Sylvia's Journey to Fight Cancer in Uganda

Blog has hundreds of Views from across the Globe

2010-05-28T08:01:00.000+01:00

I have some very interesting facts about where people have been viewing my blog from. I have had over 500 hits to my blog from all continents except Asia. It is extremely exciting that it has been read by people across the world. Obviously the highest number of viewers have come from the United Kingdom where there have been views from across the whole country which I find very encouraging. In addition there is a strong following of viewers stateside where I have several family members. However, the numerous location of views spanning across the whole of USA and even Canada in places that my family don't live show that they have been spreading the word of my blog and inviting their friends to read it too, I appreciate this greatly. In addition, I have had a person follow my blog from Brazil in South America, another person in Perth Australia and several in Uganda. I cannot forget to add that I have a nicely sized group of visitors from mainland Europe as well as the Nordic countries Norway and Sweden.

It is very fascinating how amazing the internet is for bringing people together and allowing information to be accessed from all over the world. I think that I can honestly say that I have been able to spread awareness of Cancer in Uganda. I would like to thank all the people who have viewed my blog from across the world and to encourage you all to invite even more people so that together we can help the patients in Uganda.

ps......if anybody has a friend from Asia, I would love you to ask them to view my blog and to read about Cancer in Uganda so that I can say that I have been able to reach all corners of the globe :-D

We Broke the Cycle

2010-05-27T12:44:00.002+01:00

Our Route from Inverkeithing to St Andrews

Yesterday, along with two very good friends Tom and Phil, we broke the cycle. We set off from St Andrews at 7.55 and cycled to Leuchars where our nearest train station is. We took the train to Inverkeithing, a small town just outside Edinburgh where we started the sponsored cycle.

the 3 of us setting off from Dunfermline Train station

Our first stop was at Dunfirmline just 3 miles away from Inverkeithing where we were to meet my dad who accompanied us by car. This short distance was very uphill and took us about 1 hour. By the time we reached my dad we were exhausted already and we'd hardly even started the ride. We gave him our bags and food so that we did not have too much to carry and we agreed to do the first long leg of the journey. 12 miles from Dunfermline to Kinross.

This leg started with another major hill lasting about 5-7 miles. At this point, having cycled such a short distance, we really thought that cycling all the way to St Andrews would be an impossible feat. We were knackered and had very little energy left. However, on reaching the top of the hill, our spirits were lifted by a very exciting down hill. We managed to reach speeds of over 20 miles an hour. After the hard work of the previous 10 miles, we cherished every moment of our downhill pursuit.

Leaving Kinross

We arrived in Kinross where we had our lunch outside the Kinross community campus and also the Health Centre. Tom and I both went into the health centre (we are keen medical students) and were extremely impressed with it's very spacious layout. We would both agree that it would give rise to a great patient experience.

Our next leg was 10 miles from Kinross to a quaint Scottish village called Strathmiglo. This was probably our best leg. It was nice and flat and we managed to make a lot of head way. However, we entered the village from another direction from my dad, and it took us a bit of time to find him. The true Scottish neighbourhood spirit shown through when a couple with their dog came out of their house to direct us to where my dad was. When we found him, we restocked our fuel and started off on our next and longest leg to another small town called Ceres.

some beautiful scenery

This was the toughest leg. Not only was it 15 miles long but there was a SERIES of SERIOUS hills to the beautiful town of CERES. It really was never ending, as soon as we thought we couldn't go up any further, we turned a corner and there was another hill. It was difficult to believe. At one point we even had to push our bikes up as gear 1 got us nowhere. The age old theory that what goes up must go down did not apply at this stage as it was a constant incline all the way to Ceres. Our main consolation was the beauty of the scenery surrounding us. Whilst cycling up these hills, I thought about the hardship that many Ugandan's face on a daily basis and it gave me the strength to keep going.

Scottish Museum

Leaving Ceres

Finally we reached the small town of Ceres. My dad had been calling me and sending me messages for the past half hour and had even thought that he had missed us. Whilst he was waiting for us he visited a Scottish museum where he took some beautiful pictures. We were all very happy to arrive in Ceres and meet dad, where we refuelled ourselves and prepared for the last leg of the journey. After a nice break, with our energy and enthusiasm restored we headed back to ST ANDREWS.

