MOON WALK MOMENTUM

GULFWEEKLY is backing Bahrain Cancer Society's annual Moon Walk 4 Hope family fund-raiser and is urging readers to put their best foot forward for a good cause.

Many of us have family members, friends, work colleagues, neighbours and acquaintances that have been touched by this terrible disease and a united stroll under the moonlight could help make a difference.

Bahrain Cancer Society (BCS) is organising the event next week with the aim of collecting funds to buy vital medical equipment and to help cover the cost of treatment.

Dr Abdul Rehman Ibrahim Fakhro is president and founding member of BCS and a senior consultant, general surgeon and breast disease specialist at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC).

He said: "BCS is organising the moon walk as a call to increase awareness among residents for the early detection of cancer. Funds collected from the event will be allocated to support cancer patients in terms of treatment and medical equipment."

The event will start at 6pm from the north car park at Seef Mall on November 5. Participants will follow a safe five-kilometre route to the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel & Spa and will finish at the starting point.

Participants are being urged to register on the evening of the event where they will receive their 'Moon Walk 4 Hope' T-shirt. Drinking water and snacks will be provided, first aid support will be available and police officers will monitor traffic.

Entrance for the event is just BD2 for adults and BD1 for children up to 10 years of age.

BCS has donated cancer equipment worth BD250,000 to SMC in 2010 and this event will help the society in its efforts to raise additional funds to provide cancer services in the kingdom.

According to BCS officials Bahrain is the only country in the region to offer free mammography to all women, local and residents.

As part of the fundraising event, Iraqi Ambassador and acclaimed Arab artist Ghassan Mohsen Hussein will exhibit his work at Seef Mall from November 5 to 14, the proceeds of which will go to BCS for cancer support.

For more information call BCS on 17285194 or 17233080.

Bahraini resident Charlotte Pederson is a survivor and she is neither cagey to discuss the details of the disease nor afraid to stand up and tell the world about her brush with breast cancer.

One-in-eight women worldwide are diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime and as numbers of victims continue to rise, worryingly the disease is being discovered at an increasingly younger age.

Charlotte said: "If I can reach out to women, talk openly and tell them about my experience I can help contribute to the cancer awareness campaign in Bahrain. I am not afraid of standing up and saying, look at me I had breast cancer. It is possible to survive and get your life back."

The Danish mother of two children, Frederik, nine, and Anne-Catrine, seven, was diagnosed with breast cancer after a bizarre turn of events that left her little time to think before going in for a complete mastectomy of her right breast at Bahrain Defence Forces (BDF) Hospital.

"I had my check-up in the summer of 2008. But a month or two later my hair started falling out in bunches. I attributed that to stress and did not think too much of it. I bumped into my old and trusted gynaecologist in December 2008 and she suggested that I visit her."

After a thorough examination Charlotte's doctor found a pea-sized lump in her breast and recommended that she go in for further investigation but explained that given her history it could be completely harmless.

"It was better to be safe than sorry, I thought to myself. I had had breast reduction surgery in 1992 and it was likely that the lump could be scar tissue. I was also prone to water cysts in my breasts and that was another possibility. Also, six months earlier I had got a clean bill of health from another doctor so I wasn't worried and thought that due to a lack of family history concerning the disease I was not at risk from breast cancer."

Charlotte went in for a mammogram and the pea-sized lump had actually grown to the size of a date embedded deep in her breast. The hospital recommended an ultrasound followed by a needle biopsy the same day and emailed her the result.

"It was dinner time when I received the email and I couldn't understand a word written in it. It was Latin to me! My husband started to Google medical terms to understand the lab report and he was shocked at what he found. I knew something was wrong but I was in the middle of putting the children to bed and I wanted to deal with that first.

"I had never heard the word 'malignant' before and the information stunned me. The first thought that came to me was why wasn't I informed in a better way? I immediately called my gynaecologist and sent her the report."

Charlotte's doctor confirmed that her lump was malignant and that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The only emotion Charlotte felt at the news was anger - anger that this was happening to her in a year that was supposed to be so special.

