TIN TIN announces she has cervical cancer, urges a...

TIN TIN announces she has cervical cancer, urges all women to get screened

Zim Now Writer

“TIN TIN, I know you want to keep it private but don’t forget your calling, things happen to you for a reason.”

Those words from a fellow affected woman got actor and radio presenter Tinopona Katsande to come out and take the big step of announcing her health status in public.

“I was diagnosed with early stages of cervical cancer and have been privately battling the “BIG C”,” she announced on her Facebook handle early this morning.

Wish for privacy, wanting to protect those who care about her from worry and fear of stigma are some of the reasons why TIN TIN kept news of her cervical cancer to herself for a while:

“Honestly I wasn’t even going to share this diagnosis in the public sphere because I was afraid of a lot of stuff:

“1. Public sympathy and continued scrutiny and how that would affect my children.

“2. having people worry about me MORE than they already do when everyone has such a full plate already

“3. The possibility of not getting jobs in the entertainment industry for fear that ‘ahh manje anozouya kubasa here nekurwara kwake uku (will she be able to turn up for engagements when she is an ill person?)’.”

She says she has gone through much since her diagnosis but is finding her positive place.

“Intentionally posting this blurry picture today because that’s exactly how life has been for me over the last couple of months but it’s all is clearing up pretty good now and while it has been a most torrid time physically, mentally and emotionally, I say EBENEZER onwards march I go.”

The World Cancer Research Fund in 2018 put Zimbabwe as the country with fifth highest burden of cervical cancer in the world, alongside Malawi, Mozambique, Comoros and Zambia.

https://hpvcentre.net/ says about 4.7% of women in the general Zimbabwean population are estimated to harbour cervical HPV-infection at a given time.

TIN TIN says is using her popularity to encourage other women to get tested early, explaining that her “prognosis was positive as we caught it early and I started treatment timely.”

This is an important message as most cervical cancer deaths can be prevented with regular screenings leading to early detection and treatment before the cancer has progressed.

bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com say Zimbabwe has a high but preventable cervical cancer mortality rate:

"The 2018 estimates indicated that about 3,186 women were newly diagnosed with and 2,151 died due to cervical cancer in Zimbabwe. To reduce the burden of cervical cancer in LMICs, both HPV vaccination and regular cervical cancer screening efforts are recommended."

TIN TIN says being upbeat and positive has not come automatically:

“I had had my “but God why me AGAIN?” conversation with my CREATOR months ago when I got the diagnosis (Guys confirm ini hupenyu wangu (my life) surely throws me a hell of a lot of curve balls yes?”

TIN TIN is a fighter who has faced down moral censure and job loss after her nude images leaked into the public domain. She refused to be a silent victim of gender based violence. She has faced a myriad of other challenging situations and public judgement has often been harsh and unrelenting. She was trolled when she started her egg selling business as it was perceived as being a step down for someone who had been branded a glamour queen.

For the past few years, she has used her social media space to bring attention to female reproductive health challenges by sharing her life with endometriosis. This is a condition defined medically as resulting from the appearance of endometrial tissue outside the uterus and causing pelvic pain, especially associated with menstruation.

Many women who have the condition experience extreme period pain and are unable to function normally for a few days of the month leading to challenges affecting their ability to parent, work, be partners and their social life.

And she remains determined to win again:

“Yet I don’t know why life hasn’t figured out that my name is TINOPONA meaning “I’m a survivor” , so no matter what comes my way hapana hapana so help me God.

“Anywhooo, I have come to the realization and acceptance of “but why NOT me”

She thanks those that have stood by her when she confided in them and ends by encouraging every woman to get tested ASAP.

“I’m sharing this now so I shout from the mountain tops -WOMEN OF ZIMBABWE, ENDAYI KUNO VENEKWA CHIBEREKO FOR CERVICAL CANCER ndapota. (Go for cervical cancer screening please.) By the time you feeling deliberate pain its often too late,” she ends her post.