Today is my birthday. I do not celebrate my birthday, and I usually do not write about my birthday. I have decided to write today because people are more likely to read what I write today and may listen to me. That may be the best ‘birthday present’ they can give me.
- On my theatre list today, I am going to perform a radical (Wertheim’s) hysterectomy + bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy + pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy for a woman with early cervical cancer.
This sugery will take 3 to 4 hours. -
A little over a decade ago, I felt really proud to be able to perform this surgery. I was one of the less than 10 people who could perform this surgery well in Ghana.
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As I aged, I didn’t see any sense to be proud to perform these surgeries when nurses I had trained were screening for cervical precancer and treating them in 40 seconds (yes, in less than a minute!) so they would not develop into cancer.
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So these days, I feel sad and listless when I have to perform this surgery.
It indicates a failed system.
HPV vaccination for boys and girls, as well as screening to detect precancerous lesions of the cervix and treating these precancerous lesions will make these big surgeries unnecessary. -
In a couple of years, I will not be strong enough to stand for 3 to 4 hours to perform these surgeries.
If our country does not get its priorities right and invest in cervical cancer prevention, there will be many such cancers.
I am not too sure whether the country would have built enough human capacity to manage these cancers.
I have greyed quickly over the last year. As I wish myself a happy birthday, I just want to remind the country that a ‘loyal servant’ is gradually leaving the stage…
It is time to get replacement(s). Nobody can cheat nature.
