How natural therapy, raw foods have helped breast cancer patient

Apofia Natumanya, a lecturer at Bugema University Kasese Study Centre, was diagnosed with breast cancer. PHOTO by Enid Ninsiima. 

By ENID NINSIIMA & FELIX BASIIME
Posted  Friday, October 30   2015 at  02:00

http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Health---Living/How-natural-therapy--raw-foods-have-helped-breast-cancer-patient/-/689846/2934768/-/12sii76/-/index.html

IN SUMMARY

Creating awareness. When treating cancer, one does not merely rely on the medication prescribed by doctors. One must also adjust their diet and lifestyle in order to help the body heal.

At first glance, it is difficult to tell that Apofia Natumanya, 26, a young lecturer at Bugema University’s Study centre in Kasese is living with a deadly disease until she narrates her ordeal.
Natumanya, who has spent a year battling breast cancer, explained her situation to Daily Monitor.

Discovering cancer
“In January this year, I detected a foreign object in my breast as I was applying body oil after a shower. I told my mother who later said she was going to connect me to a specialist,” she says adding, “In mid-February while at home in Bushenyi, I went to see a specialist named Dr Kapuru in Kasese. After examining me, he told me that I had fibroids but they were not cancerous.”

“When I called my mum with the results, she insisted that I must see another doctor named Mugyenyi in Mbarara who gave the same results. I was also told that I should undergo surgery to remove the ball-like object in my breast,” she recounts.

Natumanya did not give up the struggle to establish exactly what had attacked her body and she proceeded to Devine Mercy hospital in Mbarara where samples were taken for further investigation to establish the cause of illness.

Three weeks later in April, she returned to Mbarara for review and more samples were taken. These, she also took back to the doctor for interpretation only to be told that the swelling in her breast had to be surgically removed.

“I was told that the only way was excision which I accepted and it was done successfully. When it was removed, the lump looked like a growing irish potato with many roots. Test results came out on May 22 only to be told that I had cancer which had advanced up to stage 3B,” she states firmly.

Need for surgery
Natumanya explains she was then advised the whole breast would be removed because cancer cells spread fast and the earlier it was done, the better. She was referred to Uganda Cancer Institute in Mulago hospital. 

“Doctors prescribed chemotherapy for three months and after that came radiography. I was supposed to be operated on but on taking the chemotherapy, it had negative effects. I started taking herbs alongside the medical treatment,” she says.

“I was counselled to change my feeding habits and lifestyle. I was advised to stop eating meat, drinking milk and all dairy products. Immediately after the operation, another big mass started growing,” Natumanya notes.
She adds that she was advised by friends to use other food supplements from a herbalist named Daniel in Busiika, Bugema in Luweero District while also taking food supplements from Forever Living. She started the natural therapy.

The now jolly Natumanya says since she started taking Agraveria leaf and fruit, a mixture of Aloe Vera, raw foods such as fruits and a mixture of beet root, apple and carrot juice in the morning, the ball mass in her breast has disappeared and she feels better though her recovery has not been medically certified.

Challenges

Natumanya says that it is not simple for an average woman to get quick treatment from Mulago National Referral Hospital since there are many patients and doctors are few, moreover some are working on parttime basis.

She added that another challenge is the process of testing for cancerous cells which takes months and allows the disease to spread faster in the body.

However, she is thankful to God for early detection, moral and financial support from her family and friends as well as exercises, all of which assisted her to control the disease.

She appeals to government to subsidise the cost of cancer treatment to accommodate the average village woman who has no support at all and who cannot get access to Uganda Cancer Institute.

“I appeal to government to try to shorten the process of testing for cancer so that the disease can be controlled in its earlier stages,” she appeals.

She said that she has also used the Korean machine found in Mbarara which offers a type of radiotherapy which she thinks has helped as well.

She appeals to all cancer patients to accept the disease and live positively, use herbal drugs and change their feeding habits and above all, trust in God.

She plans to return to the hospital for review at the end of the year to check whether the changes she has experienced are real or just temporary relief.

Living with cancer 

Doctor’s word. “If one has breast cancer that is driven by oestrogen in the body, we restrict fat in the body. When we restrict fat intake, sugars, we are aiming at reducing oestrogen in the body especially with women who are on cancer treatment or those that have been diagnosed with breast cancer,” says Dr Fred Okuku. 

Patient’s story. 

“I was counselled to change my feeding habits and lifestyle. I was advised to stop eating meat, drinking milk and all dairy products.”