Abnormal discharge cost me marriage — cancer survivor

Millicent Kagonga, 35, experienced unexplained bleeding for a long time. She was 20 years old. At first, it was a consistent discharge, then bleeding continued for months and worsened.

“I didn’t have sanitary towels because I couldn’t afford them, so I used rags to take care of the discharge. It was a smelly discharge,” she said during an interview with the Star.    

The mother of four visited several hospitals, but doctors could not tell her what was happening. They ended up giving her painkillers and antibiotics.

“The first facility I visited, they told me I was too young to have cervical cancer, so they never gave me the diagnosis,” Kagonga said.

“They gave me antibiotics after informing me that I had an infection.”

Back home, her husband showed little empathy with her strange condition.

He no longer respected their marriage any more. And then the unexpected happened — he decided to send her away.

Kagonga, who was having suicidal thoughts, travelled to her rural home in Vihiga, Western Kenya so she could die there.

She wanted to kill her children then take her own life because she didn’t want them to suffer in her absence.

“In 2015, I saw someone on TV talking about signs and symptoms of cervical cancer. That's when I thought of myself and knew that it was serious,” she said.

She got the courage to visit a nearby hospital, where she was informed that she had cancer that had advanced to Stage 4.

“The news was difficult for my family as most of them thought I was going to die the next minute, while others said it was witchcraft,”  she recalls. 

COSTLY TREATMENT

Kagonga was referred to Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi for chemotherapy, radiotherapy and other treatment that she needed. 

“When I went to KNH, I was told to pay Sh13,000 for a biopsy, an amount of money I didn’t have, yet my treatment was urgent,” she said.  

“Most of the time, I would sleep on the corridors for lack of transport. No food, no support.” 

Most of the patients she slept alongside on the corridors in 2017 have since died, she said. And life was not any easier back home. 

“I was stigmatised at my place to the extent I could not share a bathroom because most of them feared that I could infect them,” she said. 

Her battle with cancer empowered her with knowledge of the problem. She is now using it to encourage other women to go for their regular check-ups and to support anyone needing help when they get the disease through a Symbol of Hope support group.

The latest report by the World Health Organisation showed a global cancer burden amidst a mounting need for services.

In 2022, there were an estimated 20 million new cancer cases and 9.7 million deaths. The estimated number of people who were alive within five years following a cancer diagnosis was 53.5 million.

About one in five people develop cancer in their lifetime. One in nine men and one in 12 women die from the disease.

Lung cancer was the leading cause of cancer death (1.8 million deaths) followed by colorectal cancer (900,000 deaths), liver cancer (760,000 deaths), breast cancer (670,000 deaths) and stomach cancer (660,000 deaths).

The most commonly diagnosed cancer and leading cause of cancer deaths was breast cancer for women and lung cancer for men.

Breast cancer was the most common cancer in women in most countries.

For men, prostate and colorectal cancers were the second and third most commonly occurring cancers, while liver and colorectal cancers were the second and third most common causes of cancer death. 

More than 35 million new cancer cases are predicted in 2050, a 77 per cent increase from the estimated 20 million cases in 2022.

The rapidly growing global cancer burden reflects both population ageing and growth, as well as changes to people’s exposure to risk factors.

Tobacco, alcohol and obesity are key factors behind the increasing incidence of cancer, with air pollution still a key driver of environmental risk factors.

WHY CASES ARE RISING

Radiation oncologist Dr Dulcie Wanda attributes the rising cases to a sedentary lifestyle.

“People are sitting more, exercising less and consuming more processed foods,” she said.

“We are in a situation where our lifestyle is more of alcohol, cigarette smoking and an ageing population.”

Despite the worrying statistics by WHO, Dr Wanda is optimistic that Kenya is doing better as the country is making progress in terms of early detection through screening. 

She said the statistics should serve as a wake-up call to tell that there is a risk that a large population could have cancer but we can do something about it.

“It is my feeling that we are getting better at diagnosis, meaning we will catch most of these cancers at an early stage if we do the right things. For example, going for screening,” she said.

Award-winning cancer control leader David Makumi said at least 70 people die every day from cancer in Kenya, showing how heavy the cancer burden is, especially in Kenya.

“We need to rethink our strategies to deal with cancer more importantly on public education and awareness, and also addressing cancers that can be prevented,” Makumi said.  

“We can do something when it comes to prompt treatment of early signs, so early diagnosis is key for all of those cancers.”   

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Cancer is the third-leading cause of death in Kenya after infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases.

According to Globocan estimates in 2020, the annual incidence of cancer was 42,116, with 27,092 deaths; and the number of prevalence cases (five-year) was 82,620.

This was reported as 54,156 cases among men and 28,464 cases among women.

The five most common cancers in Kenya are breast, cervical, prostate, oesophageal and colorectal. Women are disproportionately affected by cancer, with a higher incidence recorded in women as compared to men. 

The risk of developing cancer before the age of 75 years in Kenya is 18 per cent among women and 14.3 per cent among men.

Speaking during the first-ever National Cancer Summit organised by the National Cancer Institute, Health CS Susan Nakhumicha noted that nine women die every day due to cervical cancer.

“In 2020, Kenya reported 42,000 new cancer cases and 27,000 cancer-related deaths,” she said.

Going by the current trends, it is projected that there will be an estimated 58,000 new cancer cases in Kenya in 2028.

They will increase to an estimated 95,217 incident cases by 2040 due to population growth, increased life expectancy, urbanisation and an increase in risk factors for cancer.

Kenya is a signatory to several global commitments on cancer, which call for integration and scaling up of national cancer prevention and control efforts as part of national responses, in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.

The National Cancer Control Strategic Plan 2023-27 focuses towards cancer prevention, strengthening primary-based healthcare and community health interventions as well as digitalisation of cancer services.

It operationalies the Kenya Cancer Policy 2019-30 and also outlines various guidelines that will need to be formulated by the Ministry of Health for use across the cancer care continuum.

The mission of the plan is to implement a coordinated and responsive cancer control framework that leads to reduced morbidity and mortality and improves the experiences and quality of life of patients living with cancer by 2028.

The ultimate goal is to reduce premature mortality from cancer in Kenya by a third by the same year. The components of cancer control are: prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment and palliative care. 

The National Assembly recently passed the Cancer Prevention and Control (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which adopts e-health and telemedicine in the management of cancer.

The bill also provides for the training of all health cadres in oncology. This will guarantee the provision of quality oncology services for all Kenyans. It further integrates cancer care as a component of primary health care.