Where breast cancer awareness campaigns fall short
The Ministry of Health has done much in recent years to promote awareness of breast cancer. Through its mobile exhibits at malls throughout the Kingdom, and its work complemented by area hospitals, Saudi women have made great strides in early detection and treatment.
Promoting self-examinations and having an annual mammogram to detect the disease have helped women overcome the taboos in Saudi society of talking about our bodies and demanding medical treatment when we are unsure of our health.
Indeed, breast cancer awareness is a significant step for Saudi women. Having said that, it should be pointed out that while the Ministry of Health has done a wonderful job of publicizing what women should do to protect their health, the execution to ultimately save lives falls far short. We are only getting the job half done.
Recently, a friend of mine went to her local hospital for a mammogram. Usually, the hospital will text message the patient that the mammogram showed no abnormalities and no cancer was detected. If something shows up on the mammogram, the hospital will call.
My friend received a call from the hospital, asking for further testing. The individual on the other end of the phone did not explain why further testing was required. She just had to come in to the hospital. Once at the hospital, the doctor barely conferred with the patient. Instead, while she was in the room, the doctor took her time having a deep conversation with the technician who performed the mammogram and discussed her case as if she wasn’t there. My friend became more and more alarmed and agitated as the doctor and technician spoke about the mammogram’s results without once looking at her or giving her an encouraging word.
Finally the physician deigned to tell her the results. There was a white mass on one of her breasts that “may or may not” be something. Further testing was required, but she was asked to come back “six months later.”
I’m sorry, but we’re talking about breast cancer here. Six months later could mean the difference between life and death. The patient felt as if she was treated as a child and the doctor behaved so arrogantly that it was both infuriating and frightening at the same time. The doctor couldn’t or wouldn’t give his patient a full explanation about her diagnosis. She was completely cavalier about the emotional and physical state of his patient.
It’s one thing for the Saudi government to push for awareness and demand that its citizens overcome social barriers to protect the health of women, but it’s another thing entirely when the people charged with administering testing completely alienate and needlessly frighten their patients. All the awareness campaigns in the world will not encourage women to seek medical attention from doctors too obtuse to employ a little gentle bedside manner when discussing a potentially life-threatening disease.
My friend, however, is educated and independent and refuse to accept a six-month wait on the say-so of a doctor who could hardly give her the time of day.
She instead went to the Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi Center of Excellence in Breast Cancer at King Abdulaziz University for a consultation. Armed with her mammogram and medical file, she sought answers that her doctor was unable to provide her.
She was welcomed into the center with a smile from the receptionist and served by an attentive and caring staff. Dr. Sawsan Ashour spoke to my rattled friend. They examined the mammogram results together and Dr. Ashour addressed her concerns thoroughly and professionally. Dr. Ashour saw nothing wrong in the mammogram. She acknowledged the white mass in the breast, but she said it was not unusual and was more likely related to the density of the breast. Later, Dr. Samia Al-Amoudi, who heads the center, came into the center just a day after arriving in Jeddah from international travel just help Dr. Ashour ease my friend’s fears.
A follow-up was recommended, but my friend now had a clear idea of her condition. The difference between the center and the hospital where the mammogram was performed was the Dr. Al-Amoudi and Dr. Ashour understand the fear that potential breast cancer victims face. Dr. Al-Amoudi was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006 and was the first Saudi to write about her experiences. She was an early champion of raising breast cancer awareness in the Middle East.
While visiting international breast cancer treatment centers in the West, Dr. Al-Amoudi discovered shortcomings in the health care of the disease despite the fact that there were plenty of physicians who were experts in the field and had the technology to treat it.
She decided to find ways to fill the deficiencies in addressing the needs of breast cancer patient, such as the failures of my friend’s original doctor.
Although the center provides top-notch care, not all Saudi women have the means in terms of transportation and funds to travel to Jeddah for treatment there. Local hospitals need to do more to assume the same philosophy as the Al-Amoudi Center. Public awareness campaigns won’t help Saudi women if they can’t trust their own doctor.
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