Learn how Harvey Singer who had a BRCA2 genetic mutation, found out he had Male Breast Cancer on this episode of Cancer Interviews with host Bruce Morton, after undergoing a mammogram and biopsy prior to diagnosis and was successfully treated with a mastectomy and prophylactic chemotherapy.

What began as a sharp pain in his left nipple led to a mammogram and ultimately a diagnosis of breast cancer for Harvey Singer.  A regimen including a mastectomy and twelve weeks of prophylactic chemotherapy led to survivorship, but along the way Harvey learned the health care community offered little in the way of expertise and support for those diagnosed with men’s breast cancer.  His experience inspired his establishment of the His Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation, an organization which helps men all over the world as they seek guidance in the fight against breast cancer.

In 2008, Harvey was with a group of friends.  When greeted by a big friend with a big bear hug, he suddenly felt a sharp pain that went from his left nipple up to his ear.  The pain nearly brought him to his knees.  His wife said he should get a mammogram.  Harvey asked, “How does a man get a mammogram?”  She said the procedure as it is for women with small breasts. 

Harvey, of Laguna Niguel, California, got the mammogram, then doctors had him undergo an ultrasound, which revealed more than just a little lump.  He next went in for a biopsy the following Monday, and even as a man, Harvey had a strong feeling he was going to be diagnosed with breast cancer.  He said the biopsy was not a fun experience.  Two days later his phone, and the doctor said, “Mr. Singer, you have breast cancer.”

He was not prepared for this horrific news.  Harvey says he has always been one to confront challenges.  Adding to his challenge was the data that one in 1.100 breast cancer patients are men. 

Harvey’s sister, Vicki Wolf, is a four-time breast cancer survivor.  At that time she was a three-time survivor, and Vicki turned out to be an excellent mentor and source of support.  It was from her that Harvey and Vicki shared the same BRCA2 genetic mutation.  Harvey made a few calls and found a breast surgeon.  He went through a full mastectomy on his left breast.  It was Stage I, margins were clean, but after pathology, they realized it was more invasive than originally thought by virtue of the size of the tumor.  It was then recommended he go through twelve weeks of chemotherapy to make sure no cancerous cells escaped.  From there, Harvey achieved survivorship, but fifteen months later, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, caused by the same genetic mutation.

Harvey Singer has survived two cancer journeys, but says the breast cancer journey was more impactful.  He reasoned many men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, but most guys don’t get breast cancer.  Harvey realized right away the health care system wasn’t set up for men with breast cancer.  He was asked to fill out a form asking about vaginal dryness and when his last period was.

That experience inspired he and Vicki to establish the His Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation to give men a better roadmap, and a place to go for guidance, encouragement and information. 

Although things have improved slightly since the time of his diagnosis, he had no options but to go to a women’s breast center, and be asked if he was there to see his wife.  He remembers being put in a pink gown and constantly directed to different places, empty offices, because they were afraid I might see a woman’s breast.  Then when being seen, he was stunned to hear how many health care professionals didn’t know men could get breast cancer. 

Harvey Singer tells men diagnosed with breast cancer that they are not alone.  They should research the disease as much as they can, and check out his foundation’s website.

Additional Resources:

His Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation: https://www.HISbreastcancer.org

YouTube Full Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TazKbQQPU18&t=389

YouTube Short: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FyUKrqspDOY

Instagram Reel: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7NdLvEgKvm/?igsh=MnBxbG5wZzNnaHQ5

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X / Twitter Post: https://x.com/cancerinterview/status/1792721474018820582

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Book: Available on Amazon, “Sir, You Have Breast Cancer” by Harvey Singer

For any parent of a pediatric cancer patient, for both the parent and child, the journey is difficult, physically, emotionally and fiscally.  Erica Neubert Campbell of Edina, Minnesota recognized this, and inspired by the story of a courageous nine-year-old, joined the Pinky Swear Foundation, which seeks to take care of the financial health of a family while it deals with the cancer journey of a child.  She is now the Foundation’s executive director.

In 2003, there was a nine-year-old boy in the Twin Cities area named Mitch Chepokas.  He had been diagnosed with terminal bone cancer.  One evening he was in the hospital with his dad and overheard a family in the room next door talking about how they couldn’t afford Christmas presents, and it broke Mitch’s heart.  Mitch turned to his dad and wanted to know how much money was in his, Mitch’s, savings account.  His dad said Mitch had about $6,000.  In that moment, Mitch asked his dad to empty the account.  His dad returned with the balance, in cash.  They stuffed the money into envelopes, which they anonymously left in the room each kid.

