You book everyone else’s appointments — your children’s, your mother’s, your partner’s. This Women’s Month, book your own.
Breast cancer and cervical cancer are the two biggest cancer killers of South African women, and both are highly survivable when they are caught early. Most women in our community have never been screened for either. Screening takes minutes. A late diagnosis takes years.
Here is what is worth booking this August, what actually happens at each appointment, and how we can help at Botshilu Private Hospital in Soshanguve.
1. Breast screening
Know what is normal for you. A new lump or thickening, skin dimpling or puckering, a nipple that changes shape or pulls inward, discharge, or persistent pain in one spot should be checked without delay. Most breast changes turn out not to be cancer — but all of them deserve an answer.
When to start. Discuss screening with a doctor from your 40s, or earlier if breast cancer runs in your family.
What actually happens at a mammogram. It takes minutes. Your breast is briefly compressed between two plates — uncomfortable for seconds, not painful for long. It is done privately by a trained radiographer, and your results are explained to you. Fear of the unknown keeps more women away than the procedure itself ever would.
How we help. Mammography — both screening and diagnostic — and breast ultrasound are available on site through our Radiology department, run by Motshudi, Kekana and Partners Radiologists. Ultrasound is often used alongside mammography, particularly in younger women with denser breast tissue. Tissue samples are processed on site by Ampath Laboratory in our Pathology department. If breast surgery is needed, it is performed here by our general surgeons, Dr. M Mufamadi and Dr. MS Makgoka. Where ongoing cancer treatment is required, your specialist arranges the referral and stays involved in your care.
2. Cervical screening (Pap smear)
Cervical cancer is one of the very few cancers we can catch before it becomes cancer. It develops slowly, over years, through changes that a Pap smear picks up while they are still easy to treat. That is what makes regular screening so effective.
What actually happens. The smear itself takes a couple of minutes and is done during an ordinary gynaecology consultation. There is pressure and a moment of discomfort; there should not be pain. The sample goes to Ampath Laboratory on site, and your gynaecologist explains the result and what, if anything, needs to happen next.
How we help. Pap smears are taken during a consultation with any of our Obstetricians & Gynaecologists. If a result is abnormal, further assessment and any treatment needed can be arranged here, including theatre procedures.
3. The gynaecological problems women are told to live with
Heavy or painful periods, bleeding between periods, bleeding after menopause and ongoing pelvic pain are not things to endure. They have diagnoses, and they have treatments.
- Heavy or painful periods — bleeding through protection, missing work, exhaustion from anaemia. Assessment, ultrasound and treatments ranging from medication to endometrial ablation.
- Fibroids — common, and often the cause of heavy bleeding, pressure and pain. Myomectomy or hysterectomy where indicated, performed in our theatre.
- Ovarian cysts — pelvic pain and bloating that comes and goes. Ultrasound diagnosis and surgical removal where needed.
- Bleeding after menopause — never normal, always investigated. Book promptly.
- Pelvic pain — persistent pain deserves a diagnosis, not painkillers indefinitely.
Menopause. Hot flushes, disrupted sleep, mood changes and irritability are physiological, not a character failure. They are manageable, and you do not have to suffer through them. Where mood is the dominant symptom, our psychology and psychiatry teams work alongside your gynaecologist.
Contraception and family planning. All options explained without pressure, including long-acting methods and permanent sterilisation.
Our Obstetricians & Gynaecologists
Five specialists consult at Botshilu Private Hospital:
- Dr. MM Kalenga
- Dr. M Chabalala
- Dr. TC Sithale
- Dr. TJ Mashamba
- Dr. TMD Mathekga
Consulting rooms and contact numbers for each are listed in our specialist directory. Antenatal care through to delivery, vaginal or caesarean, is provided by the same team in our Maternity unit.
If you do not have medical aid
Ask about our private fixed fees, which give you a known price up front rather than an open-ended bill. Maternity fixed fees are published on our fixed fees page. For medical aid members, pre-authorisation is handled for you.
How to book
Departments involved: Gynaecology & Obstetrics · Radiology · Pathology · General Surgery · Maternity · Theatre
Book your screening this Women’s Month — 012 798 7000.
