Former NTV presenter Janet Kanini Ikua has said she is cancer free.
In a long post on her Facebook account she sent out last Friday, Ikua said an MRI scan conducted on her showed no signs of lesions in her liver, abdomen, bones, lymph nodes and lungs.
Ikua attributed her healing to a support network of friends, family and strangers praying for her and encouraging her.
She made special mention of her husband who she said only recently revealed to her that doctors had given her less than six months to live after she was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.
“My hubby revealed something after we got the great news. He told me that last year, my doctors didn't think that I had more than 6 months to a year to live, but hubby refused to tell me because he knew it would stress me more,” Ikua said in her post.
She said she was happy that he chose not share the information at the time, but was grateful for him bearing the burden while fully supporting her.
“Hubby carried this burden alone, and for that I will forever be grateful to God for giving him the strength and courage to do so as he watched me go through chemotherapy,” Ikua said.
Adding that her network was vital to her recovery, Ikua noted that faith also contributed to her being cured of cancer.
She said her belief in divine intervention helped her get through the worst days of the treatment period.
“One of the first pieces of advice that hubby and I got after my diagnosis was that we must have COMPLETE FAITH. Not praying and then a few hours later opening our mouths to utter doubtful words and think negative thoughts.”
Much of Ikua’s post was dedicated to sharing tips on dealing with cancer, from diagnosis, to treatment, all the while punctuated with light humour, a feature present in all her posts since announcing her diagnosis.
“Give the patient hope to continue one more second, minute, hour, day - upto 120 years! And please don't force wheatgrass and moringa and spinach smoothies down their throats - we get sick of the stuff so take a short break!” Ikua said.
The former TV personality made an appeal to the ministry of health to make available facilities locally for treating Cancer, noting that Indian hospitals where she sought treatment have exchange programmes for medics.
“Apparently it's not easy for local medical personnel to request to go for training in Indian hospitals - they are actually held back! This was a shocking discovery to me because Indian hospitals have numerous exchange programs where they happily exchange expertise with interested medics, teaching them how to function effectively in a high-traffic environment.”
Ikua will however have to continue with the treatment until another review to give her a clean bill of health.
“Even with my great results cancer treatment doesn't stop abruptly. I will still do 4 cycles of chemo with milder drugs to sustain the progress made, before another review.”
Last October Ikua announced her four lung cancer diagnosis after what was initially stated as deep vein thrombosis.
The entertainment fraternity organised a concert for Ikua dubbed ‘One Nation For Janet’ with all proceeds raised going to her treatment.