After distributing the envelopes in the middle of the night, Mitch said to his dad, “That was awesome.  I love giving.  I can’t wait to do it again next year.”  Mitch’s parents were honest with him about the boy’s prognosis, and his dad said, “I’m sorry, buddy, I don’t think you are going to be here next year.  That’s when nine-year-old Mitch took a deep breath and with the courage of a leader and the innocence of a child, said, “Okay, dad, will you pinkyswear promise me that you will keep doing this after I’m gone?” 

Shortly after that, Mitch passed away and his parents founded the Pinky Swear Foundation.  Today the Foundation does what Mitch did, just on a much larger scale.  That first year, Mitch gave away $6,000.  In 2022, Erica says the Foundation gave away approximately $1.4 million across the country to families that really needed that financial support to keep food on the table, to stay in housing and medical expenses, because of that original pinkyswear promise.

In addition to the fiscal piece, the Pinky Swear Foundation also reaches out to help parents and siblings with the emotional challenges face by a family with a pediatric cancer patient.  Erica says it can be a balancing act for a parent, caring for the child battling cancer, while the other kids in the family need attention as well.  The Foundation tries to help in this area as well.

There is a wealth of information one can gain from the Foundation’s website.  It is www.pinkyswearfoundation.org.  This is also where one can go to apply for financial aid.  There is a button in the top right corner of the homepage that says Apply, and that will get the process started.  Erica says she has heard from families and social workers who work with families on this, just how easy the application process is. 

Erica Neubert Campbell says the Foundation can always use more fundraisers and more funds because there are times in which they cannot immediately come to the aid of everyone who applies.  But even when that happens, she says, the Foundation tries to find a way to eventually help the applying family.

Additional Resources:

Pinky Swear Foundation Website: www.pinkyswearfoundation.org

Don Melillo of West Chester, Ohio, was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2012.  At that time, he was told the only way his life could be saved was with a full liver transplant.  He is happy to report that today there are other, less-invasive paths to liver cancer survivorship. 

It was in 2011 that Don began experiencing continuous stomach pains.  He was seen by a gastroenterologist numerous tests and procedures in an attempt to find out what was wrong with Don’s stomach.  Then one night in November 2011, he was in bed he was awakened by an acute pain in his stomach.  He waited until 5:00 in the morning, woke up his wife and said he needed to be taken to the hospital.  The GI doctor said he would run more tests and in February 2012, Don Melillo was diagnosed with liver cancer.  It seemed like good news when they told me my tumor was small.  The oncologist said one option could be to partition off the bad section of the liver, but that couldn’t happen because of where the cancer was.  He said my cancer was on hepatic artery on my liver, which is the main artery that brings blood to the liver.  That’s why Don’s only option was a full liver transplant.  These days, Don says, it is much easier for surgeons to partition off a bad section of a liver and remove only that.

Don ended up getting a chemoembolization, whose purpose is to shrink the tumor by putting some radioactive materials into it so that it doesn’t grow bigger. That procedure, said the doctor, had to be done before the full liver transplant. 

Once the transplant was done, Don stressed over wondering when he went to bed if he would wake up the next morning.  That said, Don felt grateful to receive a full transplant because in 2012 he learned that 3,000 patients died while waiting  for a liver transplant. 

After  the transplant, Don’s doctor told him he was pretty sure they had gotten all of the cancer.  Don said that was something he would believe when his scans finished years later.  Finally, he was told he was cancer free.  Thrilled, Don and his wife went out for a nice dinner.

Don says physically he can do whatever he wants.  He can mow the lawn, walk ten miles or go boat racing.  Don and his wife go on at least one cruise a year.

In terms of increased treatment options, Don Melillo says in 2012, they weren’t using livers that had Hepatitis B or C, but now they can because both can be cured.  There was a time when they couldn’t use livers from those with drug habits, but now they can.  He says medicine is changing by the day and this can be very exciting for those diagnosed with liver cancer.

By way of advice, Don says to stay positive, rely on your support people, don’t be afraid to ask questions and at all times, be your own advocate.

Additional Resources:

Support Group:

American Liver Foundation: www.liverfoundation.org

Teresa Davis-Mills was initially diagnosed with celiac disease, but after undergoing an endoscopy and a colonoscopy, a biopsy of two small polyps revealed she had colon cancer. 

