has different foundations in dealing with it, so it can be either benign or malignant depending on what it shows. Medical examinations, laboratory analyzes and radiological results.

Lumpectomy

Although Mrs. Fatima continued her treatment stages, she began to search for developments in the removal of breast tumors, and while on a visit to her daughter in Riyadh, she decided to go to the head of the King Faisal Center for Oncology at King Faisal Specialist Hospital, Dr. Dahesh Ajarm, who explained to her that there is a breakthrough in research regarding Breast cancer, which will lead to an improvement in the treatment of this disease and an increase in the rate of cure from it, adding that the most important things in surgery at the present time is to remove the tumor if it is small, and to reduce the removal of entire glands under the armpits, as well as many modern methods found in cosmetic treatments that It has a relationship with this tumor, as for radiotherapy, it is a topical treatment of the tumor, which is done after surgical or chemotherapy treatment, and it has another role in treating the complications of the disease when it spreads and reaches the bone and other places or returns locally, and there are now multiple methods and improvement in treatment, where the focus began on Giving radiation therapy in ways that focus only on the location of the tumor, and this means reducing its complications on other parts of the body such as the lung and the heart, as for chemotherapy, there are several drugs used to treat cancerous tumors and are in rapid development , And there are drugs that have entered the treatment of cancer diseases and have proven their effectiveness, and there are other new drugs that are still in the trial stage.

Targeted therapy

Dr. Ajarm continued his speech to Mrs. Fatima: With regard to biological treatment or targeted therapy, there is remarkable progress in understanding the cancer cell or the biology of the cancer cell, and he was able to identify some factors or some internal and genetic structures that have an important contribution to causing cancer, which helped in the progress In the use of biological (or targeted) therapy in cancer treatment.

And Dr. Dahesh pointed out that the counter or targeted treatment is so called because it is directed to a part of the cancer cell, its reception center, or an important biological role in it, and there are several types of this treatment are still under experience, and there are now many anti-therapies that have proven effective in treating cancer tumors Breast, whether local, diffuse, or targeted therapy,