This breast cancer awareness month, radiographer Nicole Moodley urges individuals to prioritise their breast health. Picture: Supplied
Nicole Moodley wears many hats as a mother, wife, radiographer and the owner of a practice called North Coast Bone Density and Breast Care Centre.
This October, which is breast cancer awareness month, Moodley is encouraging both women and men to be proactive in protecting their health by going for a mammogram.
According to Moodley, breast cancer is the second most common cancer in the world and the number one most common cancer amongst women.
Moodley said: "It is crucial that people go for mammograms because breast cancer can be beaten if caught at a very early stage.“
“People need to be educated on how to become proactive about their breast health. Knowledge is power so knowing what to look for will aid in early diagnosis when it is the body's best response to treatment.”
Moodley who specialises in mammography, has studied Diagnostic Radiography with a Bachelor of Technology in Radiography from Technikon Natal which is now known as the Durban University of Technology. She would later complete her Certification in Mammography
The business owner who is from Umkomaas in KwaZulu-Natal is the eldest of four daughters and grew up with a big family. She chose to go down the medical route as she has always been a people’s person and does not like to see people suffering.
According to Moodley, she did radiography because it is different from other career paths and she felt with this choice of occupation she would be doing the same thing all the time.
Although her career flourished, she did experience a number of challenges while doing her tertiary education.
“Studying at a tertiary institution is very different from school so adapting to this different way of studying was challenging especially in the area of self study,” Moodley said.
Moodley, who lives in Umkomaas, said that the travelling from home to university was long and costly. Her days would start at 4am to catch the only bus from where she lived to university at 6am and only end at 10pm when she would get home.
Another challenge that Moodley faced was that her university fees were expensive.
“However, I was fortunate when I was accepted to do radiography. There was a stipend that was offered to me that helped with my travel costs and university fees.”
After graduating in 1994, she went on to do her training at King Edward Hospital VIII and she was later employed at Ladysmith Provincial Hospital.
“After that I worked at 12 different hospitals to gain work experience in different work environments like the farm, the bush and the city,” Moodley said.
“Whilst working at the various hospitals, I was exposed to different equipment, modalities, X-rays and imaging. Now I do mostly mammograms after doing my training in 2013.”
In 2015, the radiographer started her own practice as she saw the need to help out the community and she is doing just that by offering discounted rates for X-rays and mammograms this breast cancer awareness month.
“I also needed the flexibility of time because I had school going children which is complicated when you are working for someone else.”
However, her journey has not been smooth sailing as she made the leap to start her own practice.
It is challenging because when you work for someone your salary is guaranteed at the end of the month,with running your own practice things are different, according to Moodley.
“When you are running your practice, you have to seek out resources to run the practice, get exposed to the marketing aspect of having a business and we had a slow start,” Moodley said.
Now that she has been in the industry for nine years, and has an understanding of the pros and cons that come with running a business, things have stabilised.
Moodley said: “Getting clients through the door was also a challenge but if you give good quality service, then people will refer you to other people. Now her clientele has grown steadily from around 40 clients in a month to around 200 clients a month.”
“Our primary service is mammograms, bone density scans and breast ultrasounds, plus we also offer X-ray service.”
According to Moodley, she does see an increase of patients who come in for mammograms during breast cancer awareness month.
This breast cancer awareness month, Moodley wants to let people know that while breast cancer does not discriminate between age, race or gender is does not have to be a death sentence.
Moodley has also outlined some myths related to breast and has debunked each myth:
Fact: Moodley said that a mammogram is the only modality that can detect breast cancer up to two years before it can be felt as a lump. If you wait for symptoms of breast cancer, at that point the cancer may be more advanced.
“According to the American Cancer Society, early stage breast cancer has a five-year survival rate of 99% while late stage cancer has a survival rate of 27%. About 85% of women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history,” Moodley said.
Fact: According to Moodley, a mammogram uses low dose radiation which is within the medical guidelines.
“The benefit of the mammogram outweighs the risk of the small radiation dose. The constant background radiation that a person receives in two months is equivalent to the radiation received during the mammogram,“ the radiographer said.
Fact: Moodley said that mammography is detection not prevention. While a normal mammogram is great but it does not guarantee that future mammograms will be normal.
“Having regular annual mammograms increase the chance of detecting the cancer when it is small and when it is most easily treated which improves survival,” Moodley said.
Fact: You do not need your doctor to write a prescription or request form for you to have a screening mammogram.
According to Moodley, it is recommended that woman from age 40 onwards should have a mammogram every year, even if their doctor does not mention it.
“Women can self request to make an appointment for their annual mammogram at a breast screening centre,” Moodley said.
Fact: Moodley said that 1% of men will be diagnosed with breast cancer, so it is important for men to do breast examinations and if they do find many lumps then they need to see a doctor.
The radiographer does have male patients that do have mammograms but there are very few clients.
If you are are concerned about breast cancer should lookout for the signs of which include:
– itchy nipples that are non-responsive to topical creams
– a retracted or pulled back nipple
– nipple discharge
– indentation or puckering of the skin anywhere on the surface of the breast
– lumps
– pain sometimes in advanced stages.
While her work keeps her busy, Moodley said that she has learnt how to balance your work and your personal life.
“As a person you have to sometimes make the word NO a part of your vocabulary, it is impossible to please everyone. Good time management skills have helped me to balance my time and energy,” Moodley said.
The business owner is also devoted a lot of her time to her church where she a leader for the youth, a cause that is close to her heart because she believes that they are the leaders of tomorrow. When she is not doing her church work, she likes to sit down with a good book.
Moodley cites her previous boss Poppy Mfeka as the person who has been instrumental in her becoming who she is professionally
“She mentored and trained me and also challenged and prepared to be the best at what I can be in terms of my career,” Moodley said.
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