With cancer cases on on upward spiral in the country, a 35-year-old woman is appealing for assistance to enable her access radiotherapy treatment at Kenyatta National Hospital.
Elizabeth Nthenya, a resident of Kajiado who has been rendered blind by cancer is appealing to well wishers to assist her in paying transport fee to the hospital for the monthly radiotherapy sessions.
Nthenya is also hoping good Samaritans can help her care and educate her 3 children aged between three and 18 years.
Nthenya who is also HIV positive started ailing about two years ago when her left eye started itching and on being examined it was found to have a cancerous tumour.
The eye was removed by surgeons at KNH but tragedy struck again late last year, when her right eye suddenly lost its ability to see.
Speaking to journalists from her rented room at Shapashina estate, the frail woman narrated how her husband deserted her soon after she was diagnosed with HIV and cancer, leaving her at the mercy of friends and other well wishers.
Before she fell ill, Nthenya used to eke out a living by washing clothes for other people in Kajiado town and could make up to Ksh 2,000 per month.
This money enabled her to pay her monthly rent of Ksh 500 for the one room iron sheet structure she shares with her children, two girls and a boy.
The two older children have been struggling to take care of their mother at the expense of their education and only sat for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) at Kajiado township primary school last year. The girl scored 258 marks while the boy obtained 299 marks.
Nthenya pays Ksh 2,000 for radiotherapy at KNH every month where she also attends an eye clinic. Raising the amount and her transport costs to and from the hospital has become a big challenge and she is unable to afford the nutritious food that doctors have recommended because of the disease and her HIV status.
A friend who has been taking care of her since she started ailing Ms. Elizabeth Muthoni Mwangi said Nthenya’s weight has dropped to below 40 kgs.
Ms. Muthoni has been escorting Nthenya to KNH every month and since she became totally blind has been collecting her anti-retroviral therapy drugs at the Kajiado district hospital.
Nthenya has already joined a HIV support group known as Tumaini support group (TUSUPP) which is currently giving her support after she was shunned by her family.
TUSUPP chairman Mr. Joseph Munyi said the group advocates for treatment, care and support for its members and other persons who are infected with HIV/AIDS.
Diagnosis and treatment of cancer in Kenya remains a big challenge to the medical fraternity amid concerns that there are currently less than 10 oncologists in a country with a population of close to 40 million people.
The disease can also not be diagnosed at the district level, leading to many cases of misdiagnoses whereby by the time it is detected it is usually too late for the patients as it is at an advanced stage.
There is also lack of requisite equipment at the country’s hospitals and proper treatment and management of the disease can only be done in Nairobi notwithstanding the fact that majority of Kenyans live in the rural areas and can not even afford the cost of the treatment.
There have been appeals to the government to provide more funding for diagnosis and treatment of cancer just like it has done for malaria and HIV but this is yet to bear fruits.
Writing in a local daily on Sunday, medical services minister Anyang Nyong acknowledged that he is in the United States receiving treatment for prostate cancer, noting that a lot needed to be done to enable the country cope with the rising cases of the disease.
Source: KBC
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