Oral cancer is a type of the disease that Mami Ikeda is very much involved in after this caused the death of her brother, Kazunori Ikeda, two years ago. She became an advocate after that, turning into a voice in the campaign against oral cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is something that my brother wanted me to do. He could have done it personally if ever he recovered,\u201d said an emotional Ikeda, who attended University of Guam professor Dr. Yvette Paulino\u2019s press conference on the findings of her study of betel nut chewing last Friday at the Governor\u2019s Office conference room.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me to take photos since the first day of his treatment until he died. Pictures that he wanted to show to the community to see what happens and what oral cancer can do to you,\u201d she added. Ikeda\u2019s brother, known as Kazu in the community, died in February 2014.<\/p>\n
She said that two of his brother\u2019s friends\u2014Roque Camacho and Jack Sablan\u2014were also with him when they were undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment. They died two months apart, Camacho in April and Sablan in June.<\/p>\n
Ikeda added that she and the families of Camacho and Sablan became close especially during the difficult time after the death of his brother and his two friends. \u201cFrom the time of their treatment, we regularly see and comfort each other. For me, that\u2019s already an outreach program.\u201d<\/p>\n
She became a speaker in the prevention and fight against oral cancer after her brother\u2019s death. \u201cHe\u2019s the only family that I got here, now he\u2019s gone. Talking about him to other people healed me a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not waste the opportunity of spreading oral cancer awareness and prevention. I don\u2019t want to think Kazu died for nothing. It was too late for my brother. It was too late for treatment but it\u2019s never too late for others,\u201d added Ikeda.<\/p>\n
Kazu sought chemotherapy and radiation treatment in the Philippines after his lymph nodes became swollen that surrounded his throat and chin. The doctors reassessed his situation to see if he can undergo surgery.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the doctor said there\u2019s nothing else that they could do about his situation and gave him two months to live,\u201d said Ikeda, who will again attend the Marianas March Against Cancer on May 13 and 14 at the Hopwood Junior High School grounds in Chalan Piao.<\/p>\n
\u201cA member of my family passed away that\u2019s why it has always been hard for me whenever I attend the MMAC. It\u2019s an emotional moment for me and the others since our loved ones are no longer with us,\u201d Ikeda said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA member of your family dies but for those left behind, cancer stays with you for the rest of your life. That\u2019s why we respect all survivors of any type of cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Oral cancer is a type of the disease that Mami Ikeda is very much involved…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4394,11181,3095,5853],"class_list":["post-226458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-jack-sablan","tag-kazunori-ikeda","tag-mami-ikeda","tag-roque-camacho"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226458\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}