Charlotte and her husband Michael, general manager at Bahrain Precast Concrete (BPC), were both turning 40 in May last year, they would be celebrating their 10 years of marriage that same year and Michael had been given a new role at his workplace at the beginning of the year and he needed Charlotte's support more than ever.

"In Danish there is a saying: forty, fat and finished and I had always denied that saying that I would be forty, furious and fabulous. I thought about this many times during my chemotherapy but then said to myself that when I am 41 I will be finished with chemotherapy and healthy again."

In January 2009, exactly two weeks and two days after finding the lump Charlotte had a mastectomy which was followed by six cycles of chemotherapy and 28 sessions of radiotherapy.

"Michael was always the strong one in our relationship but he was terrified of losing me. All of a sudden our roles were reversed and we discovered a new facet in our relationship.

"I was the strong one through the ordeal. For me it was a journey to sort out what was wrong and get over it. I convinced myself that the disease was not going to take over my life and although I knew that a percentage of sufferers succumb to the disease I was not going to be in that number. I was this strong, angry woman and that is what kept me going.

"We spoke to our children all the time. Anne-Catrine was curious and she wanted to see my scar. I explained to them that mummy's breast was sick and the doctors had to take it out. They had a lot of questions and we provided the answers."

In May, during her chemotherapy treatment Charlotte and Michael celebrated their 40th birthday with close friends at the Movenpick Hotel. She says that the support she has received from friends has been overwhelming. Some came with groceries, some with colourful headscarves when treatment left her balding, some with books and magazines, and some were there for the essential emotional support.

But Charlotte had her weak moments when she felt sick during chemotherapy and would only have her close friends around her for comfort.

After her first chemotherapy treatment Charlotte went out for dinner with her husband. But it was after four chemo cycles that she really felt weak, tired and low in spirit. She says that she can taste a metallic taste in her mouth even to this day when she thinks about it.

"I was lucky because my chemotherapy was bad but not extremely horrible but I still don't want to think about it. We are very open about our bodies in Denmark and I felt that my feminine side was more in my hair than my breasts and it was worse to lose my hair. I could look at my scar and cringe in the mirror but it was difficult when I lost my eyelashes and body hair. I could go out without my prosthesis but not my headscarf."

For Charlotte, 2009 was more of a countdown and the determination to get to the end of it all kept her going.

First it was the surgery, then chemotherapy and then radiation treatment. There was a plan and she was following it. "But when I was done with everything I thought, what now? My body was tired and weak. I had no breast and no hair and I thought where do I go from here? Slowly I started getting back to life with a new agenda. I wanted reconstructive surgery and fast!" she explained.

Charlotte piled on 14 kilos during the treatment and joined a personal trainer at the end of last year who helped her regain her mobility and fitness. "I thought that if I get my new breast and my hair back then it would be as though I had never had breast cancer.

"Reconstruction was very important for me but everybody including my husband, friends, family and my doctor kept telling me to give my body time to recover. But I was determined that no one should decide about my body but me because I knew best."

Charlotte believes that her stubbornness to jump head on into reconstructive surgery put immense strain on her loved ones and caused extreme physical pain to her.

She started a reconstructive procedure in April this year but had to have the implant removed five months later due to an infection and extreme pain. She had a four-inch hole in her breast where she could touch the implant as a result of repeated infections in the area.

"My reconstruction was doomed from the beginning. I think it was denial that compelled me to rush into the procedure. I thought that if I stood as a woman with two breasts I could obliterate the disease from my life. It was also to show the world that I was strong.

"My husband would tell me many times during the day how much he loved me but when you are in that situation it is difficult to think that your husband would find you attractive.

"I cried for the first time this summer and was relieved when the implant was out of my body. I realised that if I would have listened to the people who cared about me I would have been in a better situation now. I accepted that I would be the same person with or without the breast. I'm disappointed that my reconstruction failed but I'm happy that I have my health back.

"Everything happens for a reason and I have learned to love and appreciate the people around me. It is important to be happy with what you have instead of wanting what is at the end of the road."