A routine mammogram changed Katrina Doughty’s life, while a former student’s persistence prompted Patricia Murray to get screened. Both women were diagnosed with breast cancer, demonstrating the importance of being proactive about one’s health.
Doughty was diagnosed in 2022 after believing she was depressed following her mother’s death the previous year and thought she was also going through menopause.
Katrina Doughty
She underwent a pap smear and mammogram, with the latter revealing breast cancer. The 49-year-old recalled crying for a week after receiving the news.
A local surgeon subsequently recommended removing the affected breast. When Doughty asked about alternatives, she was told the recommendation stood, but the choice was hers.
Her family in New York urged her to seek a second opinion. Doctors there repeated her tests and classified her cancer as stage 1A.
She subsequently underwent four rounds of chemotherapy and 21 rounds of radiation in New York. She continues to take medication as part of a treatment plan. Each medication costs between $7 and $37 because it is covered by the drug formulary, while a mammogram at the Barbados Cancer Society costs about $100.
For science teacher Patricia Murray, screening was not initially a priority, despite having had her last mammogram in 2018. She decided to get screened again after a former student, who worked at the Barbados Cancer Society during the summer, encouraged her to make an appointment.
Patricia Murray
Two days after that appointment, Murray was contacted and informed that the scan had revealed something requiring a biopsy.
During the procedure, a second growth was discovered. Murray said she cried upon hearing the news and was grateful that her mother, who lives overseas, had arranged for a friend to accompany her.
Samples were tested in Barbados, with further testing in Miami. The results showed an early, non-invasive form of breast cancer. Her surgeon explained that the prognosis was very good if she agreed to have her right breast removed, and she opted for a mastectomy.
Murray believes her 2018 mammogram allowed doctors to identify changes that might otherwise have been missed.
“When I looked at my mammogram, what was there was so small that had they not had the reference mammogram that I had taken in 2018, another radiologist might have missed it,” she said.
“I wouldn’t have felt anything. The nurse didn’t feel anything. Nobody felt anything.”
Her surgeon advised her to seek private treatment because the cancer appeared aggressive and delays in the public system could affect how quickly she received care.
“I am very thankful I have medical insurance,” she said, “and so by the first week in November I had my surgery.”
Because the cancer was detected early, Murray explained, she did not require chemotherapy or radiation. She is now on a ten-year medication plan and sees her oncologist every six months.
“One of the hardest things is the cost,” she said. “Because even if you do it in the public system, there is still a cost, whether it is a monetary cost or cost in terms of time or a cost in terms of your emotional energy.”
Medical coordinator of the Barbados Cancer Society’s Breast Screening Programme, Dr Shirley Hanoman-Jhagroo, said patients face challenges including surgical waiting times and the cost of medication.
She explained that some patients now receive chemotherapy before surgery to shrink tumours and allow less invasive procedures. Radiotherapy is also available locally.
The medical coordinator said delays in the public system and difficulties obtaining certain drugs could affect treatment. Some newer chemotherapy drugs cost more than $10 000 a month or per treatment, which forces patients who cannot afford the recommended medication to consider alternatives.
The organisation has also helped expand chemotherapy services at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH). Following a request from the screening programme, two rooms were refurbished and equipped with seven chemotherapy chairs.
“The [QEH] is now able to do those six plus another seven at one time, and that will make a difference to the number of patients receiving treatment every day,” Hanoman-Jhagroo added.
(LG)
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