Arriving into St Andrews

This was my favourite leg, although there were several hills, they were nothing in comparison to the series of serious hills to Ceres so we conquered them all with considerable ease. My dad followed us behind and we felt as though we had our own special escort. With our spirits high we raced back to St Andrews averaging about 15 miles an hour. When we reached the St Andrews sign, we waived our hands in the air in solute of or achievements.

My competitive edge got the better of me and I sprinted down the hill to reach David Russell Apartment, our end destination before Tom and Phil.

The 3 of us at our end destination

The Bike Ride was definitely a challenging experience, there were many difficult and low points, but we all enjoyed it so much. Especially because we were doing it for a great cause. We arrived back in St Andrews about 10 hours after we left in the morning, exhausted, exhilarated and also excited. We had achieved something that not many people can say they have ever done and we are all very proud of our selves.

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you SO much to Tom and Phil for taking part in the bike ride and the people who have sponsored them. As well as to my dad who was there for us the whole journey. I would also like to say thank you to everybody who wished us luck and to those that sponsored us all. Once all the money is in and counted, I will add it to the total.

Dad and myself

Fundraising Total has been Reached

2010-05-12T15:53:00.002+01:00

I had an interview yesterday with the Lethendy Trust and they very generously agreed to give me £300 towards my project, this brings my total up to £1940. With the sponsorship money from the bike ride already totally more than £60..............I HAVE REACHED MY £2000 TOTAL :-D!

I am so happy. Any additional money I raise will be given to UCRF, Wrap up Africa and UCCF.

In addition, I booked my flights last week, and I will be travelling in less than 2 months.
However, for now, with my exams looming ever closer, I must study as hard as I can.

Many thanks go to everybody who has contributed towards my fundraising total and to those who are following my blog.

Fundraising Update

2010-04-29T09:03:00.000+01:00

Over the past few weeks, my fundraising total has almost doubled. This is thanks to the extremely generous support of several people.

St Andrews University for awarding me the Ede and Ravenscroft Travel Scholarship worth £500
Dr John Calder trust for very generously donating me £300
Mr C Williamson from the Williamson Memorial Trust who gave a wonderful donation of £200

This is an extremely large amount to be donated and I appreciate this so much.

Wrap Up Africa

2010-04-09T14:25:00.002+01:00

Final Piece from Amanda Bontecou on Vimeo.

Wrap up Africa is another charity in Uganda which helps cancer patients and their family. I volunteered with them when I was in Uganda in 2007. It is a great charity and they do some amazing work. Please watch this short video which tells you abouts some of the problems that patients have in Uganda and also how you can help. If you would like to visit their website click on the following hyperlink: www.wrapupafrica.com

Fundraising Update

2010-04-07T15:51:00.000+01:00

I got 2 exciting letters in the post today.
One from the Southdown Trust saying that they would like to donate £50 to my project and another one from the Lethendy Charitable Trust saying that they would like to invite me for an Interview.

This is great news and brings me even closer to my target. I would like to take this 1st opportunity to say thank you to the Southdown Trust for their great generosity and to the Lethendy Charitable trust for showing interest in my project and inviting me for an Interview to tell them more about what I will be doing.

A Sad Story

2010-04-02T15:36:00.001+01:00

On the UCRF home page, I read this very sad story. Through the Outreach part of the UCRF programme which I will be participating on, I hope to reduce such sad and avoidable deaths.

The gentleman who's legs are pictured died without Doctors telling him that he had Cancer!

This man had suffered from swollen feet and a feeling of weakness for a long time. Despite numerous visits to the doctor, he was just told that he had little blood. When infact he had been suffering from a kidney obstruction, something that nobody had informed him. He had to go for short calls frequently, and doctors had been treating him for bladder infections for many years. A few days from his death bed, a doctor advised him that he needed a blood transfusion, hemodialysis, and a biopsy on his prostate (empulunguuse). Despite the fact that he was in great pain, he was still not referred to a hospice.

