This is an opinion column by Niagara Health Communications Specialist Michelle Pressé, originally published in the St. Catharines Standard, Niagara Falls Review and Welland Tribune.
St. Catharines resident Ludmilla Stasii was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer in the spring of 2024.
The letter that had been delivered to Ludmilla Stasii’s mailbox in September 2023 wasn’t out of the ordinary – in fact, Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) mails out thousands of identical ones every year.
The letter encouraged Stasii, who was turning 50 the following month, to get screened for breast cancer.
But life was busy. She worked full-time and was a single mom. She had exciting plans to visit her native country of Moldova around Christmas. And so the letter – and her mammogram – got pushed aside.
“It wasn’t until I had a conversation with a friend who’s a nurse that finally pushed me to get a mammogram, but I didn’t have any signs or symptoms of breast cancer.”
Six months after receiving the letter, in March 2024, Stasii went for her mammogram, which was quickly followed by an ultrasound and then a biopsy.
“Everything moved so fast, and now, I understand why,” she says.
Stasii was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer, meaning that the cancer had already spread – in her case, to two of her lymph nodes. She never imagined that she would be the one in eight women who gets diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.
“I was completely shocked,” she says. “Everything was just a mess in my head. You can’t believe it, even though you hear about other people having it. You never think it could happen to you.”
While Stasii wrapped her head around her diagnosis, she leaned on support from people who have walked that path before, or who had loved ones who did.
“One of the nurses I had during my chemotherapy had breast cancer when she was young; another person told me not to worry, because the Walker Family Cancer Centre (WFCC) is the best place to be treated,” she says.
BREAST CANCER SCREENING RESOURCES:
- Niagara Health operates three OBSP Centres and Assessment Clinics at the Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and Welland hospitals. To learn more about breast screening at Niagara Health and to schedule an appointment, visit niagarahealth.on.ca/site/breast-screening
- The Mobile Cancer Screening Coach, operated by the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Regional Cancer Care Program, provides free breast, cervical and colon cancer screening services in Fort Erie and Port Colborne. Eligible residents can book an appointment by calling 905-975-4467 or 1-855-338-3131. To learn more, such as eligibility and schedule, visit hnhbscreenforlife.ca/screenforlifecoach/
The WFCC is located at the Marotta Family Hospital in St. Catharines and partakes in a tradition practised by cancer centres worldwide – patients ringing a bell or gong to mark the end of their treatment.
“The first time I heard the gong ring, I asked a nurse, ‘What’s that?’” Stasii says. “The nurse explained that it’s what patients do when they have their last treatment and that one day, I would ring it, too.”
That day came for Stasii when she finished her last chemotherapy treatment on Sept. 24, roughly a year after she first received the letter to book a mammogram. Healthcare workers gathered around to share the moment with Stasii in a moment that she describes as being “very liberating.”
“Anyone who can get a mammogram needs to get one as soon as possible,” Stasii says. “You’re never too busy to prioritize your health. I didn’t have any symptoms or a history of breast cancer in my family, and I wouldn’t have known without a mammogram. Just book it.”
For anyone who does get diagnosed with breast cancer, Stasii implores them to have hope.
“Be strong and don’t give up,” she says. “It’s the 21st century and there’s so many good doctors, medicines and devices to help test for and treat cancer.”
While breast cancer is prominent, more people in Ontario survive breast cancer than almost every other type of cancer.
“Regular screening is the most effective way to detect breast cancer early, which is when treatment has a higher chance of being successful,” says Dr. Mithula Tharmabala, an oncologist at the WFCC who specializes in breast cancer. “Patients with breast cancer tend to have higher survival rates because we can pick up breast cancer earlier than other types of cancer.”
She says that while genetics can increase the risk of breast cancer, there are risk factors that can help reduce the chances of developing breast cancer, such as eating a healthy diet, exercising, abstaining from alcohol and smoking, and limiting stress.
The most common symptoms of breast cancer include a painless lump within the breast or armpit, changes in size, shape or appearance of the breast or nipple, and abnormal or bloody fluid from the nipple.
If someone suspects they may have breast cancer but doesn’t meet the criteria of the Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP), Dr. Tharmabala encourages community members to go to their primary care provider for a physical exam or to a walk-in clinic.
“If you have any concerns, always get checked out,” she says. “The number of cases we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic were scary. In 2020, there were approximately 50 per cent less breast screening tests done at Niagara Health compared to 2019. Because of the vast amount of charities and research behind breast cancer, the amount of treatment an oncologist has in their toolbox is incredible. Breast cancer, especially if caught early, can be curable.”
The OBSP is a province-wide organized screening program that aims to reduce breast cancer mortality through regular screening. Effective Oct. 8, 2024, anyone 40 and over, and those 30 and over who meet the OBSP’s high-risk eligibility criteria, can self-refer for publicly funded mammograms.
