CENSUDI SUPPORTS BREAST CANCER PATIENTS IN GHANA

A trained qualified teacher who discovered a lump in her right breast in December 2018 when she was actively teaching in Winneba in the Central Region of Ghana. She immediately went to the Winneba General Hospital and after examining her breasts, she was told the lump was benign. As the lump grew bigger and more pronounced, she decided to go to the Central Regional hospital at Cape Coast[1] to seek better help but again she was told after physical examination only that her lump was not cancerous. 

In 2020, she retired from active teaching and moved back home with her husband to settle in Kaleo in the Upper West Region. She noticed that her right nipple was beginning to invert, and the lump was growing bigger and painful. In December 2020, she went to the Wa Regional Hospital where after a biopsy was done, she was informed on January 31st 2021 that the lump was cancerous. She was referred to one of only four cancer centers in Ghana, the Tamale Teaching Hospital Cancer Center. Upon further examination, she was informed that the cancer had spread beyond surgery. They could palliatively treat her with chemotherapy to delay further growth, reduce her pain/discomfort and improve her daily quality of life. She was then referred to the Sweden Ghana Center in Accra because they collaborate with the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) to treat their members suffering from cancer. In February 2021, the doctors at Sweden Ghana Center started treatments comprising chemotherapy, radiation and prescriptions for oral consumption. Martha’s tumor eventually burst, forming a sore that needed daily dressing. 

CENSUDI was happy to pay for transporting Martha from Bolga to Accra so she could go to the Sweden Ghana Center for her routine follow-up in May 2024. It was determined during this visit that her situation had deteriorated to a point where she needed hospitalization to drain fluids that had accumulated in her lungs. Sadly, we lost Martha on May 25th, 2024 at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra. May her soul rest in peace, Amen. Her burial took place on July 6th2024 in her marital hometown of Kaleo in the Upper West Region. CENSUDI proudly contributed this as well as providing emotional and prayerful support to her kids.   

We are grateful Martha spoke with CENSUDI, and we hope our work will prevent more women going through Martha’s ordeal which culminated in an untimely death at 64 years young

Early in 2020, Memunatu noticed that her left breast was itching a lot. Later that year she also observed some pain in addition to the incessant itching. One dawn, this itch woke her up from sleep and whilst she was scratching, she looked and noticed that the left breast had shrunk with an inverted nipple. Scared beyond her wits, she rushed to show it to one of her sons[1], an Agricultural Field Officer who immediately advised that they go to seek some answers from the hospital. They chose to go to a private Clinic belonging to Dr. Abdul-Razak- Principal Medical Officer and Deputy Director at the Upper East regional offices of the Ghana Health Service.

On December 20th 2020, Dr. Razak saw them and told them that he suspected that she had cancer and then referred them to proceed immediately to the Cancer Unit at the Tamale Teaching Hospital for proper diagnosis and treatment. They left the next day for Tamale where Memunatu was administered a mammogram, a biopsy and a scan which all led to the proper diagnosis of stage 1 Triple Negative Cancer in her left breast (TNBC). To prepare her for a mastectomy, she was prescribed 5 rounds of Chemotherapy every 3 weeks. These chemo treatments started the first quarter of 2021 and on 25th November 2021, she underwent surgery to remove the left breast. Surgery went well, healing was progressing as expected and so she was discharged after a 15 day stay in the hospital. 

Upon discharge, they were handed the specimen from the surgery and directed to a lab to pay for a pathology test. They were asked to pick up the pathology results and come back in a couple of weeks for further examination of the wound for the healing progress as well as an analysis of the pathology results to help determine her prognosis post-surgery. They hinted that since her breast cancer was the TNBC kind, it was most likely she would have to undergo radiation treatments at the Komfo-Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, Ashanti Region. 

When they got back home, Memunatu’s health improved by leaps and bounds, and she was able to resume her normal daily activities. However, her son, Haruna, who religiously accompanied her on her cancer journey thus far, became seriously ill and could hardly move. Additionally, Haruna’s first son was born during this time, and his mother’s breasts were not producing enough milk to feed him, so they had to buy formula to feed him. These new and urgent health needs competed for their meagre resources, so they forgot to return to Tamale to pick up the pathology results and didn’t also go for the post-op follow-up that had been advised. 

Then in October 2023, Memunatu started to experience debilitating pain in both her breasts, chest area and her entire upper body. She visited the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital where she was seen and prescribed some oral medicines which alleviated the pain. However, after she finished this course of treatment, the pain came back with a vengeance. In mid-November 2023, Memunatu was rushed to the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital where she was admitted for treatment. While on admission, Memunatu’s son requested the medical team to refer them back to the Cancer Unit at Tamale Teaching Hospital(TTH). 

Memunatu was carried in an ambulance from the Bolga Hospital straight to the ER of TTH where a multi-disciplinary team worked on her case. Preliminary tests revealed an accumulation of fluid in her lungs probably because she failed to go back for proper examination of the wound’s healing process. Further tests (biopsy and cytology) showed that Memunatu’s cancer had grown and spread to other parts of her body. Memunatu was informed that if she had not truncated her treatment after the surgery, things would not have degenerated to this level. 

The fluid was successfully drained and Memunatu was prescribed more chemotherapy treatments to slow the growth and spread of her cancer, improve her quality of life and survival. These chemotherapy treatments started in February 2024. 

Memunatu was diagnosed at 64 years young. 

CENSUDI met Memunatu in April 2024 through her elected Assemblyman (Councilor Roger Akazabre).

We paid for Memunatu’s lab tests and palliative treatments she received in May 2024. 

Memunatu died on 22nd October 2024 and was buried the next day. CENSUDI offered financial and emotional support to her family at this time. 

We are grateful that Memunatu and her family willingly shared her journey and story with us, lessons from which are guiding our current work to prevent and reduce female cancer deaths in Ghana. 

Millicent was pregnant with her fourth (4) child when six (6) months into the pregnancy in July 2023, she discovered a lump in her left breast. On her next routine visit to the antenatal clinic, she informed her attending midwife, who upon examination and reference to her family history of cancer, surmised that it may be cancerous. She advised Millicent to visit the Cancer Center at the Korle Bu Teaching hospital (KATH) for proper diagnosis after the birth of her baby. 

As her pregnancy neared birth, Millicent noticed4that the lump was growing bigger and causing her some pain. However, because she had been advised by the midwife to wait till after the birth of her baby, she bore it gallantly. In October 2023, she successfully gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. Now excited at finally being a son mom and also desiring to wean her son first, Millicent pushed the need to visit the cancer center on the backburner until June 2024 when her son was eight (8) months old. At this time, the lump was bigger, boil-like, oozing pus and incredibly painful. 

After several lab tests and a biopsy, Millicent was diagnosed with stage 4 triple negative breast cancer, Additionally, it was determined that the cancer had spread to her lungs and liver thereby ruling out any chances of successful surgery and treatment. They prescribed palliative chemotherapy along with other forms of treatment aimed at reducing the pain and improving her quality of life. 

It was at this stage that we heard from Millicent who approached CENSUDI on June 12th, 2024, for financial assistance and psycho-social support. We obliged and also linked her to a non-profit organization closer to her - the Adjah Cancer Support Center based in Accra for the non-monetary support she requested. 

On May 12th, 2025, Millicent died, barely one year after proper diagnosis. She was 41 years old. May her soul rest in peace, Amen.

We thank Millicent, her husband Patrick and their son for sharing their story with us. We pray that her orphaned son will grow up healthy and strong. The lessons from their journey are always paramount in our minds as we design and deliver activities to prevent and reduce the incidence of cervical cancer in Ghana.