Battling cancer in life and death

This week, we pay tribute to a few women who have faced cancer and even if they lost the battle, their lives continue to inspire.

“I have a brand new car parked outside that can’t do anything for me. I have all kinds of designer clothes, shoes and bags that can’t do anything for me.

I have money in my account that can’t do anything for me. I have a big, well-furnished house that can’t do anything for me. Look, I’m lying here in a twin size hospital bed; I can take a plane any day of the week if I like but that can’t do anything for me ... So do not let anyone make you feel bad for the things you don’t have – but the things you have, be happy with those; if you have a roof over your head, who cares what kind of furniture is in it? The most important thing in life is LOVE. Lastly, make sure you enjoy the ones you love.”

These are the words of internationally renown fashion blogger Kyrazayda Rodriguez. She posted them on her Instagram page a few days before she died of stomach cancer on September 9 this year.

She had battled stage four cancer for 10 months.

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Weeks to her death, Ms. Rodriguez, who hailed from the Dominican Republican, announced that she would discontinue her treatment because it was not improving her well-being.

“The chemo and radiation … is not working the way I hoped it would,” she said. “I have decided to stop these treatments so that I can enjoy the rest of my time with my friends and family and to be as pain-free as possible.”

Ms. Rodriguez represents a host of women who braved aggravated cancer diagnosis and who sought to live their lives to the fullest despite the circumstance.

For example, despite losing her hair, Ms. Rodriguez refused to cover her head with a wig. “I wanted people to see me as I am. I wanted to share my journey and battle, and in the process inspire others who are also fighting it,” she said. “You can only beat cancer by how you live, why you live and in the manner in which you live.”

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, but the illness and eventual passing away of Ms. Rodriguez has gone on to bring to attention other types of cancer that women face. And she is not the only woman battled against other forms of cancer.

JANET KANINI IKUA

Janet Kanini Ikua was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer on September 15, 2015. Her father had earlier died from lung cancer.

While speaking to the media in a series of events that were held to aid Janet’s medical fund, her husband George Ikua revealed that following the diagnosis, Janet was given one to five years to live.

It all began when Janet started to complain about pain in her leg. A few weeks later, she started to feel fatigued when going upstairs. While at the hospital with her ailing son, she decided to get a check-up that revealed that she had a clot in her heart.

The blood clots became recurrent, and after suffering a blood clot in her leg, her husband advised that they should seek treatment in India.

After numerous tests in India, Janet was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. In an interview with Parents magazine, Janet said that her cancer was qualified as stage four because of lesions in her lungs.

“My lungs were the primary site for the cancer. It had spread to the lymph nodes, the abdomen, the liver and the bones, qualifying to be stage four cancer,’ she said. Following the diagnosis, she was told that her life was now dependent on her mental strength, chemotherapy and healthy diet. And mental strength she had. Being diagnosed did not deter Janet from going public.

“I’m grateful that being a media personality helped me reach many patients and caregivers,” she said to the media. Despite improvements in her health, Janet suffered reoccurrence.

“You’re counting your days until you die… How do you want to go out? Do you want to go out miserable, wishing or do you want to prepare yourself in such a way that even spiritually you’re ready to go to heaven,” she told TV presenter Victoria Rubadiri. On April 1, 2017, two years after she was diagnosed, she succumbed to cancer.

WANGARI MAATHAI

The late Nobel laureate succumbed to ovarian cancer on September 25, 2011.

Wangari, who died at the age of 71, had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer in July 2010. The Kenyan environmentalist was not ready to share her struggle and fight with cancer.

Her treatment following the diagnosis was a highly guarded secret. She did not want to make the public apprehensive by discussing her condition openly.

“She did not want to disclose to anyone about her condition. Her life was full of activity and she preferred to keep it that way even when she was feeling unwell,” her colleague and longtime friend Professor Verstistine Mbaya told the media following her death.

Despite being close to Wangari, Prof. Mbaya had only learned about her ailment a few months to her death. But perhaps the signs were there that she was not well.

For example, after her diagnosis, she cut down on her public appearances. Her voice also sounded weaker than usual.

Among Kenyans, this was ironical since the country was going through a constitutional transformation and she was naturally expected to be vocal on such national matters.

ARETHA FRANKLIN

The Queen of Soul died on August 16 at the age of 76. She had been battling pancreatic cancer for a few years. This was the same cancer that software company Apple’s pioneer founder Steve Jobs had died from.

Unlike Steve Jobs who came out to speak on his cancer diagnosis, though, Aretha chose to fight her battle in private after her diagnosis in 2010.

She continued to perform until February 2017 when she announced that she would be retiring after a flourishing career that spanned six decades.

In November 2017, Aretha was forced to come out and refute a death hoax that had gone viral on Twitter. “I’m doing well generally. All tests have come back good.

I’ve lost a lot of weight due to side effects of medicine, it affects your weight,” she said. But facing pancreatic cancer was not the first cancer battle that Ms Franklin had confronted on a personal level. In 1989, she had lost her brother to lung cancer, barely a year after losing her sister to breast cancer.

In 2002, her elder sister died of throat cancer. 

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The women who beat breast cancer…

BETH MUGO

In January 2012, veteran politician Beth Mugo announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Ms. Mugo went on to state that her cancerous lump had been successfully removed through surgery.

Ms. Mugo had been diagnosed with breast cancer during a routine medical check-up by her physician, Dr. Robert Mathenge.

“The cancerous tumor has beem removed through surgery. The remaining treatment is only procedural to prevent any further reoccurrence,” Dr. Mathenge said after her treatment.

Following her diagnosis, Ms. Mugo was hesitant to go public, but eventually made the choice to speak up.

“When I went public, I wondered if it was the right thing to do. But it was. Going public about cancer helps reduce the stigma associated with it,” Ms. Mugo said in a meeting of 12 first ladies that was held in July 2015.

She revealed that although she had been feeling a lump in her breast, a mammogram test had initially missed it. She then sought a follow-up CT scan that revealed the tumour.

ANGELINA JOLIE

The Hollywood star decided to take matters into her own hands and nip breast and ovarian cancers in the bud.

In 2013, Ms. Jolie decided to get tested for a genetic mutation which heightens the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.

The results from this test showed that she was 87 per cent likely to develop breast cancer and 50 per cent likely to get ovarian cancer.

This discovery pushed Ms. Jolie to undergo a preventative double mastectomy in 2013. In March 2015, she had a preventative surgery that removed her ovaries and fallopian tubes.

DARLENE ZSCHECH

Ms. Zschech, who is a globally acclaimed gospel singer, was diagnosed with breast cancer on December 11, 2013 during a routine mammogram test. She was 48.

The diagnosis sparked fears that breast cancer might put her down, especially since her father had died of cancer aged 50.

“I had that nagging in the back of my head all the time, so one minute I was great, and the next minute I was sobbing,” she said in an interview with Joyce Meyer. Four months after her diagnosis, Ms. Zschech finished her chemotherapy and started a fresh six-week round of radiation treatment.

She documents her struggle thus: “There are days, I still can’t put words to it, and I still get quite teary, it’s a frightening thing,” she says.