Cancer

Sex & Relationships
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Good morning from Wajir. Ever heard someone saying “from pain to purpose ?”

Years ago, when I was diagnosed with blood cancer (Leukemia), I was told it was a childhood cancer rare in adults. Doctors gave me six months to live. Two years later, I was diagnosed again, this time with several brain tumors. I traveled to India for a bone marrow transplant, and for a moment, remission gave me hope… until the monster returned. I was told there was nothing more that could be done this time, I had two weeks. Funny how the time frame shifted.
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I was broken, frustrated, and out of strength. Then came the hardest battle yet, a severe mental breakdown. Mathari Mental Hospital became home for a while, and just when I was finding my feet again, life threw another curveball; a heart condition called cardiomyopathy(makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood effectively to the rest of the body) that came as a side effect of the cancer treatment. Once again, I found myself back to severe treatment, and even after surgery, I was told my heart could stop at any time. I stopped living just waiting for the end.

Then came palliative Care; at first, I thought it meant the end of the road, but now I know better. It was the beginning of understanding life beyond the pain.Two years ago, I volunteered for a clinical trial (CAR T-cell therapy) a revolutionary treatment that uses your own immune cells to fight cancer. I said, “If it works, it’s a win. If it doesn’t, it’s still a win, because no one else will have to go through what I did.” And here I am still waiting to know if it worked ha!, but in the meantime, still smiling, still standing, and still being the voice for children, teens, and young adults battling cancer.

This journey hasn’t been easy (wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy) it’s been filled with pain, loss, and countless goodbyes. But in the middle of it all, I found my purpose. To give hope, to spread love, to remind the world that no one deserves to walk this journey alone.
Because even when life breaks you down, you can rise again stronger, gentler, and full of courage.

I’m here to let you know that, No matter how heavy the journey feels, don’t give up you are not alone, and there is always hope shining through the darkest days.

Regards,
Catherine Wambugu .

#14DaysofHOPE #ride4kidswithcancer #cancerawareness

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My Guka lived with what doctors called arthritis for more than 20 years.
By the time they found out it was cancer, it was already stage four…

I watched cancer eat him slowly..

but what broke me was how fast he weakened once they started the treatments

those big machines, those drugs that were supposed to save him.
Every session drained something from him, not just his strength, but his light..

They said the chemotherapy was fighting for him,
but it looked like it was fighting him.
Because chemo doesn’t only kill cancer,it attacks the immune system,
the very body that’s trying to fight back.
Yes, it shrinks tumors,
but it can also silence the body’s natural defenses..
trading short term tumor reduction for long term exhaustion…

And while he grew weaker, the bills grew stronger.
We watched decades of work disappear into hospital accounts and drug names we could barely pronounce…
and in the end, he didn’t survive…

I’m an overthinker..I started wondering why the cancer industry is worth over 200 billion dollars a year .why do families go bankrupt chasing a cure that still kills more than it saves ?
How can healing cost this much

Maybe the real disease isn’t only in the body

maybe it’s in the system that profits from our pain…
A system that calls it “care” while turning patients into customers.
Where every drip and pill is a product
and every heartbeat is a billable moment.
My grandfather’s story isn’t rare.
It’s the quiet truth in too many homes…
you fight, you pray, you pay and you still lose at the end ..

My Guka did not survive more than 6 months after we started those cancer medications..

Because when treatment becomes a career,
patients stop being people..
they become clients

The ones who continue the treatment rarely survive
The ones that accept and discontinue the treatment
They go home.
They eat their favorite food.
They sit in the sun, tell old stories, hold their grandchildren tighter.
And somehow, months pass, then years.
They outlive the timeline written on paper…

“Have you ever watched someone you love fade not from the disease but from the treatment?”

If you have, you know why we need to talk about this…

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