A few hours to this man's death, his sister, who had lost her husband to cancer many years before arrived at the hospital to see him. Being the same hospital where her husband died from (Mulago) and noting the frenzy of activities by relatives to find money for hemodialysis, she called a junior doctor to the side and asked three questions:

1) Would the treatment recommended cause her brother to walk out of the hospital ALIVE?

the good junior doctor answered NO.

2) Were the doctors doing anything they thought would make the patient live?

the good junior doctor answered NO....

3) Were they doing anything at the hospital that could not be done at home?

the good junior doctor answered NO.

Recalling her own experience at the hospital mortuary when they waited for her husband's body to be released to them, the 80 year old old womon confered with the man's family and friends that he should be taken to die at home, especially because there was no provision for palliative care for him in Kampala.

Whilst this was happening, the man slipped into comma, which the junior doctor explained was because his kidneys had failed. The man never acknowledged the touch from his sister as she told him:

"we are taking you home where you will join our father and our other brother".

They travelled over 120 miles back to the village where very sadly he died just minutes after the end of the long journey. At least he was at his house surrounded by relatives and friends. They were all able to say goodbye but no one could tell whether he had heard them.

This old man had just made 60 years! Within a week, his mother who had defied death thus far-gave up her ghost! Clearly, it was too much for her

More than 20,000 people attended his funeral, all were sad about his death.

Nobody was told about cancer.
None of them were told that it was a preventable cause of death.
None of them were told to do something about their own risk.

Some of the people may even be enduring the sad experience of this man. This is why the story was shared with UCRF, and now with you. From the depths of this sadness, may be a lesson which can be made so that others can be saved of a painful death without knowledge of why, or even the opportunity to put their lives in order.

This man saw many people about his problem. Some were proper doctors, others were not. Somehow, he died without knowing why he was dying. He had symptoms that shouted his diagnosis, and yet it he was not told. ....

maybe there other stories like this..., but this was one tough to take and remains tough for his family and friends to take.

Donations and Awareness Update

2010-03-31T18:42:00.000+01:00

Pictured above, is myself with the Howe of Fife rotary club president, Dennis Beattie

The presentation that I made at the Howe of Fife Rotary club was a great success. The members were all very interested about cancer, and many of them were not aware how big a problem it is in the developing world. I am so happy to have been able to increase the awarness of cancer already.

The members of the Rotary Club were all very lovely, before I made my presentation, they treated me to a tasty meal. After my presentation, I was also given a very nice vote of thanks by Mr Andrew Kennedy who is also a vet.

More importantly, I am very greatful to the Rotary Club, for writing about my presentation on their website. If you would like to see what they have written please follow this link here: Howe of Fife Rotary Club: Sylvia's Presentation . They really have taken it in their hearts to increase the awareness of cancer in Uganda and I appreciate this so much.

At the end of the rotary meeting, I was also very kindly donated £40 towards my project. I am also extremely greatefull for this contribution and it means a lot to me.

I must say thank you very much to my academic tutor Dr Amanda Fleet for inviting me along to the Howe of Fife Rotary Club and giving me the amazing opportunity to make a presentation to its members.

What will I be doing in Uganda

2010-03-31T18:27:00.000+01:00

Whilst in Uganda, I will be joining a group of volunteers with the Uganda Cancer Research Foundation. I will be participating in a programme which is split up into 3 mean areas.

Outreach: We will visit rural villages, schools, rotary clubs and other community groups raising the awarness of cancer via presentations and workshops.We will tell people what cancer is, how it is detected and the importance of early diagnosis, both in terms of prognosis and in reducing treatment costs.
Academic: I will help out as a research assistant by helping to collect data about cancer incidence throughout the country. The results of which, will show trends of cancer in Uganda. This is important in terms of public health planning. I will also help out with other ongoing research projects, which will give me an invaluable insight into the how academic research is conducted.
Clinical: I will shadow doctors and conduct simple medical procedures at the Uganda Cancer Institute. I will also be mentoring Ugandan Medical student

As you can see, this is a very exciting project. It will involve many different skills. I will be working under conditions that I have never worked in before which I am looking forward to. I am eager to learn and what I will be exposed to whilst in Uganda will help my education tremendously. However, more importantly, I cannot wait to increase the awareness of Cancer throughout the Uganda.

