Women of different ages experience different fertility complications once they become sexually active. This is why Rae van Nieuwenhuizen (56) from Hillcrest in KwaZulu-Natal advises women to see a gynaecologist at least once a year, especially if you’re noticing anything unusual.
Van Nieuwenhuizen is featured on episode 27 of the Sisters Without Shame podcast that is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. The podcast is hosted by Health For Mzansi’s head of news, Noluthando Ngcakani.
Five years ago, Van Nieuwenhuizen was diagnosed with cancer. She admits seeing the signs, but thought it was merely a natural decline in her reproductive hormones. “I was 52 [and] working as a nurse [with] what I thought was [merely a] general menopause change of life thing happening. I was diagnosed with stage two cervical cancer through a pap smear.”
When to screen for cervical cancer?
Cervical cancer is a malignant tumour of the cervix, the lowermost part of the uterus.
“I never anticipated it,” says Van Nieuwenhuizen. “I was also kicking myself quite a lot because the cancer could have been seen earlier, but because I missed a couple of pap smears it was noticed late.”
Early detection truly saves lives. Experts advise that sexually active women from the age of 18 should become proactive about their sexual reproductive health.
“Regular checks are extremely important because the sooner the doctors detects abnormal cells in your cervix before they become cancerous, the better, rather having them detected at a stage where the abnormal cells need tumour radiation,” adds Van Nieuwenhuizen.
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A tough journey ahead
The journey to recovery from cervical cancer treatment can be daunting, full of surprises and long. Despite this, keep the faith sis.
“There are many difficult and unbearable anxiety inflicting things about the whole process, and the most challenging one for me was waiting for every scan to see if there was any improvement.”
Cervical cancer is a malignant tumour of the cervix, the lowermost part of the uterus.
“I never anticipated it,” says Van Nieuwenhuizen. “I was also kicking myself quite a lot because the cancer could have been seen earlier, but because I missed a couple of pap smears it was noticed late.”
Early detection truly saves lives. Experts advise that sexually active women from the age of 18 should become proactive about their sexual reproductive health.
“Regular checks are extremely important because the sooner the doctors detects abnormal cells in your cervix before they become cancerous, the better, rather having them detected at a stage where the abnormal cells need tumour radiation,” adds Van Nieuwenhuizen.
Van Nieuwenhuizen adds, “Another challenge was dealing with the side effects of the chemotherapy and radiation. They were horrible times, but I just took them one day a time. People tend to count the radiation sessions and pay much attention to them. I just counted the first two sessions to alleviate the anxiety and panic.”
She reiterates that early detection saves lives. Get checked now. “The five minutes it takes to test is worth way more than the time it takes to heal.”
Health For Mzansi word of the day
Malignant: Very villainous and has detrimental effects to that particular subject matter.
Listen to the full interview on Sisters Without Shame
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