Serah Muthoni's joy after living with HIV for 22 years

As she steps into the vast Afraha High School compound, Ms Serah Muthoni Mwangi freely interacts with students, teachers and subordinate staff.

Ms Mwangi could pass for an ordinary teacher at the school in Nakuru town. But her fellow teachers are baffled on how she has managed to handle her fair share of misfortunes.

Besides contracting HIV/Aids 22 years ago, the teacher who was married to a Ugandan national is a cancer survivor.

SCAR
HIV would leave a permanent emotional scar on her life. Ms Mwangi, 46, the courageous teacher of English and Literature has not lost hope in life and is determined to enjoy every moment of it. She is a symbol of hope to many.

“I discovered I had contracted HIV after the death of my husband in 1997. Then, the stigma was real. People thought they would get infected even by shaking hands,” says Ms Mwangi.
“I was looking at my daughter who was then three years old and I saw a bleak future for her. I lost my mother when I was three years old and I grew up under a cruel stepmother. I was worried about my daughter’s future,” she added.
“I told God not to let my daughter undergo what I went through. Then, there were no ARVs. I knew that I was going to die and during church services, I visualised my coffin being wheeled and even the funeral song that would accompany the procession would be, Pokea moyo wangu eeh Mungu wangu….(Receive my soul O my God).

60 INJECTIONS
“I prayed and asked God to give me one more day. I kept praying to God that my daughter grow to at least understand herself albeit in a very minimal way.
“I completed the treatment of 60 injections and taking bitter drugs for eight months. The injections were painful. I was not going to give up though. The pain of discipline is less than the pain of regret. They injected my backside until there was no more space before moving to my thighs. Sitting down was a problem. The ugly scars left by the jabs reminded me of the painful journey ahead. I started gaining weight.

“Soon, the coffin that I had envisioned earlier being wheeled near the altar turned into procession to partake the Holy Communion. The song that was to be sung during my funeral became a song of hope.

“Mid 1999 I developed an opportunistic infection on my back. Doctors recommended a surgery to remove the pus. I was to make subsequent visits to have the wound dressed. Out of ignorance I opted to visit a nearby clinic.

The standards were unhygienic. The wound got infected and I developed meningitis.

SH60,000
“My husband was a foreigner he didn’t have insurance benefits. What was left was some Sh60,000. I bought drugs for one month. When I got employed I started saving and I took my first loan of Sh30,000 to buy ARVs.

“2005 brought the era of free ARVs but the stigma was still there. Going to the Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) Centre at Nakuru Provincial General Hospital to collect drugs was a mental torture. I had to be cautious because I didn’t want the information to leak out and reach my daughter.

“I took the drugs for one month and began to skip at times and fell sick again.

In 2007 I went to collect drugs without fear. I was told I had to take another test. For the first time I heard the term viral load test.

I took a test to measure the number of HIV particles (copies) in a millilitre of blood. The results revealed that my viral load was 1 million copies of viral load and a CD4 count of 37.

IMMUNE SYSTEM
“This meant I was literally like a walking corpse. A healthy immune system has a CD4 count ranging from 500 to 1600 cells per cubic millimetre of blood cell. They changed the drugs and put me in the second line medication. One of the drugs was causing terrible nausea and vomiting, but I endured.

“I still went to work normally. I was in-charge of the music club. I gathered courage to go to Eldoret for the music festivals. The journey was not interesting. I puked all the way and I soiled the Matatu. I was supposed to be an adjudicator but I didn’t how I would do it.

“While in Eldoret, I called an old architect friend who referred me to AMPATH clinic which deals with HIV cases. I got a new dose of ARVs and the situation changed.

“However, my CD4 count was going down. I discovered the supplement diet I was using was interfering with the ARVs in my body.

“While attending the clinic, I met the founder of AMPATH a Prof Mammlin. He told me not to worry I will be a grandmother. Those were the words I wanted to hear.

BLOOD SAMPLE

“Prof Mammlin took a blood sample and sent it to US for free. I was resistant to many second line drugs except alluvia which had side effects. I used to teach while seated.

“The specimen from US came back. The results revealed that I was resistant to all the drugs and I was put on the third line drugs. More tests were done and HIV particles could not be detected. Reaching an undetectable viral load is key goal in HIV treatment.

