Marisa 'eM' Louw

It is my second December as a cancer patient. I am not in remission; I am still on active treatment after being diagnosed with Stage 2 Grade 3 HER2+ and Hormone+ Pleomorphic Lobular Carcinoma (PLC) of the breast in August 2019.  The year that was Christmas and New Year's Eve of 2019 is a blur; I was too weak from chemotherapy to remember much of it. I know that my husband and I travelled from our home in Parys (Free State) to Stilbaai in the Western Cape for a privately commissioned production of the opera 'La Traviata'. Yet, I do not have any memories of the trip and the show; I rely on Facebook to remind me of what happened between Christmas and New Year's Eve last year. I started 2020 with continued chemotherapy, and my only goal was to make it through the current day. The COVID-19 Level 5 lockdown commenced two weeks after my last chemotherapy session in March 2020. My husband and I continued travelling between the Free State and Gauteng for my ongoing Herceptin inj...

On Monday, 30 November 2020, my surgeon admitted me to the hospital for my sixth surgery in just over a year. When a routine mammogram found a suspicious mass in July last year, I underwent a lumpectomy to remove the tumour for testing.  Following a Stage 2 cancer diagnosis - lobular pleomorphic carcinoma of the breast that is positive for HER2 and hormone receptors - I underwent a double mastectomy and direct-to-implant reconstruction in September 2019. A few weeks later, I was back in the hospital for debridement of the wounds on my right breast. I struggled with wound healing, and due to necrosis and infection, my surgeon once again admitted me to the hospital to remove the right implant in November 2019.  Upon completion of my chemotherapy regime, I had to wait two more months before my next surgery: insertion of a tissue expander in May 2020 to gently stretch the skin in preparation for the final reconstruction.  Finally, last month, my surgeon inserted the permanent...

  Soos gepubliseer in die Parys Gazette op 12 November 2020 Novembermaand staan ook bekend as Movember omdat mans aangemoedig word om ‘n snor te groei ter bewusmaking van gesondheidsprobleme wat mans beïnvloed, soos byvoorbeeld prostaatkanker. Dr Rudolph van Wyk, ‘n gesondheidspraktisyn in Parys beskryf die prostaat as “'n klier wat net onder die blaas sit en waarvaan die funksie is om voedingstowwe aan sperms te verskaf wat deel uitmaak van die semen.” Volgens Dr Van Wyk is prostaatkanker ‘n stadig-groeiende kanker en daarom is dit belangrik om jaarliks te toets daarvoor as jy oor 40 is. Die toets vir prostaatkanker is ‘n bloedtoets wat die vlakke van prostaat spesifieke antigeen (PSA) toets. Die prostaat is die enigste klier in die liggaam wat PSA afskei en daarom het vrouens geen PSA nie. Alhoewel ‘n rektale ondesoek dikwels saam met die bloedtoets gedoen word, is dit slegs ‘n absolute noodskaaklikheid waar daar ‘n probleem is met die urienvloei. Wat is die simptome van pro...

  When a loved one has a terminal illness, saying goodbye and letting go is never easy. During my 47 summers in this life on earth, I have had to say goodbye to so many of my furry, feathered, and scaled children that I lost count. Some got their angel wings due to fatal accidents, others because of illness, and some of old-age. One would think that it becomes easier with time, but it never does. It is a blessing that I have not yet experienced the heartache of watching a human soul mate or family member close to me fading away with a terminal illness. But I have endured it with my animal children, and the pain and sadness are just as real because the love I have for them is no different than the love I have for my human significant other, family, and friends. Lady Jane was a Toypom puppy who slipped off the basin when I washed her bum, and her tiny body was limp and lifeless. My boyfriend at the time worked as a volunteer firefighter, and my first reaction was to call the first re...