Mother of three, Edileny Mayre de Oliveira, 46, has been treating breast cancer since 2020 in Cuiabá. She discovered the disease in a metastasis situation after receiving two wrong diagnoses indicating that the lump in her right breast was just fat, which according to the woman, made her delay treatment.
The nursing technician felt the first pains resulting from the cancer after a gesture of affection from her 11-year-old daughter before bed. The child rested his head on the mother’s right breast. “I felt severe pain and went to the doctor the very next day.”
The woman reports that a doctor from the health center in the Jardim Independência neighborhood, in Cuiabá, examined her manually and alleviated the situation, reporting that the lump was small. He referred her in September 2019 for an examination with another doctor – which also did not raise the possibility of cancer.
“I went to the doctor the very next day at the health center close to home. He examined, said that the nodule was small, but asked for tests. When I did the tests, the mastologist said it was nothing, just fat. the doctor at the unit would diagnose the same thing. At the unit, I was instructed to go on a diet because it would be fat and to take a medicine to ease the pain”, he details.
Edileny says that the pain did not stop with the medication and the physical condition of her right breast got worse, which forced her to look for the doctor at the same health center again, three months later.
Seeing the worsening of the woman’s clinical condition, the professional would have decided to refer her for the first time to an oncology specialist at the Cancer Hospital, in Cuiabá. The nursing technician underwent a biopsy through the SUS (Unified Health System), which attested to cancer.
Edileny received the news of the disease in March 2020, almost seven months after the first consultation on the public network.
“I did the biopsy and, after 45 days waiting for the SUS, when I took the result to the hospital doctor, he said it was already in an advanced state and recommended removing the breast because of metastasis”, he says.
Doctor admitted mistake, says patient
Edileny says that the delay of almost seven months for the diagnosis complicated the correct treatment of the cancer. Dissatisfied, she decided to look for the doctor who initially attended her to vent.
After I removed my breast, I went back there with the doctor and said ‘look, doctor, you said it was nothing and now I had to remove my breast’. He said ‘ah, I’m sorry, I was supposed to have sent it straight to the biopsy’.
Edileny Mayrepatient
universe sought out the Municipal Health Department of Cuiabá, which reported that it was seeking information about the patient to issue a position. The text will be updated as soon as there is any manifestation from the prefecture.
Edileny receives help from her young children in the fight against cancer
Image: Personal Archive
Children take care of mother
With the correct diagnosis, Edileny kept the hope of cure and started chemotherapy, followed by radiotherapy. During the treatment, however, another lump appeared in the left breast, which made her also have it removed.
Without a job, having as income only a sickness benefit from the INSS (National Social Security Institute), Edileny is still undergoing treatment under medication and is now fighting the disease — still in metastasis — alongside her children: Paola (11), Ricardo ( 10) and Enzo (5).
It is the trio of children who help Edileny with her routine, as she has difficulty lifting her arms after having both breasts removed. The children, at the same time, are the source of hope for overcoming cancer.
“My life could be very different [se tivesse o diagnóstico logo], I don’t have breasts anymore and I don’t move my arms. I can’t do practically anything else. My children who help me in everything. They are children, but very warriors. They sing when I cry, they helped me with the dressings and they did everything at home after the surgeries”, he concludes, under strong emotion.