Remember, if you would like to support my project, please leave a donation. Any amount will be greatly appreciated.

HIV and Cancer

2010-03-26T11:56:00.001Z

As I said in a previous post, I am going to write about the links between HIV infection and cancer.

Earlier this week, when I made a presentation to the Howe of Fife rotary club, one of the members told me that they had no idea that HIV infection can increase the risks of cancer. This highlighted to me the importance of needing to increase the awareness of cancer. HIV infection rates in Sub Saharan Africa are extremely high, which results in millions of people being predisposed to many types of cancer. In addition, the introduction of better treatment for HIV positive individuals has increased their life expectancy, resulting in the incidence of certain cancers to increase.

There are several cancers which when present mark the progression of HIV into AIDS. These include:

Kaposi Sarcoma (KS)

rare in the HIV negative population
patients with HIV infection are 200-300 more likely to develop KS than those without
the use of the newest HIV medication actually reduces the risk of developing KS

non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL)

also known as aids related lymphoma
HIV infection variably increases the risk developing this cancer by between 40-400 times.

invasive cervical cancer. (ICC)

although it is an AIDS defining cancer, the research linking ICC with HIV is still inconsistant

There are also other cancers, which although are not AIDS defining, have higher incidence rates in those with HIV infection compared to those who how are HIV negative. Research has shown that HIV infected people have a 2-3 fold increase in developing these types of cancer. These cancers are often described as Non Aids defining, Aids Associated malignancies or opportunistic cancers. These include

Hodgkins Disease (HD)

HIV infection increases the risk of developing HD by 7-11 times compared to the general population

Lung Cancer

HIV infected patients are 2-7 times more likely to develop lung cancer compared to HIV negative individuals
long term tobacco exposure is usually much lower in HIV infected patients as it is normally diagnosed at an earlier stage
The most recent treatment for HIV has caused an almost 9 fold increase in the rates of lung cancer, however this is probably more due to the increased life expectancy.

The prognosis cancer patients that are HIV postitive compared to those that are HIV negative tends to be much worse, irregardless of the type of cancer. This may be due to cancers being more aggressive in those that have compromised immune systems,. In addition, HIV patients, often present with much more advanced cancers at the time of diagnosis and at much younger ages.

The exact causes and reasons why HIV infection increases the risks of cancer is stil unclear. However there are several different hypothesis. The main one due to the bodies own lack of immune response. It may also be that AIDS defining cancers are related to cancer promoting viruses such as HPV. Also, the increased rate of general infections might increase the risk of cancer. However, it may be that other risk factors such as multiple sexual partners, drug use, increased alcohol/tobacco consumption may be the cause for increased cancer rates among HIV infected individuals.

Regardless of whether these cancers are directly related to HIV infection, treating cancer in HIV-positive patients remains a challenge because of drug interactions, compounded side effects, and the potential effect of chemotherapy on the patient.

Howe of Fife Rotary Club

2010-03-22T12:08:00.001Z

I have been given an amazing opportunity to spread the word of the Uganda Cancer Research Foundation at the Howe of Fife Rotary Club tomorrow evening. I am very excited about this. It will be great to increase the awareness of cancer in Uganda, and I will hopefully be able to make links with Howe of Fife Rotary Club and Rotary clubs in Uganda.

Many thanks to my University Careers Centre and Travel Centre

2010-03-17T20:38:00.000Z

Last week, I was selected to give a 3 minute presentation to a commitee of representatives from my university's Careers Centre and Travel Service about my Summer Project. I was very happy to be given this opportunity and today I gave my presentation. I was so happy when later on today I received a wonderful e-mail saying that I was the chosen candidate for the travel bursary. Subject to satisfactory completion of the University Risk Assessment forms, I will be given £300 towards my travel costs.

This is a very large contribution and I am so happy and grateful for being awarded this bursary. I really appreciate it that my university has shown me this support towards my summer project and to UCRF.

