Kibra MP Ken Okoth from Nairobi county has disclosed that he has long been fighting with cancer, at stage four which is almost impossible to be cured.
At the age of 41 years old, one of the youngest MPs in current parliament has been fighting with colerectal cancer despite his tight schedule to work for his people in Kibra area.
He says that the cancer was able to be detected at the age of 40 years.
“I was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer with metastases to the liver,” he told the Sunday Standard.
This is because over the years, the cancer presented itself with symptoms of ulcers, which he was being treated for.
At one moment he was battling with abdominal pain and weight loss.
MP Okoth and his family members received shocking news when his doctor ordered advanced scans, which later revealed it was cancer at stage four.
“The fear of the unknown that accompanies a cancer diagnosis is immense. Cancer changes your life completely,” he says.
To prevent organ failure, the MP was put through serious treatment in 2018 which included radio- and chemotherapy.
Even though he responded well, that would be the beginning of his fight with cancer as a warrior.
For his entire lifetime, he has to take atleast a tablet for a day, he says.
“I will be using chemotherapy tablets that I can take every morning. Because my disease was discovered at a very advanced stage; it cannot be cured. It can only be managed,” he says.
He was given two options for his treatment course, in US or UK, he choose UK because it was not very expensive as US, besides his wife comes from UK meaning that it would be easier for him to be awarded with a residence permit as compared to US
“I could not afford the US because it was too expensive. My wife is from Europe, where the cost is more affordable and I could get a residence permit quickly for the duration of the treatment. Sadly, not everyone is as lucky; we need to make cancer care in Kenya a national priority,” he says.
Courtesy- Saturday Standard.
