Over the weekend, I had an educative and inspiring chat with Dr. Tekle G.Egiziabher, who is an Obstetrician and Gynecologist Specialist at the Rwanda Military Hospital, Kanombe.He shared with me a story of a lady he recently operated upon who had a tumor in the uterus for the last 12 years. Sarah (not her real name) had a tumor, weighing 8 kilogrammes. The lady had felt the swellings grow but knowing she couldn’t afford, she decided to stay that way until she realised that the tumor kept growing.By the time she visited the Obstetrician the tumor had grown to a very dangerous level and was even affecting her kidneys. The only option was to remove the tumor along with her uterus because the tumor was likely to grow again if her uterus wasn’t removed.If this lady hadn’t waited for this long, she would have saved her uterus.Dr.Tekle advises that women should pay regular visits to the hospital for a general body check-up. "If women go for regular body check-ups at the hospital, they can avoid getting such complications that may pose dire risks to their health,” he said.He advised that women, especially those who are sexually active, should always visit a gynecologist just to make sure that they are not suffering from any complications. Dr.Tekle also said that women should also go for Pap smears and other checkups. They shouldn’t wait to first fall sick in order to go to the hospital.It’s advisable to have a check-up once every three months. Most of the life threatening diseases can be successfully treated, if detected early. If you haven’t visited your doctor in ages, it’s high time you did.