How banku and tilapia led to my throat cancer and loss of voice – Midwife recounts

A professional midwife and throat cancer survivor, Mary Amankwaa Fordjour, has shared how a moment involving her favourite meal led to a stage 4 cancer diagnosis, as she now uses her journey to raise awareness about the disease.

Speaking in an interview on Angel FM, Mary recounted that her health challenges began in the early 2000s after a fish bone got stuck in her throat while she was eating a favourite meal, banku with tilapia.

“Around the year 2000, I went to eat my favourite meal, banku and tilapia. While eating, a fish bone got stuck in my throat, and my family advised me to try and push it down with banana and bread,” she shared.

She explained that attempts by her family to dislodge the bone using banana, bread, and other foods were unsuccessful, and instead worsened the situation by pushing it deeper into her throat.

This led to emergency surgery at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital within 24 hours of the incident.

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According to Mary, about seven years after the surgery, she began experiencing persistent hoarseness, a condition she had never previously encountered.

Although she sought medical care after noticing the change in her voice, she said doctors were initially unable to determine the exact cause of the hoarseness despite several tests, and she was referred to a speech and language therapist.

According to her, over time, she became frustrated and eventually stopped pursuing further treatment.

She said her situation later took a turn for the worse when she discovered a painless lump at the back of her head. Drawing on her medical background, she initially treated it with antibiotics, but it persisted.

She then consulted a doctor, who referred her to a specialist, and after further examination, she was diagnosed with throat cancer.

“I noticed a lump on my neck and initially thought it was just an infection, so I treated it myself with antibiotics. I took them for about two weeks, but the lump didn’t go away. It also wasn’t painful. At one point, I showed it to a doctor friend, and based on his assessment, he suspected it could be cancer,” she narrated.

Mary disclosed that she subsequently underwent several surgeries, including procedures to remove affected tissues and her larynx in order to save her life.

Following the stage 4 cancer treatment, she is no longer able to speak naturally and now communicates with the help of a device fitted to her throat, which she presses whenever she wants to talk.

Mary Amankwah Fordjour, a Ghanaian midwife, a throat cancer survivor, and a dedicated health advocate, shares how eating banku and tilapia led to her stage 4 throat cancer.

According to Mary, while eating the meal she choked on a fish bone and, despite attempts to remove it, had… pic.twitter.com/K9WSFj35mn

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