By Zipporah Weru
Nairobi, Kenya: Mercy Auma, aged 28, wakes up at the crack of dawn every Monday as she prepares to go to East Africa’s largest referral facility, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) for her weekly chemotherapy session.
She has to use a motorbike to make the 7-km journey from her home in Kibera.
“I cannot use public transport because I have an unresolved cough as a result of the complications of Stage 4 breast cancer.” She says.
Auma tells me about the harsh stares and stigma that she faces in matatus because of her persistent cough.
“I resorted to using a motorbike because people think I have Coronavirus. I have been coughing since March. Once I was almost thrown out of a bus because people thought I had COVID-19,” she adds.
Auma got the shocking news that she had Stage 4 breast cancer just a month before the first case of Coronavirus was reported in Kenya.
“When I was given my test results they read, ‘Grade 2 Ductal Carcinoma’. It was around 10 in the morning in February 2020. After opening the envelope and seeing the words ‘Carcinoma’, I immediately knew I had cancer. I knew what the word carcinoma meant,” she says.
However, a month later, she got even more devastating news, cancer had now spread to her lungs. Cancer patients like Auma face the double jeopardy of dealing with a chronic illness and COVID19. Auma spends close to 3USD for the round trip from Kibera to KNH.
Auma says that at first, Coronavirus seemed like a distant reality when it was announced in other countries, but when it was announced in Kenya it hit home and she became anxious.
“I had fears of catching it and being compromised because of my condition. I have my fears but I cannot let them cripple me. Yes, I will be cautious, but I will still take advantage of every day I am here,” she says.
Auma says the government restrictions on movement have hit her hard because she has no one to take care of her. Her mother and husband cannot travel to the city because of the restrictions.
“The days after chemotherapy are the worst. I become very weak from all the vomiting and coughing. If it was up to my mother she would be on the next bus to Nairobi. My husband was also caught up in Kitui due to the government’s directive,” she adds.
She relies on her neighbors who help her with house chores. “My neighbors think I am pregnant, that’s why they help me with the house chores. I have not disclosed to them that I have cancer,” she says.
Social media and Whatsapp groups have come in handy for Auma, who made a medical appeal on Facebook when she was first diagnosed. She immediately launched an appeal on her social media page where friends began to send money to start treatment.
Her former classmates have also come through in a big way – to cope with the heightened anxiety, her former classmates from St Cecilia Misikhu Girls have set up a Whatsapp group to raise funds for her treatment. They sometimes drop by to deliver foodstuffs.
Auma is also a member of the Limau Cancer Group, a support group where she shares her experiences with other cancer patients.
AIC Kijabe Mission Hospital has also come in handy for cancer patients by helping them cope with this unsettling pandemic by expanding their chemotherapy and oncology services to their Nairobi branch.
The Hospital’s Executive Director, Dr. Ken Muma says the move is meant to ease movement for their Cancer patients.
“Due to the travel restrictions imposed by the government and high cost of travel, we have expanded our cancer care to our Nairobi Branch at Azure towers in Westlands. The facility has also reduced the cost of walk-in consultation fee to Ksh.50,” he says.
In addition, the hospital provides its patients with letters detailing their dates of treatment so as to facilitate their passage through police barriers.
This story was done with support from the Baraza Media lab Micro Okoa grant.
