DAD STORIES: I'm grateful my father won his battle with cancer
Beatrice Nyaguthi Maina (left), and her parents Ephraim Nderitu Maina and Susan Wangu. PHOTOS | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- In 2013, he was diagnosed with appendicitis and he had to undergo an appendectomy.
- After colonoscopy was done, it was confirmed that he had stage 2 cancer and he was immediately put on medication.
- The treatment was tough.
- Follow #DadStoriesKE for more stories like these or visit this Father's Day 2018 link.
From teaching us to do new things, to comforting us when we're down, to working hard to ensure we have everything we need in life, dads are there to show us they care.
Whether they're related by blood or not, the father figures in our lives can be real-life everyday superheroes that we are lucky to have.
With Father’s Day around the corner, Beatrice Nyaguthii Maina, 26, has a reason to celebrate her dad who is a colon cancer survivor.
“We have always been a close-knit and modest family. I grew up in the greatest of homes with a really great dad; he is a good man, a really simple man. Our home is in the outskirts of Nanyuki Town. My father, Ephraim Nderitu Maina, is a KDF soldier,” says Beatrice.
COLON CANCER
In mid-2012 when Ephraim was 46 years old, he started having frequent stomach pains. They all thought it was normal and the pain would subside with time.
But in 2013 he was diagnosed with appendicitis, and he had to undergo an appendectomy. He recuperated, but stomach pains persisted. Being a man, he tried to ignore everything and kept working and providing for his family.
“After a while, we thought that perhaps the wounds had not healed properly. He went back to hospital and was admitted because the doctors said he had less blood. Some more tests were done and the results revealed there was a growth in his colon”.
On January 1, 2014, Ephraim was referred to Nairobi for intensive care. His family did not have anything to celebrate during the festivities as they watched him battle with unbearable pain.
After colonoscopy was done, it was confirmed that he had stage 2 cancer and he was immediately put on medication.
“I remember receiving that news and that was one of the hardest moments in our lives. We had to change our diet as a family to accommodate the diet that was recommended by his doctors. My mother Susan Wangu had to close her boutique business so that she could care for him and give him all her attention.
“It got to a point where my dad thought he would not survive. We later found out that he had even written his will during this period. It was that bad,” recalls Beatrice.
Ephraim underwent a delicate 12-hour surgery at MP Shah Hospital in Nairobi. The doctors had told his family that the procedure would take six hours. He was transfused with up to six pints of blood. All hospitals bills were paid by the KDF and this relieved the family of the heavy load on their shoulders. Beatrice admits that this were the longest and darkest hours of her life.
TREATMENT
Her father remained strong and fought for a second chance and the chemotherapy sessions started at both MP Shah and Memorial hospitals. It was a traumatising ordeal for his family to see him in so much pain. The treatment was tough; he had months and months of chemotherapy sessions and it became a routine.
He was unable to hold anything metallic as part of the side effects of chemotherapy is shock. He had to use plastic utensils and could not open a door by himself. It was even worse when he was rained on. Ephraim lost his hair and slightly more than 20kgs.
“My graduation at Kimathi University was around that time and we all couldn't attend it for he was going for his chemo sessions and we had no option but to be there for him. It [graduation] was the least of my priorities at that time,” Beatrice says.
“I thank God all the eight sessions of chemotherapy were successful. He became stronger with time and I am so glad I can share his story as a testimony to give hope to all people suffering from cancer that it can be fought and survived.”
After three years, Ephraim was declared cancer free. He got a second chance and he now lives life to the fullest. He spends more time with the family and is always in high spirits, ready to help and give advice where he can.
Beatrice thanks God for giving her father a second chance. She says her father is her best friend and greatest role model, an amazing dad, a coach, mentor, soldier, husband and friend.
“I want to congratulate all the men out there who are working diligently to be good fathers whether they are stepfathers, or biological fathers, or just spiritual fathers. Happy Father’s Day dad, I will forever cherish you.”
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Follow #DadStoriesKE for more stories like these or visit this Father's Day 2018 link.
What would you like your dad to know this Father’s Day? Can you say it in 800 words? Email: [email protected]
