If a cough lasts more than 7 days, see a doctor — Bob Collymore’s widow advises men

Wambui Collymore, widow of former Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore, this week advised men not to ignore symptoms when they are unwell.

While marking the World Cancer Day 2020, Wambui said there is nothing manly about ‘remaining strong’ when the body is not well.

In a special message to men, she said trips to the doctor should not be something to be ashamed of.

“*Men* If a cough lasts more than 7 days, go see a doctor. If something just doesn't feel right about your body, go see a doctor. Night sweats, go see a doctor.

“There is nothing manly about ignoring symptoms that your body is not well,” she said.

Adding: “Also, exercise for the body you want to live in - not for the body you want to be in. If you get diagnosed with a serious illness, your body has a greater fighting chance if you exercise regularly.”

Wambui lost her husband Collymore to cancer in 2019.

Many will recall the day Bob settled on the couch to talk with Citizen TV’s Jeff Koinange about his fight with leukemia, a type of cancer that affects the blood cells.

He said that it all began with flu-like symptoms, pain in the bones that would later develop into malaria-like symptoms.

“I had been feeling unwell for some time. I noticed a strange thing…I noticed a pain in the bones of my shin, which is not something you experience unless you kick something hard,” said Collymore, while speaking about symptoms.

He said that he was treated for Vitamin D deficiency, perhaps because the doctor may have thought that such is the problem associated with bone pains.

Having done over 30 tests at a cost of Sh100,000 at Nairobi Hospital under the attention of Dr David Silverstein, Collymore opted to fly to UK to get further diagnosis and treatment.

In the UK, a hematologist diagnosed him with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, a rare, but curable type of cancer.

He said he wasn’t disturbed by the news because he had to live with the reality that leukemia was a stubborn form of cancer but he could not afford to sit pretty as it advanced fast.