At the end of 2017, Rina Ramírez underwent a medical check-up at the Los Mina Maternity for abnormal vaginal secretions in the form of urine. She there she was referred to a medical oncologist.
She remembers that it was a very difficult situation because she was unemployed and needed to have a pap smear, sonography, tomography and a biopsy. These studies confirmed what she feared so much: she was a patient affected by a Cancer uterine cervix.
“After the studies, I had an operation to remove my uterus and then radiotherapy. Now I keep visiting the Oncology every six months”, the 45-year-old woman said.
On her side, Elvira Perdomo, 56, a single mother of two children, says that until 2018 she felt fine, but in 2019 she got her menstrual period and for a month it did not go away.
She proceeded to get all the tests done, and just like Rina, she was diagnosed Cancer the cervix.
“I kept my faith. There was a time when I fell and got depressed. The Lord delivered me. My neighbors, my family were my support, ”he narrated.
Perdomo did not require a hysterectomy as Rina did, because she was more likely to metastasize if her uterus was removed. With the treatment received at Radonic and the National Institute of Cancer Rosa Emilia Sánchez Pérez de Tavares (Incart) was enough to save her life.
Elvira was so curious about her illness and the healing processes that she ended up studying to become a nursing assistant.
“I urge women to take care of themselves and to go to their doctor on time,” the survivor told the Cancer.
Diagnostics
According to the International Research Agency for Cancer (IARC), In the Dominican Republic, 1,074 women die each year from this Cancer. Is the third Cancer most frequent in Latin American women and the second in Dominican women.
The Deputy Minister of Public Health, Eladio Perezsaid that globally, 80% of sexually active people are estimated to be infected with VHuman Papillomavirus (HPV) in their lifetime and 10% of women who become infected may develop Cancer from cervix.
The Cancer Cervix uteri can be cured as long as it is diagnosed in the early stages, which is why it is so important to maintain regular gynecological check-ups.
Pérez considered it opportune to promote effective actions of prevention and timely diagnosis, on the occasion of commemorating today, March 26, the Day of Prevention of Cancer Uterine cervix.
“It is important to ensure comprehensive interventions that include vaccination, Pap smears and HPV detection tests, as well as treatment for precancerous lesions, to avoid new cases and deaths from this disease,” Pérez said.
Globally, in 2020, approximately 604,000 women were diagnosed with Cancer from cervix and about 342 thousand died from the disease.
The deputy minister stressed “that it is one of the few cancers that is cured with early detection.”