Teresa’s journey began in 2017 with the sight of a drop of blood.  When the bleeding repeated itself, she went to a gastroenterologist.  After some lab work, Teresa was told she had celiac disease, a genetic autoimmune disease.  For years, she had had these odd symptoms which led her to believe she had been a longtime undiagnosed celiac.  That got the attention of the gastroenterologist, who ordered an endoscopy and a colonoscopy.  They revealed two small polyps.  One of them was biopsied and weeks later, Teresa learned it was cancerous.

Teresa admits she knew nothing about colon cancer, and as a result, she wasn’t too shook up with the news of the diagnosis.  She thought the polyp would be removed and she would go back to work in two or three days.  It wasn’t until she saw her first surgeon that she learned her cancer was Stage 2B, and it was serious.

Teresa, from Jacksonville Beach, Florida, went on to get a second opinion, and based on that second opinion, she had a robotic surgery.  She felt she was in good hands with the second surgeon in nearby Jacksonville.  At first it seemed like the procedure had gone well, but Teresa was shocked to learn when the margins came back, they were not clear, and as a result, she would have to undergo radiation treatment and chemotherapy.  Teresa said she was more terrified of the treatment than the cancer itself.

She chose to take an oral form of chemotherapy, called capecitabine, once every morning and once every night, seven days a week for two months.  She also went in for radiation treatment Monday through Friday at 1:00pm.  This was a very difficult time and Teresa was getting to the point in which she almost quit.  The side effects from the radiation, the blisters, the burns, and a level of pain she had never experienced, were almost too much.

At the end of January 2018, Teresa Davis-Mills finished her chemotherapy and radiation regimen.  She underwent a PET scan, and the scan was clear.  The scan was on a Monday, and thrilled, she went back to work on Tuesday, her heart filled with gratitude. 

Looking back on her chemotherapy regimen, Teresa recalls her feet being swollen and her hands were weak.  She experienced loss of appetite and was tired all the time.  While her hair thinned, Teresa avoided alopecia, or hair loss, which is not typical for capecitabine or xeloda.

Teresa Davis-Mills says these days, there is nothing she cannot do that she was able to do, pre-diagnosis.  However, as a celiac, she says must monitor her diet, which is gluten-free.  She still works out and still does yoga, and is thrilled to have a normal life again.

Additional Resources:

Teresa’s Website: https://www.teresadavismills.com

On today’s segment of the @CancerInterviews podcast, Rachel Rump tells host Bruce Morton how she overcame a lot to survive cervical cancer.  A blend of external radiation, internal radiation and chemotherapy enabled Rachel to achieve survivorship.  However, survivorship has come at a price.  She tires easily, her hair has thinned, and she found herself going through menopause at age 32.  Rachel also acknowledges that she is still around to raise her young son, which she considers a blessing.

For Rachel Rump of South Bend, Indiana, her cancer journey began on March 28, 2021.  That’s when she noticed pain tied to irregularities with her menstrual cycle.  Her physician sent Rachel to a gynecologist.  During an exam, she saw him make a face and that’s when her heart sank.  The exam revealed a four-centimeter tumor.  The gynecologist sent Rachel to an oncologist, and that point she knew a cancer diagnosis imminent.

It was decided Rachel would under go 30 sessions of daily external radiation sessions, six weeks of chemotherapy, followed by three internal radiations sessions.  As if this wasn’t tough enough, her regimen took place while there were numerous COVID-related implications.  There were mask requirements and space requirements, which prevented anyone from being with Rachel when she was undergoing chemotherapy treatments.

At this difficult time, Rachel was dealing with other issues having nothing to do.  Her car’s transmission gave out, her dog died and a pipe that ran under her kitchen and bathroom burst.  Meanwhile, Rachel was undergoing treatment for cervical cancer.

She suffered a lot of the things people experience when on chemotherapy.  She lost a lot of hair, didn’t eat much, was on anti-nausea medicine that she had to take and keep track of.  There was also a great deal of fatigue.  Rachel had cognitive problems and said one good thing about COVID was that she worked from home, which reduced the number of times in which the cognitive issues were noticed by others. 

