Coping with breast cancer emotionally
By Cynthia Atuo, May 14, 2025Cancer is a word no one wants to hear. And if wishes were horses, we would all probably wish it never existed, and definitely ride in this fantasy.
Unfortunately, when it strikes, the most one can do is accept and embark on treatment. This is the case for many women in Kenya who are battling breast cancer.
With approximately 6,799 women in the country being affected by the condition annually, according to the National Cancer Institute, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Kenya, accounting for approximately 23.3 per cent of all cancer cases diagnosed among women.
And while nearly all of them seek treatment, the healing always doesn’t stop with hospital visits.
Healing journey
Long after chemotherapy and medications stop, healing always continues. For some, even for a lifetime.
It’s all in the mind soul, and in the silent rooms where one tucks inside speaking words of healing and encouragement.
For many of these women, they are fighting more than cancer. The untold mental toll the illness has on many patients often goes untold.
‘Maureen Wairimu’, a breast cancer survivor knows all this too well, her suffering didn’t just end at the hospital gates. Despite conquering cancer, she still experiences poor mental health which has taken a toll on major aspects of her life.
Her mental status narrative, one that weaves in key elements including body image struggles, fatigue, as well as family and marital pressure.
She says after her mastectomy, she always finds herself feeling some sense of unfamiliarity every time she looks in the mirror.
“When patients undergo a mastectomy, issues of body image immediately arise. And even when you have the prosthetic breasts, they never really boost one’s esteem because when you put them on, you just realise there is no balance, as would natural breasts,” she says adding that due this imbalance, walking in public becomes embarrassing owing to invisible stares (whether real or imagined) in addition to her eroded self-image.
Pain of hair loss
The breast cancer warrior also narrates that hair loss, which is often a common effect of treatment worsens patients’ discomfort and many of them are forced to completely shave and depend on wigs and artificial hair.
“When the hair goes down, you have to put on wigs. And sometimes because of hot flashes that are common in cancer patients, it gets too hot making it unbearable to wear wigs. Walking with a completely shaved head can be so tough for some patients,” narrates ‘Wairimu’. She further notes that when it comes to managing family, the weight even gets heavier. Patients are still expected to play their dutiful roles of being mothers, wives, and center of the household despite their bodies and poor mental health giving in.
“Children are looking up to this very mother, the husband is also looking up to this wife. Yeah, so there’s also that issue. And again, maybe when it comes to work, supposing this lady is actually employed, because of the side effects, they can’t go to work. So that also might lead to job loss, or maybe inefficiency when it comes to working.”
Due to these psychological gaps that are all too familiar for many breast cancer patients, the Aga Khan University Hospital has launched a dedicated breast cancer support group for patients, survivors, and caregivers, filling the psychological gap in the health care system.
The group will offer peer support, educational workshops, and coping strategies for persons afflicted by breast cancer while addressing their emotional, physical, spiritual, financial, mental, and social concerns.
According to Professor Mansoor Saleh, the founding director, Aga Khan University Cancer Centre treatment is given at the hospital where the oncologist, surgeon, and radiation therapist will all treat. The outcome of the treatment is what the patient experiences. And that’s pain, hair loss, nausea vomiting, poor sexuality, and all other effects of the treatment that cause suffering and reduced quality of life
He points out that the new support group’s motto of providing care within the community lies in compassion and “bringing that drug called hope.”
He further emphasised that the group including its members will be the ones to help the patients through their treatment.
“The most important part of treatment is, how do we alleviate fear, and help one in the middle of the night when fear of the unknown comes? This support group is meant to help you after what I have done medically to help you live longer and reduce the worries one has when they go home. We physicians have for long been ignoring that part and this is the place where care at a community setting can be provided,” said Prof. Mansoor who also serves as an oncologist.
While speaking during the launch of the support group, Karen D’Dimpasaar, a caregiver also emphasised that the areas of support that are most required for patients have to do with genuine care and concern for the person but also patience with them.
“Sometimes things get things could get tough or they’re having a bad day or they just need somebody to vent off with or sleep whatever the issue is you need to be patient with them. I think also a very good quality is the ability to laugh and talk honestly between you about what is going on whether it’s to do with the illness or personal or just some random thing it’s nice to have honest chat,” said D’Dimpasaar.
She further emphasised that since patients always tend to hide their illness and whatever they are going through to avoid making others uncomfortable, having a group where people can come together and share experiences and speak openly about what is going on is a great thing.