For subscribers
We need to address the social stigma over women’s cancer
Shame and embarrassment over gynaecological issues are stopping women from getting preventive screening.
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Healthcare professionals can play a key role in fostering open and non-judgmental communication with patients.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Lim Sheow Lei
Usually an active person, 65-year-old Madam Chan began feeling weak and stopped taking part in her regular taiji and mahjong sessions. A blood test revealed she was severely anaemic. Other tests showed that the housewife had Stage 4 uterine (womb) cancer that had spread to the lungs.
Madam Chan could have received treatment at a much earlier stage, it turns out. She had been experiencing abnormal vaginal bleeding for the previous three years, but kept it from her family and suffered in silence.