Eventually, her health changed for the better.  Her radiologist said the tumor continued to shrink.  Assessing her health as approximately 70 percent of what it was before her diagnosis, She had continued problems with her kidney.  Rachel had two ureters, or tubes, coming out of her kidney, and they started to shrink, causing a fluid backup, which could have caused kidney disease.  She had to go through a lot of treatments to get the problem under control.  Rachel also says her bones are sowing signs of osteoperosis, which is common with menopause.

That said, when Rachel contemplates an upcoming task she won’t say she :has”to” perform, but that she “gets” to perform it, because she is still alive.

Additional Resources:

Support Group: Cervivor, Inc.

https://www.cervivor.org

A husband, father and mortgage broker, Boyd Dunleavy of Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, was leading a healthy lifestyle, healthy enough for him to run marathons.  Then in 2011, what began as night sweats and nosebleeds necessitated a series of blood tests.  He was then told to go to the hospital right away.  His platelets had plummeted, and that’s when he was told he had blood cancer, a diagnosis confirmed after a bone marrow biopsy. 

Supported by his wife and his faith, he was determined to deal with this diagnosis of a rare form of blood cancer, acute myeloid leukemia. He was told by his doctor that with this rare type of blood cancer, in order to live, he would need a stem cell transplant.  Boyd was put on a regimen of chemotherapy, but his cancer relapsed in February 2012.  After additional chemotherapy, he was told he was in remission, and was cleared to get a stem cell transplant.  A donor was found, and it was in May 2012 that Boyd Dunleavy received his life-saving stem cell transplant.

Boyd said the transplant was the toughest thing he had ever been through.  It lasted two and a half weeks and was “just beyond horrible.”  However, he was thrilled to learn the identity of his donor, Nathan Barnes, and in 2013, got to meet him.  He credits Nathan with saving his life.

However, there would be more trouble for Boyd.  After his first round of chemotherapy, he developed balance issues.  He said it was because the chemo poisoned his brain stem.  The following spring after the stem cell transplant, he was diagnosed with a virus called transverse myelitis.  He was rushed to an emergency room and doctors told him he had a bladder infection, inserted a catheter and sent him home.  Soon after that, the care team discovered its misdiagnosis.

Looking back, Boyd says the chemotherapy was difficult as it is for anyone, but there was more drama attached to the stem cell transplant.  That’s because he says if the transplant works, you live and if it doesn’t, you die.  He said the transplant was perfectly executed and is grateful, a sentiment in stark contrast to the first hospital, the source of two misdiagnoses.

Post-transplant, Boyd Dunleavy decided to become a competitive runner.  He began training in 2013, and in 2016, through its Athletes With Disabilities program, he qualified for the Boston Marathon.  A friend told Boyd he could never do Boston.  Completing it required mental determination, resilience, toughness and strength, but he did it.    

By way of advice for those diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia or any type of cancer, Boyd Dunleavy says to tune out the negative people, and to take charge over your cancer journey as much as you can by being your own advocate with those in health care.  He will always credit his wife for standing up and pushing back until she could find someone who would listen, something he thinks is remarkable in that normally, she is a very introverted person.  If it is a doctor you don’t trust, find another doctor; if it is a hospital, you don’t trust, find another hospital.

Boyd says don’t forget to advocate and don’t forget to stay strong.

Additional Resources:

Support Groups:

Man Up To Cancer: https://www.manuptocancer.com

GRYT Health: https://grythealth.com

Neal Augenstein Description

It is not easy to survive Stage IV lung cancer, but through  targeted therapy, and the medication tagrisso, Neal Augenstein went on the @CancerInterviews podcast to confirm that it can be done. 

In September of 2022, Neal Augenstein, a reporter at a radio station in Washington, DC, found himself coughing more than normal.  At first he chalked it up to seasonal allergies, but when over-the-counter remedies did nothing, he went to a doctor who prescribed antibiotics, which did no good.

About two months later, Neal got a chest x-ray.  A doctor said the x-ray revealed “something suspicious,” and suggested Neal get a CT scan.  A pulmonologist told Neal he needed to check into a hospital.

Neal underwent a bronchoscopy and a biopsy, which is when he learned he had lung cancer.  If there was any good news from this diagnosis, it was that doctors said Neal’s cancer would respond well to targeted therapy, enabling him to avoid chemotherapy and radiation.

Neal is quick to add that is not, and never has been, a smoker.  Both his parents smoked, so he has no doubt in his youth he inhaled plenty of second hand smoke, but his research showed he was one of a growing number of healthy, relatively-young people diahnosed with advanced lung cancer, in most cases a non-small cell lung cancer.  He also learned biomarker testing can detect the more common adenocarcinoma mutations out there. And that there are different targeted therapies for those types of mutations. 

