Muchanyara Mataruse who recently received a US$7 000 donation from Zimbabwe Amalgamated Housing Association (Zaha) for her cancer treatment, last week went for preparatory surgery before initialisation of chemotherapy at a local clinic in Harare.
BY PHYLLIS MBANJE
Mucha — who touched the hearts of many people after doctors said she only had 38 days within which the development of the cancer cells could be controlled — also had an endoscopy procedure done to check her wound for any infection.
“The procedure included a biopsy meant to ascertain how much the cancer cells had spread and results will be out in a week,” she said soon after the surgery. The surgery was done at Montagu Clinic in Harare.
Before the surgery the normally upbeat Mucha said she was a bit low as this was her fourth surgery in less than two years.
“I was feeling depressed since this was my fourth procedure and I do not normally react well to anaesthesia. It makes me sick for a day or two,” she said.
The mother of two, who was diagnosed with sininasal cancer in 2012, was handed the money by the Minister of State for Liaising on Psychomotor Activities in Education and Vocational Training, Josaya Hungwe in Masvingo.
Hungwe called on the corporate world to help those in need as a way of serving their communities.
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According to information from the website of US-based Cleveland Clinic, patients with sinonasal tumours often present vague symptoms, including nasal obstruction, nasal congestion and discharge, frequent bloody noses, headache, and/or facial pain.
Patients can also have facial swelling, vision changes, or neurologic deficits. Some patients are asymptomatic.
Cancer remains a growing challenge in Zimbabwe and the costly treatment especially chemotherapy has denied many needy patients a chance to fight the disease.
Lack of adequate knowledge of the various forms of cancer has also been one of the major stumbling blocks to effectively managing and treating the disease.