Support me to Fight Cancer in Uganda; with your support, it can be done, and it WILL be done

2010-02-28T10:24:00.004Z

Pilot Project to Collect National Cancer Status Data in Uganda

This summer, I will be volunteering with UCRF to work on the Cancer Survey Project. The Cancer Survey Project is part of UCRF's Research and Education Section's Plan to obtain accurate cancer data for Uganda.

Accurate data about disease incidence (new cases) and prevalence (existing cases) are vital for planning public health programs, especially for cancer. Data are sparse on cancer incidence and prevalence in Uganda, hampering the design and delivery of health education messages that stress risk factors, early detection or prevention, and the planning for treatment of cancer in the face of scarce health resources.

A historical cancer survey conducted in the 1960s (Templeton and Hutt, 1973) demonstrated that cancer diagnosis, although seeming to be incomplete, it was not uncommon. Risk for cancer increased with age, but cancers diagnosed appeared to be different by geography. For example, stomach and oesophageal cancer appeared more frequent in the Western regions, penile cancer more frequent in Buganda, and Burkitt lymphoma and Kaposi sarcoma more frequent in West Nile than elsewhere. These differences were due to differences in access to care and to some risk factors for cancer being common in some but not other areas. No cancer survey has been conducted in Uganda since.

Contemporary cancer data comes from the Kyaddondo County Registry, based at Makerere College of Health Sciences, but this covers only 3% of Uganda’s population in Kampala District and parts of Wakiso and Mpigi districts (Wabinga, 1993), and is not nationally representative. Nationally representative data are needed to inform policy and public health efforts.

UCRF will conduct a National Cancer Status Survey for cancers diagnosed over the past 2-5 years at regional and district centres in three regions of Uganda, excluding the central region, which is covered by the Kyaddondo Cancer Registry. The survey will provide base-line data and demonstrate feasibility a Cancer Surveillance Program in Uganda. The survey will take 4-8 weeks during summer and will be the basis for a preliminary Uganda Cancer Status Report.

Cancer in Uganda

2010-02-28T10:13:00.004Z

Young child who is suffering from Burkitts Lymphoma, one of the most common childhood cancers in Uganda

It may be hard to believe that cancer can be a major problem in countries with high rates of infant mortality, malnutrition and infectious diseases. However, recent research has revealed that nothing could be farther from the truth. Cancer is increasingly common among African children and adults alike.

This has been compounded by the exponential spread of HIV over the past few decades. The rates of some cancers have increased substantially in many African regions since the start of the HIV epidemic. I will discuss the relationship between HIV infection and cancer in another post.

Although significant resources have been applied to combating HIV, malaria, TB, poverty and malnutrition, little has been done to explore or address the problem of cancer in Africa. This is especially evident East African. Uganda, for example has a population of over 31 million people and only two practising oncologists. Contrast this with my home town Aberdeen which has a population of about 250,000 people and two appointed oncologists (data from RCP London, click here). Uganda's 2 oncologists do not have the time to collect data about cancer diagnosed by non-specialist doctors. UCRF will meet this need with the help of volunteers, a team that I will be joining this summer. I have a love for this challenging work because it will involve reviewing papers, which I hope will have an added benefit of highlighting the value of keeping accurate records.

As a consequence, even patients with curable cancers go untreated. This is due to a combination of their inability to afford diagnostic tests, basic chemotherapy or even pain-relieving medications and a scarcity of both human and medical resources. This not only causes an inordinate amount of individual suffering but also is an increasing burden on society.

take a moment to think about this, if you want to help scroll down to the bottom of my page and please make a donation.

For more information about cancer and a link to where some of the statistics came from please click here

My Summer Project 2010

2010-02-25T11:41:00.000Z

This summer, I will be visiting Uganda to volunteer with the Uganda Cancer Research Foundation (UCRF). Over the next few months I am going to do a lot of fundraising in order to raise £2000 for both my trip and UCRF. I am going to use this blog to raise awareness of UCRF and to keep everybody up to date with my fundraising endeavour.

For more information about UCRF visit their website: http://www.ucrfcares.org/

In my next post I will give more details about my project and will include ways that you can help me reach my £2000 fundraising target.