Eleven years after Najah Peterkin was cleared of breast cancer, she now has lymphedema, a condition that causes swelling due to a build-up of lymph fluid, in her left arm and is losing the ability to hear in her right ear, due to the side effects of chemotherapy treatment. Despite these new challenges, she still takes her exercise routines seriously, which has helped to control the swelling in her left arm. Peterkin, vice-president of customer experience and organisation health at National Commercial Bank Capital Markets, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011 at the age of 31– nine years before women are encouraged to do their first mammogram.
“The swelling didn’t happen 11 years ago. The swelling came last year. I’m grateful that I had 10 years of no swelling, but it’s irreversible.
It’s here to stay, so I learn to live with it,” Peterkin told Lifestyle . She said the hearing loss she is now experiencing is something she would have never expected at her current age. “I wouldn’t dream that this had anything to do with cancer.
I had done every test, and can you believe what it led to? Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is causing me to lose [my hearing]. I just really did the test, like, four weeks ago,” Peterkin said, adding that she didn’t initially share the news with her mother, with whom she shares everything.
Conditioning her mind to live with an arm that looks swollen, Peterkin also educates others who are concerned when they see her in public. .