Mayeso* fell sick when he was four years old. His mother noticed a swelling in his left cheek and took him to the hospital.

Read Tamara’s* story about her son’s diagnosis here:

“I was at my maternal home assisting my mother. We were harvesting rice in Zomba. As soon as I noted the abnormalities, I went to the nearest health centre. They gave him eye drops because the clinicians suspected eye infection. Mayeso had watery eyes from the eye drops and my mother advised that I return home and do a proper check-up at Queens Central Hospital. There, the doctors did a check-up on him and told me that they found a mass in the left side of his mouth that they suspected to be cancer. They advised that I return on Monday for a proper examination. On Monday at the Oncology Ward, they told me that the disease has progressed to Level 3. He not only had a swelling in the face but an abscess in his stomach. 

I was sad. My whole life I had the notion that once someone has cancer they would die. However, a member of staff at the oncology ward would comfort me saying that since my son is young, he has a better chance of surviving. With the medication, he started improving. After 2 months, he was discharged. We would go for scheduled chemotherapy initially and later we returned for regular reviews. 

After a year, my son was declared healed. It was a joy to me, all my fears were conquered. My son was young during the process but he still has some memories. During his play, he would pretend to be a nurse inserting cannulas on the wrist of his friends. 

I was relieved that the nightmare was over. However, as a parent I still have fears whenever he is sick. I fear that the sickness has returned and this tortures me emotionally.