The ManicaPost
Cletus Mushanawani
News Editor
Being diagnosed with cancer is one of the most difficult things to digest as the battle against the disease is both an emotional and physical roller coaster ride.
During such battles, both patients and their families are largely distracted from most of their usual life routines as they focus on beating cancer.
Finances are usually drained to the last dollar due to the high costs of treatment that build up from examination, diagnosis, lumpectomy, surgery and chemotherapy/radiotherapy.
The costs of treatment for some the cancers is beyond the reach of many, hence some opt for the “cheaper” traditional medicines.
Then there is always the possibility of a recurrence. However, while those of little faith are quick to give up on cancer patients, some have lived to tell their heart rending stories of how they pulled through. No two cancer patients are alike and neither are their treatment and recovery journeys.
However, each cancer survivor’s journey has some common traits — the strength, determination, persistence and a sense of hope throughout the battle against the disease.
Beating skin cancer
Having been born with a rare skin cancer called Xerodema Pigmentosa in 2002, life was not a bed of roses for 19-year-old Donald Dziruni. After undergoing numerous tests, Donald went under the knife on five occasions.
His formal education ended in Grade Four as the ailment took a toll on him.
“I was born with this rare condition, but the determination to live a longer life saw me soldiering on. I underwent five operations and several tests for HIV, tuberculosis and diabetes, among others, to establish what could have been behind the cancer. However, all the tests came out negative.
“At one time, I told myself that I was tired of these operations, but the determination to be a leader in cancer treatment advocacy kept me going. Faith in God also kept me going,” he said.
To compound his woes, Donald lost both his parents at a very tender age. His father died in 2006 and two months later, he also lost his mother.
Since he was four, his grandmother has been taking care of him. As he grew up, Donald and his grandmother would make numerous hospital visits. However, his condition continued deteriorating.
He became partially blind, with tumours growing on his face, head and tongue. Donald was eventually forced to drop out of school due to the condition.
He lived in great pain and almost lost hope as doctors informed him that all their efforts to save his life were in vain.
But in February, 2017, Donald’s family took his story to the media as their last hope for assistance.
The Office of the President and Cabinet formed a special team to address the situation.
Health experts, researchers and specialists from around the world were consulted and within weeks, an approved support plan and observational study commenced with the consent of Donald’s family.
In March 2017, Donald’s treatment protocol began at Chitungwiza Central Hospital.
The efforts were overseen by medical specialists and Ministry of Health and Child Care officials. The procedure was a success, giving Donald a new breadth of life.
Donald was discharged after five months, cancer-free, and with his sight restored.
Even without formal education, Donald believes that his dream to become a nurse can still be realised as he is now working with specialists from a Mutare herbal clinic.
Donald said Dr Jason Bowman and Dr Taurai Gambureni from the herbal clinic helped in saving his life through their herbal therapy.
“His case is now cited by our chief science advisor, Dr Robert Melamede, and others at Harvard University Medical School’s Dana Farber Cancer Institute and elsewhere around the world as an extreme example,” said Dr Bowman.
Dr Gambureni chipped in: “There is hope for cancer patients due to these natural herbs. We have applied for land to grow some of the herbs locally so that we can attend and assist many patients.”
Conquering breast cancer
Mrs Lorna Mukandadzviti, a breast cancer patient, is showing encouraging signs of recovery.
Speaking through her caregiver and sister-in-law, Mrs Fortune Saungweme, Mrs Mukandadzviti said she had lost all hope of survival.
Mrs Saungweme narrated her sister-in-law’s battle with breast cancer to The Manica Post.
“My sister-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 and we had all lost hope of her survival. She has been bedridden since then and her situation was further compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic as her test results never came from South Africa.
“Her condition continued deteriorating despite moving her from one herbalist to the next as well as seeking the services of faith healers.
“At first I could not stand it as she was in bad shape. Puss was oozing from her breast, while some pieces of flesh were falling off. The wound was producing a bad odour,” said Mrs Saungweme.
She said she then heard of a herbal centre through a workmate and decided to visit the place as a last resort.
“We have seen positive changes in my sister-in-law’s health since we started visiting the herbal centre. Her wound is now healing and we are now positive about her survival chances.
“Cancer killed my mother but my sister-in-law is a fighter. With the support of her husband and daughter, she will live to tell her survival story,” said Mrs Sungweme.
Are herbs really curing cancer?
Traditional medicine is found in almost every country in the world and its demand seems to be increasing, although there is still debate on whether it can cure diseases such as cancer or not. Cancer Association of Zimbabwe (CAZ) Information Research and Evaluation Officer, Mr Lovemore Makurirofa is on record expressing his reservations on using herbs to cure cancer.
“As a registered association, we can’t deny that traditional medicines have medicinal effects but we are still waiting for evidence-based modalities and meaningful conclusions on whether traditional medicines cure cancer or not,” Mr Makurirofa told our sister publication, The Sunday Mail.
“The major query we have as CAZ is the traditional medicine’s dosages. Patients may be overdosed while some may react. There is also the issue of toxicity, this can pose challenges,” he said.
Mr Makurirofa also discouraged mixing conventional and traditional treatment of cancer.
“We can only encourage mixing the two when it has been proven that they can work simultaneously,” he said.
“However, a patient reserves the right to choice the form of treatment they are comfortable with.”
Ministry of Health and Child Care’s director for traditional medicine, Mr Onias Ndoro, also bemoaned the lack of standard practice for traditional medicines.
“By its nature, traditional practice is based in secrecy, making it difficult to get the opportunity to repeat the same intervention under a controlled measured environment to validate the claims,” said Mr Ndoro.
“However, traditional medicine of proven quality, safety and efficacy, contributes to the goal of ensuring that all people have access to care,” he said.
Cancer: The facts
Cancer is a disease caused by an uncontrolled division of abnormal cells in a part of the body. Cancer cases continue to increase in the country and the disease is now among the biggest killers in Zimbabwe after HIV and Aids.
There are over 100 different known cancers that affect humans. Cancers are often described by the body part that they originated in. The leading cause of deaths was cervical cancer with 13 percent and prostate cancer at nine percent.
The risk of developing certain cancers can be reduced by not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, limiting alcohol intake, eating plenty of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, vaccination against certain infectious diseases, limiting consumption of processed food and limiting exposure to direct sunlight.
