I recently lost a sister in-law due to chemo. complications, it is just so sad to realize how little people know about cancer and it's treatment. A life has been lost, that could have probably been saved.
About three months ago my sister in-law was complaining of swelling legs. She started going to a private doctor; after 3 three weeks there was no improvement. She started having sores from the swelling. We all advised her to seek a second opinion. Her new doctor gave her a new prescription, she was getting it through an IV weekly. This was to go on for 7 weeks. She is in Zambia and i am here, in New York, I am trying to find out what kind of medicine she getting because it was draining her for at least 3 days after taking it. I wanted to find out what the side effects were. She was going to text me the name of the medicine. I forgot about it, she sounded ok, my sister and brother both assured me she was doing fine.
After six weeks of the treatment, i spoke with her . She was jovial, she only had to take one more treatment and she was done, little did i know that will be the last time we will ever talk. About a week after we talked i got a phone call that she had died. She had complained of being feverish, after which my brother took her to the hospital. This was close to midnight, it was discovered that she anemic and was advised to have a blood transfusion which declined. As soon my brother left the hospital, she was convinced to take the blood. When my brother went to see her in the morning she seemed fine but when visiting hour was over she asked him not to leave. She also asked him to help her go to the bathroom, she could not walk by herself. This didn't seem right to him because the previous night she was walking by herself. As soon as he got her off the bed water started coming out of her nose and that was it, she was dead.
There were many unanswered questions, her doctor told my brother that she literally had no blood , she almost had nothing it was a miracle that she even came in walking. He had never mentioned cancer when treating her, but now he was explaining how wide spread her cancer had been. He said he had tried his best to save her life. Never mentioned to them what kind of treatment she was receiving or the side effects. Yes, i am mad at myself, because i tried to be diplomatic and not ask too many question.
My sister in-law didn't English, she was fluent in Swahili so was her doctor. My brother speaks a little bit of Swahili and she spoke broken bemba which is our mother tongue. Was there a communication breakdown? The doctor speaks English and bemba as well so does my brother.
We have relatives who are already screaming AIDS because of how badly scared her legs were and her hair was thinning out. I am here trying to comfort brother and explain the side effects of chemo to these people, there comments and acknowledgement seems to be like whatever, he needs to get tested. Of course she was tested that's the first thing done, but cancer is real and chemotherapy is lethal if the right procedures are not followed.
SD: AIDS/HIV is not the only killer in Africa, ignorance might have a lot to do with a lot of deaths.
RIP sis, will take care of your daughter.
