CRH offers free First-World breast cancer care, says Fray
Published:Saturday | August 17, 2019 | 12:26 AMJanet Silvera/Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
One of the island’s most respected breast cancer experts says Montego Bay’s Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH) is equal to any First-World facility in treating the dreaded disease.
Dr Delroy Fray, clinical coordinator at the CRH, is urging patients with breast cancer to look to the Mt Salem-based facility for curative treatment as opposed to venturing overseas as the service is of First-World standards and free of cost.
He was speaking at the Kiwanis Club of Providence’s 10th anniversary Breast Cancer Awareness 5K Run and Walk at the Hard Rock Café in Montego Bay Thursday night.
Solidifying his claim, Fray said the Cancer Care Unit at the hospital offers all four types of cancer treatment – surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and hormonal therapy.
“All of these treatments are available right here in Montego Bay … . I can stand here proud to tell you – although you might not believe, but it is the truth – that at Cornwall Regional Hospital, we have every aspect of treatment of breast cancer that is equal to a First-World country,” Fray said.
He urged the intimate group of Kiwanians and their guests to check out the hospital’s clinic, where they have the technology to do cytology, where some of the tissue can be removed and the result is available in three hours.
“Our pathologist at Cornwall Regional hospital is excellent. He can take that slide and within three hours, he can give you a diagnosis,” he emphasised.
Fray said the more detailed follow-up report, which requires larger tissue samples, and which provides finer details necessary to plan the treatment of patients, are usually done within two weeks, in line with global standards.
“You can be placed on our operating list if you fit the criteria for surgery at an early stage within a week of presentation, and after two to three weeks, for recovery, you can then be referred to our oncology department, which I would say is one of the best units in the public sector in Jamaica,” the CRH clinical coordinator boasted.
He said the modern Linear Accelerator (LINAC) equipment at the facility has been making a world of a difference as it has the ability to focus beams to the area that needs treatment.
He said there were two radio oncologists, two medical oncologists and a team of doctors to can look after all breast cancer patients.
“I stand here proud to tell you that our breast cancer patients are not going to suffer,” he added.
Fray said more support groups such as the Kiwanians, who hope to raise millions at their run Sunday, October 27, are also needed to promote breast cancer awareness and education and to teach patients about breast self-examination and dispel myths related to breast cancer treatment.
“The best screening tool is not so much mammography; it is patient awareness and education … . I usually tell the patient, ‘Look, the best examiner for your breast is yourself. You know your breast much better than any surgeon’,” he added.
Fray admitted to having patients who he examined and found fairly normal breasts, but when he ordered a biopsy, “Lo and behold! It turns out to be cancer, but, in the early stage,” he said.