UK-based Ghanaian international jazz singer and performer, Stephanie Benson, has spoken up about the details of her mastectomy procedure.
The singer, whose real name is Princess Akua Ohenewaa Asieanem of Kokobin, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer and underwent the surgical removal of her breast and nipples.
During the most recent episode of Today's Woman, the bubbly mother of five, who has been outspoken about her struggle with the illness and her quest to survive, discussed important specifics of the procedure with Cookie Tee.
Exercise was crucial to Benson's survival both during and after the surgery, she claims.
“I’ve been through so much, but I’ve not lost my smile. If it weren’t for the fact that I exercised after the kind of surgery I had. if I didn’t have a strong heart, I’d have lost my life,” she explained.
She also experienced heart failure and other complications after the 40-hour surgery.
“My surgery took 40 hours and had three sessions. The first session took 13 hours, and they gave me a two-hour break, and I went in again for another nine hours, but then something went wrong, and I had to go in for another 13 hours, all within two days,” she disclosed.
To help her body function normally, Stephanie Benson also had to have her womb removed. She also regularly takes hormone injections, which have left scars on her body.
