My yearlong battle and win against cervical cancer

Christine Nyambura, 55, is cancer-free. And though dealing with arthritis now, she insists that it is a walk in the park compared to fighting cancer. 

I learnt that I had cervical cancer in 2008. It had all started with heavy bleeding that left me anaemic. At first, I did not know what was happening to me. I remember noticing drops of blood in my urine in January and four months later, I was bleeding heavily and passing blood instead of urine. I also suffered persistent headaches. I visited dispensaries where I bought painkillers to relieve my headache. However, the bleeding did not stop.

Five months later, I checked myself into Marie Stopes with very high blood pressure. I also had terrible abdominal pains. An abdominal scan revealed swellings inside my abdomen that were filled with a fluid. Medics at the facility examined some tissues that were drawn from the swellings and told me that I had cervical cancer. It was a shocking revelation to me. I had heard of how deadly cancer was and at that point, I thought I was condemned to die.

A hysterectomy

The option they gave me to treat the cancer was even stranger. They told me that to live, my uterus had to be removed. To me, that was unacceptable. I could not conceive the possibility of walking around without a uterus. I thought my stomach would become void and that I would not be a normal woman again. It also meant that I would not be able to bear children any more. Though I was 45 and already had four children, I had not decided that I did not want any more children. I told the medics that I wanted to keep my uterus. The alternative was to go for monthly medication that I paid Sh3, 000 for. This relieved my abdominal pains but the bleeding did not stop.

I had to undergo counselling to prepare me for surgery to remove the uterus. I learnt that there were women who had their organs removed before they could have any children so I started counting myself lucky. The procedure was eventually done at Kikuyu Hospital. It cost Sh60, 000 for the operation.

Post-surgery complications

I was instructed to take a lot of water and to go for clinics every two weeks where progress of my recovery was to be monitored.

But two weeks after the surgery, I woke up to find myself in a pool of urine. I did not know when that happened. From that time, it became difficult for me to control bladder. I went back to the hospital where the doctors admitted that the operation had gone wrong. For a long while, I used adult diapers to avoid embarrassing myself in public. I was still battling high blood pressure when I went back to the hospital for a surgery to insert a urinary catheter to regulate my urine flow.

I later underwent a third surgery to correct the first faulty operation. The numerous operations also made me develop infections inside my abdomen that caused persistent abdominal pains. At some point, a scan revealed that I had burn patches inside my abdomen. I also developed the fluid-filled lumps I had earlier in my abdomen.

All that happened in one year. In the next three years up to 2011, all I had to do was attend clinics at Nairobi Women’s Hospital. Before the end of 2011, I was declared cancer free.

Getting a clean bill of health is still the best news I have ever received in life. At home, every penny had gone towards my medication. My second hand clothes business had also stalled as I went through the rigorous medication process. But my happiness was short-lived when I started experiencing more strange ailments, barely months after I was declared cancer-free.

First, I felt a sharp pain in my right knee and it was a task to walk. Other than the pain and inflexibility in my joints, I was fine. In the hospital, a scan showed a fluid build-up in the knee. They diagnosed it as arthritis. And prescribed acupuncture to drain the fluid.

Today, I go for physiotherapy sessions twice weekly. Though I can’t perform heavy tasks or walk for long distances, I have been greatly relieved of pain in my knee joints. What is now left is the little friction I feel when I try to stand. I also raise my arms with caution because of the pain I sometimes feel in my shoulder joints.

Given that I battled cervical cancer and won the battle, I find it easy to manage arthritis. It is as easy as sticking to the doctors’ appointments, taking medicine religiously and exercising. I am also glad that I joined various health support groups where friends encouraged me to take on my diseases with courage.