Rahab is a 38-year-old teacher who lives with her husband and two children—ages eight years and 10 months—in their two-room rental home in Kenya.
“Rahab felt a lump on her right breast and went to a hospital for diagnosis in March 2015,” our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), tells us. “After a biopsy, Rahab was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had to stop breastfeeding as she started chemotherapy sessions.”
Now, “Rahab has a lump on her left breast,” continues AMHF. “She feels some pain even after chemotherapy sessions.”
Rahab and her husband, who is also a teacher, have drained their savings to pay for her chemotherapy, and they have had to rely on loans from their friends to continue treatment. Because Rahab is unable to breastfeed her 10-month-old baby, the family has had to purchase formula, which is expensive.
Rahab’s doctors have recommended that she undergo a bilateral mastectomy. While she is physically and emotionally prepared for the procedure, she is not able to raise enough money to pay for it. Without surgery, “The risk of cancer spreading to other parts of Rahab’s body will be high,” explains AMHF. “This might result in premature death.”
$740 pays for a mastectomy for Rahab as well as the costs of six days of hospital care, pain medicine, and blood tests.
“After this surgery, chances of cancer spreading to other parts of Rahab’s body will be reduced,” says AMHF.
Rahab looks forward to a successful operation. “I want to get well and live long enough to raise my little children,” she shares.