I struggled with the problem for over 5 years before it was detected as male breast cancer towards the end of 2020. Then I was referred to our only Cancer Disease Hospital in Lusaka. By then, I was far from Ndola City, which is 318 km away. I was then brought to Ndola city, which has a teaching hospital, by my former employer for easy access to a larger hospital.
The Cancer Disease Hospital did their investigations and verified that the tumor near my right breast cancer at stage 2. On 31st December 2020, I had my first chemotherapy treatment. I was put on 8 sessions of chemotherapy every 2 weeks. Sometimes it was difficult to access chemotherapy treatment, mainly for 2 specific reasons, and these were:
– Shortage of drugs
– Low immunity levels.
But by October 2021, I was done with chemotherapy.
I was supposed to start radiotherapy, but I couldn’t; the equipment couldn’t withstand the pressure, it kept breaking down almost every week.
I was booked for surgery in December 2021, and I was in the hospital for a day, but they couldn’t do the surgery due to a lack of some theatre drugs. I was called back in April 2022 and started preparing for surgery again. On the 9th of June 2022, I was operated on.
I still couldn’t do radiotherapy because the equipment got worse. Some patients who were in critical condition were being taken to the neighboring country of Tanzania. By August 2022, I was put on Tamoxifen, which I will take daily for a minimum of 5 years.
It was during this time that I met our Country Male Breast Cancer Ambassador, Mr. Boaz Musamvu. I was in Lusaka for a week because the hospital had run out of drugs, and I received only 10 drugs, not the usual 100 I collect quarterly. I ended up just buying them from a private pharmaceutical store.
This is my journey as a cancer survivor. I have a lot of food which I have been advised to stay away from, such as processed meat, dairy products, sugar, and many more. In the last 9 months, I have been having challenges with my feet swelling. I have a lot of laboratory tests here in Ndola, where I stay, and in Lusaka from the Cancer Disease Hospital. Some tests I couldn’t do last week due to financial constraints. Otherwise, that is my story, and I am happy to be part of the group and willing to learn from you as well.