Kalkidan (also known as Fetl0)e was 24 years old at the time we visited her, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Fetle was born several hundreds of miles outside Addis Ababa and had been abandoned at birth. She had been brought up by a non-governmental organization. At the age of 18 she was raped by one of their workers and she subsequently had twin boys.
She was referred to Hospice Ethiopia thru community volunteers, sadly the disease had already spread and could not be cured. When she came to us she was suffering with pain in her breast, spine, underarm and left leg, she had no pain killers. The breast cancer had spread through the skin, causing an open wound that was infected. She had become incontinent which, with other symptoms, suggested she had cancer in her spine and was at high risk of becoming paralyzed.
During our last visit visited Kalkidan greeted us warmly from her one bedroom house. Her pain was moderately well controlled, however she had symptoms of fever and increasing pain.
SO WHAT CAN HOSPICE ETHIOPIA DO FOR KALKIDAN?
We are giving Kalkidan pain killers, antibiotics for her infected wound and steroids to try and prevent paralysis. We will phone and visit her each week to review her symptoms and the effectiveness of the medicines.
We are also providing ongoing psychological, spiritual and financial support. Roughly, it costs $13 per month (CONVERSION TO STERLING POULD AND ETHIOPIAN BIRR RESPECTIVETBELY, 10 GBP or 400 ETB) to help her and the twins to eat properly. We will also help Fetle make plans for her twins, once she cannot care for them herself.
Her strong and beautiful spirit were apparent as she shared her story with us.
Recently, Kalkidan and her boys where interviewed on EBS. To view the video interview click here: https://youtu.be/Gm0c8h7_8vY
