Yvonne, 13years old was born like any other child and grew up with no major illness affecting her early childhood.
When you meet her at Nyeri Palliative Care Unit (PCU), her pretty young face filled with a bright smile will keep you jovial but it is until she narrates a story of her battle with blood cancer that you will realize that she is not just an ordinary girl.
At age 12, she started experiencing shortness of breath and fatigue when involved in simple activities including playing with friends. This was followed by chest infections.
This prompted her mother to seek medical intervention at Nyeri Provincial General Hospital (PGH).
Blood tests that followed revealed that Yvonne was ailing from blood cancer, a type of cancer that affects the production and function of a patient’s blood cells.
“I cried when I was told that I have cancer. I thought my dreams as a girl were over and I was going to die.” Yvonne said.
The young girl said that the doctor informed her that she had to go through chemotherapy treatment to improve her condition.
“I was scared when I was told of the effects of the treatment on my body that included loss of my pretty hair.” She said.
She started a six course chemotherapy treatment in May 2012 through which she reports that there was a significant chance in her body during this treatment.
At first, she lost her hair, her body colour changed with her skin and nails becoming darker. There was loss of appetite and vomiting that made Yvonne feel worthless in this world.
Her friends would not understand why she lost her hair and changed her skin colour. Through counselling at Nyeri PGH palliative care unit, she became stronger and pressed on to complete her treatment.
Yvonne became a teenager in June 2013 slowly transforming into a strong girl participating in a support group that mostly consist of children at the Nyeri PCU.
She encourages other young children who have been diagnosed with cancer telling them that they can also make it through treatment and come out of such conditions feeling stronger.
She is a peer supporter who is dreaming big and wants to be a doctor in order to help other patients just as she was helped.
Yvonne is not her real name
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