She had lived right.
Cooked all her meals at home and carried to work.
She observed an active lifestyle, ate her vegetables and fruits and drank her ample glasses of water. She worked in a field that kept her engaged and nurtured her interests. She was also busy bringing up her beautiful six-year old daughter and their moments in the evenings and weekends were moments to anticipate. An occasional drive to her grandparents in Nyeri, was another adventure on the road.
However a routine annual medical check-up, went amiss. She had religiously taken a breast exam, as advised by the health experts to all women of reproductive age. She was meeting part of her bargain. However, this year, the look on the doctor’s face was different. He was not in a chatty mood. He excused himself and called another colleague from the next consultation room. Later, they called a third colleague for a confirmation of their suspicions. Then she was left with one doctor who placed the diagnosis on the table.
‘Muthoni, you have signs of breast cancer stage one,” she remembers the doctor’s first words. The rest of the conversation were echoes.
She went quiet, then numb.
The diagnosis shook her foundation.
Denial set in.
The date was 25th August 2016.
She was in her peak of life.
Blending the blooms of motherhood with the various shades of her career.
She is in the medical field; an epidemiologist.
How can I get cancer!
Shock took over.
Confusion checked in.
But she decided to pull herself together.
She chose hope.
She sought a second, third and fourth opinion. It was a great shock in her thirties to find out that she had breast cancer. There was no trace of any cancer in her family tree. She is the middle child in a family of five.
After a family meeting, the treatment plan began.
She had eight chemotherapy sessions and 36 radiotherapy sessions. Chemotherapy is the treatment of disease by the use of chemical substances like drugs that kill the cancerous cells while radiotherapy is the use of high-energy rays, like x-rays, that treat cancer. The side effects were unforgiving and the fight was tough. But when she got to the end of her rope, she tied a knot and hang on through social capital from family, friends, colleagues and the medical team that cheered her on.
“The symptoms came fast and furious. I had nausea, a running tummy, loss of appetite, hair loss, sensitivity to the sun and synthetic fabric, darkening of skin on my palms, feet and nails, mood swings, “she says.
But these were just that; side effects!
She kept her eyes on the sunshine and ignored the shadows. She became the source of inspiration. She was enveloped by families and friends who walked with her the entire journey. And she has another set of family who held her hands throughout the rough journey. “I have awesome brothers and sisters at the Rotary Club of Lang’ata whose constant calls and visits kept the hope in me alive. My mother’s church members in Nyeri, dotted over me with prayers,” says Muthoni who is now part of the new sister club, Rotary Club of Magharibi. The spontaneity of man fortified her. I was humbled by complete strangers who would send in a word of encouragement every so often. I haven’t lost faith in humanity, she added.
“I had a combined treatment plan; I had initial surgery and chemotherapy in Kenya and later went to India for a second corrective surgery and radiotherapy,” she says. In July last year, Muthoni went into remission which means that the signs or symptoms of cancer are all or partly gone.
The Cancer Café
Muthoni began the cancer cafe in restaurants to create new space, away from the hospital grounds.
“I had a hard time attending support groups since they were mostly hosted in the hospital grounds where the smells, sights and sounds we’re a constant reminder that all wasn’t well,”she says.
I was looking for a space that was laid back, positive energy and relaxing to help with the discussion of a difficult topic on cancer in a multi-directional, credible yet simplified manner ” she said.
After every treatment session, she found time to grab a cup of coffee with her sisters and friends at the hospital canteen. The nurses and their colleagues would pass by for their mugful’s of coffee and tea and spared five minutes to find out how her treatment was. From these interactions, the Cancer Café idea was born in September 2017 as monthly meetings to bring together survivors, their families, friends, colleagues, service provides and the health experts.
The meeting bring together cancer survivors, their friends, family, relatives, healthcare providers and the general public. The Café serves as a safe space where people learn, share, support each other and share strategies on cancer treatment and management.
Why should you attend the Cancer Café?
- Links patients & care givers to specialists
- Empowers better response to cancer management
- Raises cancer awareness
- Offers hope and support
- Restores dignity taken away by cancer
And she is has the firm resolve of a determined person. She agrees that the cancer diagnosis was a life-changing moment. “It has helped me prioritize my life,” she said.
What worries did she harbor?
“I had constant fears and side effects after treatment. This includes the fear of recurrence even if it was a headache or pain in the body, it threw me into a panic mode wondering if cancer was back. Sometimes it was just the occasional headache,” she said. I also had body image esteem issues, filtering out unfiltered myths and tales that came my way during the entire treatment and recovery period.
She is on a daily post treatment and undergoes routine tests to ensure everything stays suppressed, but she is on the hope ladder and is an inspiration to other cancer champions. And she spices up author Brian Vaszily’s words,” Looking for a miracle? I am here!’
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