“Being a Catholic I had a thanksgiving mass in my house, I felt like I must talk loud and that is when I started writing my book titled “A touch of God’s Favour.”

“I had two opportunistic infections. The third one came in as a cancer. A wart was discovered slightly inside the anal opening and the labia. I was treated for haemorrhoids because I used to have a lot pain when seated. I went to see a doctor who referred me to a surgeon. It was scaring to go to the theatre for the first time especially when I was having issues with viral load.

“But if it was going to get the rid of that pain, I yielded. The results came positive of skin cancer. However, the surgeon assured me the cancer would not take me down very fast. I went to Kenyatta National Hospital for radiotherapy.

“I completed the 27 sessions. I felt the cancer is gone. In 2013, the place where labia was operated started producing puss and went back for another operation.

OPERATION
“I took the results to Eldoret clinic. I went to AMPATH clinic and I was operated for the second time.

“I came home with a catheter. When my daughter saw the catheter she was not happy. She had just completed Form Four. The results came and this time there were no cancer cells. I celebrated.

“In 2017 the problem recurred on this other labia on my left. I was in denial. I started bleeding and I used to have a lot of pains at night and nose bleeding. I underwent a nine hour surgery. Upon my discharge I did chemotherapy to prevent cancer from recurring. I was to go for the fourth operation. However, a doctor at a private clinic in Nakuru told me to sit on saline water and the wound dried up and I escaped surgery.

I was fighting HIV and cancer of the vulva. It was a tough battle.

“I don’t blame my late husband for infecting me with HIV. He gave me a daughter. The source of hope and joy. And very soon she will deliver a grandchild.

“The HIV treatment has drained me financially and emotionally. During my days an early dose of ARVs was Sh250,000 per month. I feared to invest because I thought I will die soon. I was taking care of my medical expenses and my daughter’s education. I have spent more than Sh1million.

COVENANT
“I no longer fear many things. I am not afraid of going to the theatre. I did a covenant with God the last operation I underwent was the last one.

“I hope to be declared free of cancer after five years. The fact that the viral load is undetectable, it has given me a lot of courage to speak out.

Disclosure is the most freeing thing in the journey with HIV. Telling people about your cancer is another freeing experience.

“I want to impact on people positively. I pray that people will listen to my story. I have started a support group of people living with HIV and cancer to ease their emotional and physical pains.

“I have learnt many lessons. I faced stigma even from very close relatives. I have learnt not to be put down by their thinking. Anytime I encounter people with negative energy I shun them.

CANCER

“I am focused and have a goal. There are people who thought I would die when I was diagnosed with cancer. When I told my colleagues in my previous school, I was going for chemotherapy I saw them go dead silent. Their imagination was that when you go through chemotherapy you will die.

“My current working environment is good. The previous station was kind of a hell on earth. My former principal often told teachers to be careful while dealing with me.

“People count their blessings but for me there is no greatest blessing than seeing my 24-year-old daughter grow up and become a mother. She is pregnant and will soon give me a grandchild. She was not infected. She gives me a lot of consolation and hope.

“Overcoming two lethal diseases is not easy. I don’t care what people say so long as I am making impact on the lives of those living with HIV and cancer. I pray that I help somebody.

“The greatest worry in my journey was chemotherapy because it had been painted badly. It’s painless and people don’t vomit. I felt weak because it kills cells but if you manage your diet you restore your system.

FAVOUR

“I decided not to put a weave to see that side of no hair and my new side when the hair has grown and that is a touch of God’s favour. The journey has brought me closer to God. My life’s resolution is to be dedicated to my calling and to serve God.

“In my book I encourage, educate, and give readers an opportunity to learn about HIV and Aids. I want the book to reach all the 47 counties. I want to show there is a bright side in life. There is nothing permanent in life. I am a testimony for that. I want to touch many people in life.

My weak moments are when someone tells me of his or her condition, and I am financially handicapped.

UNPROTECTED SEX

“I caution students glorifying unprotected sex. HIV is real. Its sad many young people are contracting HIV. They lack proper guidance. I love reading motivational books by Joel Osteen, Dr Myles Munroe among others.

“I would like to be remembered as a person who touched many people because what matters is not what you go with but what you leave behind long after you have joined your maker.