Joyce is a young, 32-year-old mother of three from Kenya. She lives in a single roomed house with her family in a slum outside of Nairobi. Her husband works at a construction site in Nairobi and this is where he gets money for the upkeep of his family.
In December 2014, Joyce felt a lump on her breast and came to Kijabe hospital for a checkup. She was referred to a different facility for chemotherapy. Having finished the sessions, she now requires a mastectomy but is unable to raise the amount needed.
During the chemotherapy sessions, Joyce used to walk from one place to another and would ask people to contribute to her treatment, and that is how she raised the funds to meet the cost.
As she lives with cancer, Joyce has not been able to attend to her work as a beauty salonist consistently due to pain, and attending previous chemotheraphy sessions that caused her fatigue. If not treated, Joyce is at risk of having the cancer spread to other parts of her body, which might result in premature death.
After treatment, the risk of cancer spreading to other parts of Joyce’s body will be lowered which might have caused death. Joyce will be able to attend to her work at the beauty salon and take care of her family.
“I want to be free from cancer and have a long life so that I can raise my children,” Joyce said.