Mother appeals for help to raise Ksh.15.6M for 9-year-old daughter battling cancer

On April 1st, 2022, her mother, Nicole Chesoni, received the unexpected news that her daughter had Leukemia.

Speaking to Citizen Digital the mother of two, who is a cancer survivor recalls thinking that it was all but a joke. According to her, although her daughter had complained of joint pains before she never thought it would have been the Big C.

“She complained of joint pains and was always tired, I thought she was pretending and we went to Kenyatta hospital for a full check up and they diagnosed her with Leukemia and informed me that if I had not brought her in when I did, she would not have managed another day,” she said.

Her daughter was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). It is a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow — the spongy tissue inside bones where blood cells are made.

They found out that her white blood cells were extremely high and her platelets were quite low. They also discovered Maya's blood had 100 % cancer cells.

“It was April Fools Day so I thought it was a big joke. Maya had ever been sickly and suddenly we moved from a child who was playing to one who was constantly on blood transfusion in the hospital within a very short period of time,” she added.

The mother immediately took her daughter to Kenyatta National Hospital for admission where she would receive maximum attention while undergoing chemotherapy. Being a single mother and the only caregiver, she eventually had to quit her job to take care of her ailing daughter.

“We have been in the hospital for the majority of the year and my daughter had to stop school. Soon after we went into admission and they started the treatment and we exhausted our insurance within a month and our fundraising journey started,” she said.

The mother notes that the nine-year-old was very healthy during the first treatment and responded very well to the treatment and went into remission. 

“She did not lose her hair, she responded very well and we started daycare treatment which was a big success for us. I have had support from friends and family, but they are still shocked because they had recently done fundraising for me and we had celebrated my remission," added Nicole Chesoni.

According to the mother, her daughter responded very well to the treatment and was in remission. We started the daycare treatment which was a big success.

"This meant that we were no longer in patients, which was a relief of the burden of payment because insurance ran out and NHIF does not pay for oncology unless you are a civil servant,” she said.

In August after a short admission, the doctors confirmed that she had relapsed.

 “I feel like it is still a bad dream. She has worked really hard, and managed to move to the next class despite missing classes. She is fighting hard for her life and I am fighting for hers as well. We have started a more intense treatment and we are trying to fundraise to get her to India for further treatment,” she said.

Maya Oguya needs Ksh.15.6 million for her treatment.