Skin cancer patient faces challenges

Tafadzwa Chibukwa,Chronicle Reporter
BEING the breadwinner and a skin cancer patient, Ms Shylette Raza-Muyambo (52) who is living with albinism faces a lot of challenges with changing weather patterns.

Ms Raza-Muyambo said her skin should not be exposed to certain weather conditions as that worsens her condition.

The widowed vegetable vendor from Bulawayo’s Nkulumane suburb said she is thankful to donors that helped her get treatment at an early stage.

Statistics from the recent Cancer Registry of Zimbabwe show that at least 7 841 new cases of cancer are recorded annually in Zimbabwe.

The most frequently occurring cancers among Zimbabweans of all races according to the report are: cervix (21 percent), prostate (11 percent), breast (8 percent), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (5 percent), oesophagus (4 percent), Kaposi sarcoma (4 percent), colorectal (4 percent), stomach (3 percent) and liver (3 percent). The other cancers accounted for 37% of the registered malignancies.

Ms Raza-Muyambo started developing wounds which she first thought were minor and ignored.

For three years she kept giving the wounds a blind eye until the situation got worse.

“I was doing very well and these wounds just developed on my body, just above my chest. At first I thought they were minor wounds caused by the heat from the sun and would heal but the pain was severe and it continued. The wounds spread to the left side of my body and my wrist,” said Ms Raza-Muyambo.

She said last year she told a friend about her challenge.

The organisation helped her to get donors who then provided funding for her treatment.

In April, check-ups were done on her and doctors said she was developing skin cancer and she was later taken to Harare for an operation which was sponsored by the donors.

Mrs Raza-Muyambo said after the operation she recovered but she has challenges when it is cold.

“My condition since the time I was operated on has since improved. The only problem comes when the weather gets cold because that is when the wounds are painful. I operate in an open space and as such is difficult to avoid the cold,” said Ms Raza- Muyambo.

She said when temperatures drop the wounds are itchy, prompting her to scratch them, which worsens the pain.

“One thing I can say about cancer is that it does not want to be exposed to certain temperatures,” said Ms Raza- Muyambo. – @Sagepapie14