In Neal’s case, the drug osimertinib, also known as tagrisso, has been shown to be very effective.  Additional probing by Neal showed that people in their seventies had been diagnosed with lung cancer, taken tagrisso, and lived long lives.  Neal’s oncologist said Neal probably could have weathered the nasty side effects of chemotherapy and radiation, but Neal was happy to address his lung cancer with one pill a day of tagrisso.

Three months later, a CT scan revealed almost all of the cancer was gone from his lungs and lymph nodes.  His oncologist said Neal Augenstein should seriously consider surgery to remove the tumor that was the source of his diagnosis.  Neal said if the tagrisso was doing such a good job, why have this surgery?  The oncologist said such a procedure would remove virtually all doubt of his lung cancer ever returning.

In April of 2023, Neal underwent the surgery, and incredibly, he was home the next day.  He credits the tagrisso, but a month later, his chronic coughing went away. 

In a way it sounds hard to believe, but in retrospect, Neal benefited from his cancer being labeled Stage IV.  That positioned him to take the tagrisso, which had a minimum amount of side effects.  Neal says he was told if he had been diagnosed Stage III, the standard of care would have been chemotherapy and radiation.

These days, Neal Augenstein feels fine.  He coughs occasionally, but says it is a small nuisance, and nothing compared to what other cancer patients experience.

By way of advice, Neal says if you have the opportunity to get a lung cancer screening to follow through on it.  He says if you shows your lung are in good shape, that’s great, but if anything is revealed that merits further testing, better to learn it now than six months from now or six years from now.

Additional Resources:

A Breath of Hope Lung Foundation 

https://www.abreathofhope.org

A regimen of darzalex, vercade and dexamethasone teamed up for a chemotherapy regimen that helped Gregory Proctor survive multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer.  After going into remission, his health improved in a big way with a stem cell transplant.

In the spring of 2011, Greg’s journey began with some lower back pain.  After about a month, it reached a point in which he could not get out of bed.  One morning he had to literally crawl downstairs and have his wife help into their care for a drive to Greg’s primary care physician.  Subsequent tests only indicated that he should see a specialist.

Greg Proctor underwent what is known as a non-contrast MRI, which identified a mass the size of an egg in his upper right hip, but the scan could not determine if the mass was benign or cancerous.  He had to wait an additional three weeks for a more definitive contrast MRI, which lit up like a Christmas tree, indicating that Greg had cancer throughout his lower extremities.  That brought on more blood work, which led to a bone marrow biopsy.  Greg said this was the most painful thing he had ever been through.  He regrets getting only a local anesthetic.  After the biopsy, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma IGA Cappa P-17.  This meant that Greg was high-risk and needed chemotherapy immediately.  At the same time, his oncologist advised Greg to get his affairs in order. 

As he prepped for chemo, Greg was practically immobilized.  The tumor went across his sciatic nerve, making it almost impossible to walk, tie his shoes or balance. 

His regimen was darzalex, vercade and dexamethasone, a five-day-a-week regimen.  The darzalex and the vercade were meant to be inhibitors that attack different parts of the protein as it pertains to fighting multiple myeloma.  The dexamethasone is a steroid, which helped Greg to eat quite a bit because doctors wanted to gain weight before his stem cell transplant. 

Greg Proctor achieved remission in October 2021, and his stem cell transplant commenced the following February.  Prior to the stem cell transplant, he was injected with a high dose of melphalan.  It killed off his immune system, but properly prepared him for the stem cell transplant.

Greg was injected with four million stem cells, which flowed through his bloodstream trying to get back into bone marrow.  That temporarily left his body in a state of uncertainty.  He experienced fever and diarrhea and upset stomach and nausea over the next ten days in the hospital.  That left him with engraftment syndrome, which played havoc with the stem cells and his bone marrow.  All told, Greg was in the hospital 21 difficult days before he was discharged.

He went home, but was low on energy.  He had many days of going from the bed to the couch and the couch to the bed.  In May, he felt like his body was starting to return to normal. 

Years later, Greg still goes through chemotherapy twice a month, but if he was 100 percent before his diagnosis, he now feels at close to 90 percent.  Mentally, physically, psychologically, he is not quite where he used to be and admits he never will be, but Greg Proctor is very glad to be alive.

