Your sore throat could be a sign of cancer

Doctors say symptoms may be similar to those of other diseases making it hard to pick abnormal cells growth, writes Elizabeth Mwai

Do you know that your sore throat could be a sign of cancer?

Perhaps you have been ailing from heartburn for the past few weeks and consider it could be from something you ate yet it could be cancer.

Have you been suffering from a persistent cough for the past two weeks and it just won’t go away despite taking medication for ait?

Have you suffered from a sudden loss of voice and you assume it’s a normal occurrenc?

Have you felt a lump in any part of your body but are assuming you bumped into an object unknowingly?

Well, the shocker is that all the above symptoms could be pointers to cancer of one type or another.

According to Kipkoech Siele, the Kenya Cancer Association Board Strategic Advisor, the symptoms for cancer are not so obvious but there are tell tale signs that a person should look out for.

As a man, if you are 45 years and, when passing urine, you experience pain or feel that your urethra is blocked or if your stool has blood traces, this is a warning sign.

Siele says most men are diagnosed with prostate cancer when already in a wheel chair.

He asks Kenyans to cultivate a culture of regular checkups so that any unusual symptoms that one may have will be attended to by a qualified doctor.

For instance, he observes, if you suffer from a persistent cough for two weeks, you should go to hospital.

As a mother of seven, Agnes Mwikali did not have a reason to worry when she conceived for the eighth time. However, something unusual happened when she went to deliver at a local hospital — she miscarried.

Soon after, she started bleeding heavily and this went on and off for two years.

She was in and out of hospital and relied on various prescriptions, but her condition did not improve.

It is only after her bleeding declined to cease that a doctor suggested a pap smear. The mother of seven was diagnosed with cervical cancer.

Unfortunately, it was too late for her since it had advanced. She succumbed to cancer last week on Monday.

Mwikali adds to the statistics of the number of Kenyans whose lives are claimed by misdiagnosis of cancer, which is the leading killer, deadly than Aids and malaria combined.

The story of Latoya Wanjiru, a four-year-old girl who is currently admitted at Gertrude Hospital, Muthaiga and in dire need of blood, further elaborates the status of cancer diagnosis in the county.

When Latoya Wanjiru suffered from tonsils in January last year, the medics in Githurai and Kasarani prescribed antibiotics.

The antibiotics suppressed the throat infection.

Her mother, Lissah Muriithi, says she hopped from one hospital to another as her daughter’s condition worsened.

Finally at the fifth facility, which was Gertrude’s Children Hospital, the life-shattering prognosis was made. Little Latoya was suffering from leukemia — cancer of the blood — not tonsils.

Latoya is currently battling with cancer, which requires that she undergo chemotherapy every two weeks.

A weekly doctor’s consultation and blood tests costs Sh4,000 translating into Sh12,000 per month.

Add to this the cost of chemotherapy and the total cost comes to Sh112,000 per month.

According to Siele, some of these cancer deaths are needless as some survivors go to the hospital before the disease progresses but are treated for other ailments,

He reckons that, if a medic is unable to resolve a patients ailment for more than two months they should refer the patient to another specialist.

Siele points out that some unethical medics will use this opportunity to milk the patient off every penny.

"As a patient, if you see a doctor for eight weeks and you are not responding to treatment, it is important that you seek a second opinion," Siele advises.

The Public Health Head of Disease Control, Dr Willis Akhwale, observes that the major problem facing the country as far as diagnosis of cancer is concerned is lack of equipment.

Akhwale says in the current financial year, Minister of Finance Uhuru Kenyatta allocated Sh150 million to boost cancer screening.

He noted that this was the first time the Government had allocated funds to go towards cancer screening.

This, he explains, was because cancer had always been classified as a non communicable disease and hence had never been taken seriously.

However, given the rate at which cancer is claiming lives, Akhwale says cancer has now become top on the health agenda.

The disease expert explains that the money budgeted for cancer will be utilised to purchase screening equipments that will be distributed countrywide.

Currently Akhwale says, there are inadequate cancer screening equipment and the few existing ones are both inaccessible and expensive.

Akhwale discloses that the Government has already floated the tender and are in the technical stage of evaluating and awarding the contract, which is likely to be done later this month or the next one.

This means that the screening equipments can be expected in the country early next year.

Even then, Akhwale says the equipment will only cater for two types of cancer, which are cervical, and breast owing to the fact that they are common.

This means that the country will have to inject more funds into the next budget to go towards diversifying the equipment required for cancer screening.

Otherwise with the country having more than ten different types of common cancers, the effort to focus on two will be like a drop in the ocean.