Provision of advice, information and support was non-existent
Marina Raime at the recent All Parliamentary Group on Cancer
 I was given no information or support, no breast care nurse, no nothing. I had the test, came home and sat alone.
Marine Raime, Chair of African Caribbean Breast Cancer Services
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Black Britain talks with Marina Raime, Chair of African Caribbean Breast Cancer Services about her mission to support, inform, educate and empower women suffering with breast cancer, which stemmed from her own diagnosis six years ago….
When Marina Raime was 35, she found a lump in her breast during a visit to St Lucia in 2000. At the time, she thought it was swollen glands or a mosquito bite. But when she started to lose weight friends suggested she have it properly investigated.
She returned to the UK in 2001 and after seeing her GP, she was sent straight to her local hospital, the Royal Free, where she underwent various tests, which included a needle biopsy, an ultrasound and a mammogram. Raime told Black Britain: “Straight away I knew it was cancer as I could see it on the mammogram.”
She had to wait a stressful two weeks for the results, but worse than the waiting was being left in the dark about exactly what was happening: “I was given no information or support, no breast care nurse, no nothing. I had the test, came home and sat alone.”
Raime then resolved to find out all she could about cancers, so she made a trip to her local library and undertook some research on the subject. On returning to the Royal Free, she was given a diagnosis that was ‘inconclusive.’ Despite this doctors told her the lump had to be removed.
But when the lump was removed, the margins were not cleared. After a second test when she went for the results, Raime was left sitting in a cubicle by herself for over an hour. Yet when the doctor arrived with the breast care nurse, they conducted a conversation among themselves about Raime’s treatment, as if she was not there:
“I just put my clothes on and walked out. I was in pieces. I decided to get a second opinion so I went back to my GP and then I was referred to the Royal Marsden.” At the new hospital, Raime underwent several operations as she had an aggressive type of cancer and had radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment.
Her experience was compounded by the fact that she had no family to look after her eight-year-old daughter and at times had to miss chemotherapy sessions. But she found a lot of support at the school her daughter attended: “I was really sick so I spent a lot of time in hospital and Amy spent a lot of time with friends.”
After the treatment was over, Raime reflected on her experience as a single black mother and decided there was a ‘gap’ in the service pertaining to the treatment of black women with cancer. She had received no information about pregnancy or fertility: “Once again I found out all the information for myself.”
By 2003, Raime had just started to recover and embarked on a new relationship during which she conceived and then miscarried. But she also developed another lump on her left breast, which she was told was scar tissue. But the lump kept growing. At the time Raime was pregnant again and had decided not to have surgery. She was later told the lump was due to pregnancy.
However: “Four weeks after giving birth the lump was still there so I went back to my GP.” At this point Raime was once again diagnosed with cancer and her partner died of cancer at the same time. She was devastated. Doctors told her she would need a double mastectomy followed by chemotherapy:
“When I started to get angry I got stereotyped as the classic angry black woman. I felt I had every eight to be angry…I don’t like not being listened to,” she said.
Raime started her own support service for black women with cancer in 2001 called African Caribbean Breast Cancer Services . But she told Black Britain that it was really after her second diagnosis that she was struck by the inequality in the services provided to black women. For example, having had a double mastectomy, Raime needed a prosthesis but was horrified to be told that there were none available for black women:
“There are no black prostheses to show me. They show me white prostheses. I was so disgusted. I asked for something that matched my skin colour.” Raime was then asked to bring the hospital a pop sock that matched her skin and they would see if they could find something similar:
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