An idle uterus is a fibroid’s workshop

Doctor in white medical lab coat shows and indicates to the patient the uterus. [Courtesy]

Jacinta Mueni, a mother of two from Machakos County, started experiencing heavy bleeding at 49. She could not bend, wear her favourite skirt. Her stomach was growing bigger and painful by the day. Simple chores like doing laundry or cleaning her house was an uphill task.

Little did she know that she had fibroids, those non-cancerous growths on the smooth muscles of the womb caused by the estrogen hormones in a woman’s body. Mueni’s menses, heavy and clotty, lasted more than two weeks. The gynecologist confirmed she not only had fibroids, but cervical cancer as well. Mueni, now 60, was devastated.