‘Doctors told me blood in my breast milk wasn’t cancer ... but it was’
A mother who survived breast cancer after insisting on a scan doctors said she did not need is urging women of all ages to get checked.
Maysa Abu Laban was told blood in her breast milk was not a concern and that, at the age of 37, she was at low risk of the disease.
But the Jordanian mother of three insisted on a full mammogram at a government hospital. Doctors found a tumour in her right breast.
“If not for me insisting on a mammogram I would have reached the late stages of cancer [before it was spotted],” she told The National.
She says regular preventive scans should be performed, regardless of age and insurance cover, and urged medics not to dismiss unexplained symptoms.
She first noticed blood coming from her right breast while breastfeeding her third child.
After several tests, doctors assured her that it was most probably an infection and she did not need a mammogram.
“I knew something was wrong when the blood came back a few months later after I stopped breastfeeding and I suspected it was breast cancer,” Ms Abu Laban said.
She went to the government-run Tawam Hospital in Al Ain, a referral centre for breast cancer that sees up to 400 cases every year.
“The mammogram showed a five-centimetre tumour in my right breast and the doctor immediately scheduled me for surgery,” she said.
“The tumour, he said, was an aggressively growing one and if not for me insisting on a mammogram I would have reached the late stages of cancer.”
In May 2016, she had a double mastectomy. She was still able to attend her daughter’s endof-year school party the week after.
“To me this is like removing my appendix or any surgery,” said Ms Abu Laban, 41.
“I am grateful that I caught it early. I was in shock at first but I have moved on with my life.
“I would like all women to get screened if they have unusual symptoms.
“Several doctors had repeatedly told me that I was fine.”
Speaking at the Emirates Oncology Conference in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, Dr Mouza Al Ameri, chief of oncology at Tawam Hospital, said women with unusual symptoms must be screened regardless of age.
“Bleeding from the nipples like Ms Abu Laban’s case is a clear indication of breast cancer,” she said.
“We do not recommend screening for patients under 40, but there are exceptions and it is important to see a specialist,” she said
If not for me insisting on a mammogram I would have reached the late stages of cancer [before it was spotted] MAYSA ABU LABAN Breast cancer survivor