Audria Ndacheledwa was devasted when doctors at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre briefed her about her medical condition in 2020
When Audria Ndacheledwa learned she had breast cancer in August 2020, she struggled with how she was to break the devastating news to her family. In that moment, she felt as if she had been handed a death sentence.
Ndacheledwa, a mother of six in Blantyre’s sprawling township of Chirimba — spent days at a time, processing the gut-wrenching news before sharing it. “I wasn’t sure how my children were going to react, especially my last-born daughter,” recalled Ndacheledwa.
However, she was amazed by the support she received from her family, particularly her mother, a breast cancer survivor herself, and her youngest daughter, Tiyamike, after she broke the news.
“My daughter overheard some conversations with my husband over the issue and she kept quizzing on what I was going through and I explained my situation, then she encouraged me to stay strong and gave me an example of her grandmother who suffered from breast cancer in 2012 and was cured after receiving treatment,” said Ndacheledwa.
Breast cancer is a pressing concern in the country. The World Health Organisation notes that it is the third most common cancer in Malawian women. Out of 10 patients who present with signs and symptoms, four are diagnosed with the disease monthly. Moreover, The University of Medicine and Health Sciences reports that only 9.5% of patients survive beyond 18 months in Malawi but if detected early it is curable.
Battling cancer has never been easy. The disease takes a toll, but having the support of family can make it more bearable. Since her diagnosis, Ndacheledwa has relied on her family’s unwavering support.
The support has proved essential given the deep connection she has with her daughter, Tiyamike. She has even followed in her mother’s footsteps and is pursuing a degree in business studies at the Malawi College of Accountancy. When Tiyamike is not at school, she spends most of her time with her mother — who is a business studies teacher at Maranatha Private School.
“Back then I was interested in movies so most of the time I would make sure that I find her good movies that are linked to her condition so that she could find comfort,” said Tiyamike.
Since Ndacheledwa’s diagnosis, she has been going to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QUECH) in Blantyre for routine checkups and chemotherapy treatment, which she receives for free.
Apart from the costs patients incur when getting some services from private hospitals, chemotherapy treatment has its challenges, especially in its initial stages.
Every two weeks, Ndacheledwa goes to the hospital where the treatment takes approximately four hours, and sometimes has to queue for her turn due to limited space.
Patients have to deal with different side effects — in the course of receiving the treatment, which sometimes bring about other ailments such as nausea, running stomach, and physical changes in the body, among others.
For Ndacheledwa, her public life changed as she was forced to stay indoors for longer hours to avoid being seen and ridiculed by peers in her neighborhood.
“I was feeling weak and nauseous, I was having diarrhea, body aches, and mouth sores that made me struggle when eating,” she recalled. “During My second circle of chemotherapy, I noticed that I was losing my hair, this changed my look being a woman this affected me a lot because I couldn’t socialise with people, I was spending most of my time indoors, and when there was a visitor, I would quickly rush to the bedroom to cover my heard because I didn’t want people to see my funny looks.”
Despite this, Ndacheledwa believes she has survived. She credits this to the treatment she has been receiving at QECH and the love and support from her family.
She has since advised women to go for routine cancer tests and go for recommended treatment from oncologists other than relying on herbals.
“Although chemotherapy is a very strong drug that causes a lot of side effects, it is a very good drug because now I am very well and I am living a normal life,” she said.
Dr Leo Masamba, Chief Oncologist at the Ministry of Health believes the country has registered some strides in the fight against cancer.
”We have improved quite tremendously in terms of the cancer drugs that are available in our hospitals as compared to the situation in 2010 and the number of specialists has increased from one to eight, this is a big progress but we are not there yet,” he said. “For example, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital still struggles in terms of budget for cancer drugs.”
Moreover, the doctor said that the country now has well-trained surgeons to do operations on gynecologic cancer and QECH has a dedicated theatre that deals with cervical cancer.
Recently Blantyre Cancer Centre, a private specialist hospital was opened but the public awaits for the National Cancer Centre which is being constructed in Lilongwe at a snail’s pace.
But Dr Masamba, who heads the National Cancer Centre project remains optimistic.
“When it comes to radiotherapy, the government has set up the hospital in Lilongwe and the equipment is being procured. We hope that by the end of this year or early next year, they will be ready,” he explained.
According to Dr Masamba, the National Cancer Centre project has delayed due to several factors such as technical problems. “These include feasibility studies, the bunkers, and then the equipment detail, so we had the challenge of capacity but now these issues have been sorted out and we hope that progress will be expedited,” he said.
The doctor has urged Malawians to take advantage of the gains that the country has registered in cancer treatment.
For Ndacheledwa, who celebrated her 50th birthday in April this year, the future looks bright. She is hopeful that she will celebrate more birthdays.
