Video: Melanoma Patient Webinar
Topic: Let’s get under the skin of melanoma – mutation matters…
Discussion Points:
Exploring testing, early diagnosis and treatment…
Featuring:
Dr Poovan Govender
Dr Poovan Govender
Dr Poovan Govender completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Natal in 2000. He obtained his Fellowship in Radiation Oncology (FC Rad Onc) from the College of Medicine of South Africa in October 2008.
Thereafter, Dr Govender completed his Master of Medicine in Radiotherapy and Oncology (MMED) through the University of Kwazulu Natal in 2011. He then received his certification as an oncologist from the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) in 2012.
After stints as the clinical head of oncology at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban and acting HOD in the Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology at the University of KwaZulu Natal, he ventured into private practice in October 2016, joining the OncoCare team.
Dr Govender is on the editorial committee for the South African Journal of Oncology (SAJO) and serves as a postgraduate examiner with the College of Radiation Oncologists. He has multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals. He enjoys reading, music and yoga in his spare time.
Katherine Burger
Katherine Burger (Stage 3b melanoma Survivor)
Katherine is 40 something, living in Joburg. She is married with one daughter, who’s in first year varsity.
After teaching senior high English and Speech and Drama for many years, she has gone into adult education and training. She has been an instructional designer and learning manager for an American company for the last 10 years.
Katherine’s passion is the bush and wildlife and she escapes to game reserves all over Africa whenever she can.
Katherine was diagnosed with Stage 3b melanoma on 21st July 2016. After two years of different treatments, she shows no evidence of disease (NED) for nearly six years now.
Dean Hodgson
Dean Hodgson (Caregiver to melanoma patient)
Dean Hodgson is a 42-year-old Real Estate Entrepreneur, living in Ballito since 2011. He is a proud father to three wonderful children, Jake, Harlee, and Brooke, who mean the world to him, and owns Cornerstone Property Partners, working with entrepreneurial minded agents nationally.
In Early 2016 Dean’s mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer and passed later that same year.
Dean’s sister, Claire, had had a cancer scare previously in 2019, and after the shock of their mother’s death Dean and Claire found out that she was diagnosed with stage 4 Metastatic Melanoma in 2018. Claire put up a great fight and as a result helped pave the way with medical aids and for treatment options in SA.
Dean is happy to see and learn that there has been so much progress and advances in treatment options available to melanoma cancer patients from 2019 to now.
Facilitator
The webinar was facilitated by Lorraine Govender, CANSA National Manager Health Promotion.
Queries:
Email info@cansa.org.za