Additional Resources:

Gregory’s podcast: www.k2tcpodcast.com

Support Group:

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: www.lls.org

On this episode of the @CancerInterviews podcast, Mark Kageyama tells host Bruce Morton about his surviving three cancers.  A diagnosis of prostate cancer became metastatic prostate cancer when it was learned his cancer spread to his lungs and bones.  To fight the cancer, Mark had to experience an aggressive chemotherapy, with the medication, taxotere.

Mark Kageyama of Granada Hills, California was in his mid-sixties in October 2020, and in great shape.  One day he was just unable to get out of bed.  He required his wife’s help to get to the car and the doctor, who sent Mark to see an oncologist.  Over a period of weeks, he was put through a long line of tests.

Mark and his wife were called into the oncologist’s office.  That’s when the oncologist told Mark his cancer was so bad it could not be cured.  He had Stage IV prostate cancer that had metastasized to his lungs and bones.  The oncologist said there were things she could do to Mark more comfortable, but that he should get his affairs in order because the end was near. 

Mark’s relationship with his oncologist was contentious at first.  She would try telling him what course to take and he would say that first he wanted to research what the doctor had mind.  The relationship evolved so that no move was made without Mark’s approval. 

When treatment began, Mark went through a lung biopsy.  He saw a live screen of his lungs and said there were these “black globs” floating throughout his lungs, which looked really bad.  His bones looked really bad as well.

In terms of a gameplan, Mark Kageyama opted for a combination of conventional methods and natural methods.  He hoped the conventional approach of chemotherapy would help him get ahead of the cancer so that the natural methods could take over.

In the spring of 2021, Mark says he was at his weakest.  He could barely walk.  However, even though he had trouble leaving his bedroom, he kept his mind sharp.  He used LinkedIn to connect with cancer survivors and cancer patients all over the world.  Interacting with them helped him mentally and emotionally.

His conventional way of getting to survivorship was his chemotherapy regimen, and the medication taxotere.  Meanwhile, Mark changed his diet completely.  He had been a vegan, but added grass-fed beef, organic chicken, organic turkey and wild salmon to his diet.  At one point down to 123 pounds, his daughter moved in to cook for him, and he craved the protein, eating sometimes as many as six meals a day, and started to pit the weight back on. 

Mark wants people to know that if he survived the three-pronged attack of prostate, bone and lung cancer, they can survive, too.  He just wants people to realize there is hope and that one can overcome cancer if one believes.

Additional Resources:

Mark on YouTube: 2byourownhero

Mark on Clubhouse: https://www.clubhouse.com/house/cancer-conquering-community

Book: “Radical Remissions” by Kelly Turner

Naniki Seboni survived Stage III malignant melanoma, but hers was an arduous journey.  At age twenty, she admits she was slow to seek medical attention for an unusual-looking mole on her left leg; and it was medical attention from a neurologist who noticed something wrong and sent Naniki to a dermatologist.

The dermatologist told Naniki in 2015 he needed to remove the mole, but needed to perform a biopsy, and that Naniki would need to return in a few weeks to get its results.  When Naniki, of Johannesburg, South Africa, did return, she was told they had to take extra time to go over the biopsy to make sure it was correct.  Naniki is black and its is very rare that black people are diagnosed with any type of cancer.  However, the doctors were sure that Naniki had Stage III malignant melanoma.  They explained all the details of the diagnosis and what led up to it, but Naniki says she comprehended virtually none of this vital information.  All she remembered was that she was being told she had cancer, and that this was the deadliest form of skin cancer.

The closest thing to good news she received was learned she would not have to undergo chemotherapy, immunotherapy or radiation treatment.  She was told her only treatment option would be that of a surgical intervention.

This was an extremely tough time for Naniki Seboni.  At the time of her diagnosis, she was still mourning the death of her father.  She was seeing a therapist, and having a difficult time coping on an emotional, psychological and spiritual basis.  On top of this came her cancer diagnosis and a waiting period of six months before her treatment. 

Naniki was quite relieved to learn her surgery was a success when doctors informed her she was in remission.  Because it was so unusual for a black person to be diagnosed with skin cancer, her story gained quite a bit of publicity via numerous media interviews.

Naniki took this opportunity to let black South Africans know they are not immune from skin cancer, and that they, too, need to make periodic visits to a dermatologist.

Additional Resources:

Support Group:

Cancer Association of South Africa  https://www.canza.org.za