Lecturer's unyielding battle with four types of cancer

Jane Frances, a 58-year-old lecturer, was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer in 2014, a rare and aggressive form of the disease.

She did not know that the diagnosis would mark the beginning of a decade-long battle with cancer.

The lecturer is still battling not just one, but four different types of cancer, each time facing the reality of costly, extensive treatment in her quest to avoid death. No wonder she credits her survival to divine intervention.

“I have had more than four types of cancer, but God has been faithful,” says Frances.

Unlike other types of breast cancer, triple-negative does not respond to hormonal therapy, making treatment options limited and often more aggressive.

Frances’s cancer was diagnosed at stage 3B, an advanced stage where the cancer had already begun to spread.

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Despite the late diagnosis and the aggressive nature of the disease, Frances says she fought through surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, and, for several years, she believed she had recovered from the disease.

However, her journey to recovery was cut short in 2021, during the Covid 19 pandemic.

She tells The Standard that after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, she was diagnosed with endometrial cancer, which had spread to her left ovary, lungs, and liver.

The recurrence of cancer, now in multiple forms and locations, was devastating.

“These last two years have been very difficult, trying to contain what is called metastasis, or the spread of cancer to different organs of the body, and it has been a constant battle,” says Frances.

The cancer has caused her a lot of complications, she painfully explains the current symptoms she faces.

According to her, the tumour in her left ovary has grown so large that it has affected her kidneys, uterus, bladder, and even her lower colon.

“I am having a lot of pain, and really struggling to pee, so I have to go to the doctor to get medications to push the urine, so it’s just coming in small drops, and much of it remains, causing a lot of pain,” she says.

The blockage has also caused blood in her urine.

“The cancer has affected my heart as well, because the sepsis caused by the blockage spreads throughout the body, weakening the heart. I can’t speak for long because I get tired very easily.”

Frances’s battle with cancer has profoundly impacted every aspect of her life, especially her career.

“My movement has become very limited nowadays because of my health condition. When you have issues with kidney and urine incontinence, you can’t even go to the public, sometimes things happen in public and it is really embarrassing,” says Frances.

Before her diagnosis, Frances was a lecturer at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, juggling her responsibilities with part-time positions in other institutions such as the University of Nairobi and Moi University.

But the rigours of cancer treatment forced her to take a leave of absence.

“My doctor recommended that I take a break from teaching. Cancer thrives on stress, and the demands of teaching and pursuing a PhD were too much to handle alongside my treatment,” she says.

While her work colleagues offered some support, Frances’s battle with cancer has largely been fought with the help of her family, friends, church members, and a few professional groups.

Financially, she says the journey has been incredibly challenging. Cancer treatment is expensive, and she has been forced to sell most of her assets, to fund her treatment.

“I had to sell property to afford treatment, that includes all the plots I acquired when working. Right now. I am currently living in my late mother’s house,” she says.

According to her, the cost of cancer treatment in the country is prohibitively expensive, despite having the insurance cover.

While the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) provided some coverage, it was far from enough. For example, in 2014, NHIF covered only Sh7,000 for her treatment at Aga Khan University Hospital. The situation improved slightly in 2021, but the coverage was still inadequate, given the high cost of cancer treatment.

With the shift from NHIF to Social Health Authority (SHA) and the underlying convoluted nature of communication and confusion, she is hoping while waiting to see what the new scheme presents her with.

For now, she relies on a special insurance scheme for retired officers, but even this has its limitations.

“Most of the time, once you have a chronic condition, most insurances don’t take you. So, when you want to access the cancer treatment, there are so many limits that are put,” Frances says.

For instance, one of the hormonal therapies she needs to stop the spread of endometrial cancer costs Sh800,000 per session, every three weeks. It’s a price she simply cannot afford, leaving her with limited options.

“In a month, I spend over Sh200,000 on medication alone. This does not include hormonal therapy, which I can’t afford. If I could afford everything, I would need over a million shillings a month for at least two years to keep the cancer under control,” she explains.

Frances’s treatment involves a team of specialists, including a surgical oncologist, a medical oncologist, and a radiotherapy oncologist.

At different times, she has also required the expertise of a urologist, a nephrologist, and a cardiologist, especially when the cancer or its treatment affects her organs.

The financial burden of seeing these specialists, combined with the cost of medication and hospital visits, she says, is overwhelming.

“Cancer is a real burden, both psychologically and physically. The chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments are toxic. They kill not only the cancer cells but also the good cells, which weakens your body and makes it difficult to recover,” says Frances.

Despite all of this, Frances remains strong in her faith and she believes that her survival is a testament to God’s grace.

However, she acknowledges that living with cancer is like living on borrowed time. “You are just managing it, you are not treating it to be cured. You just keep managing it if you want to survive a bit longer,” says Frances.