For years, Maryline Juma was accustomed to standing behind the camera, capturing other people’s lives, businesses and memorable moments. As a photographer, entrepreneur and media host in Busia, storytelling was part of her everyday life.
But after being diagnosed with breast cancer, the mother of a seven-year-old boy suddenly found herself at the centre of a story she had never imagined would become her own.
Before the diagnosis, Juma says her life revolved around motherhood, running her businesses and serving clients in Busia.
“I lived a normal life as a mother, as an entrepreneur, as a boss. I did my business, I served the people of Busia, and I just led a normal life until I was diagnosed with cancer,” she recalls.
Her journey began around 2023 and 2024 when she started experiencing unusual discomfort in her right breast. The pain sometimes resembled menstrual cramps but appeared more intense on the right side.
Concerned, she travelled to Nairobi and sought medical attention. A doctor examined her but could not detect a lump, and she was told there was no immediate reason for alarm.
She returned home relieved.
About a year later, in December 2024, everything changed.
One night, while lying in bed talking to a friend on the phone, Juma rested her arm around her breast and felt something unusual.
A lump.
“I froze. I was just shocked,” she says.
Despite the fear, Juma knew she could not ignore it. After spending two weeks praying and fasting, she sought medical attention.
A senior medical officer in Busia Dr Wilberforce Lusamba examined her and recommended an ultrasound
The ultrasound raised concerns, and doctors recommended a biopsy.
Juma was connected to Dr Maureen, an oncologist, who examined her and booked the procedure.
The samples were sent to Eldoret for analysis, beginning an anxious two-week wait.
The message that changed her life
Juma continued working as she waited for the results.
During that period, her friend Peter Osogo invited her to Nairobi to photograph an event. She travelled on a Friday evening and arrived early the following morning.
At around 10am, as she prepared for the assignment, she received a message from her oncologist asking whether she was available to discuss her biopsy results.
Juma was in Nairobi, but she could not bear waiting until she returned to Busia. She pleaded with the doctor to send her the report.
When it arrived, she skipped much of the medical terminology and went straight to the conclusion.
There were three words that would change her life: “invasive ductal carcinoma.”
She knew carcinoma meant cancer.
“I just knew it was cancer,” she recalls.
Overwhelmed, she sat on the bed wondering what would happen next. But after praying and gathering herself, she called a cab and headed to Lavington for her photography assignment.
At the event, however, she struggled to hide her emotions and eventually confided in Peter.
She was not asking for money. She simply wanted someone with medical knowledge to help her understand what she was facing.
Peter connected her with a doctor attending the event. Although he was not a cancer specialist, he linked her to a breast specialist and an oncologist.
That connection opened another door.
Further examinations followed, including a CT scan and mammogram.
Then came another challenge: money.
Juma says she had only KSh5,000, yet the CT scan alone would cost about KSh48,000.
Sitting on a bench and wondering what to do, she called her best friend Carol, who lives in the United States.
Initially, she only wanted someone to talk to. But after hearing about the financial challenge, Carol asked how much she needed.
Minutes later, Juma received an M-Pesa message.
Carol had sent KSh50,000.
“I really appreciate my friend for that,” she says.
The money enabled her to undergo the CT scan, followed by a mammogram at Aga Khan in Nairobi and additional laboratory tests.
KSh1.5 million raised in three weeks
Back in Busia, Juma initially wanted to keep her diagnosis private. But a friend advised her that cancer treatment was too enormous a challenge to face alone and that she would need emotional and financial support.
Her diagnosis eventually became public through a social media post.
Although Juma initially felt the announcement had come too soon, it proved significant.
She had only about three weeks before surgery and needed to raise a substantial amount of money.
Juma initially considered travelling to India for treatment, where she estimated she would require about KSh4 million.
Unable to raise the amount within the limited time, she opted for treatment in Nairobi, estimated to cost between KSh1.8 million and KSh2 million.
Friends, relatives and well-wishers rallied around her.
Within three weeks, approximately KSh1.5 million had been raised.
“That was a miracle to me,” she says.
On July 22, 2025, Juma underwent surgery to remove the tumour.
But another painful chapter followed.
She says complications with blood circulation affected healing and resulted in the loss of her nipple. The wound became difficult to manage, sometimes developing an unpleasant smell that made being around other people uncomfortable.
There were moments when she almost gave up.
With support from her medical team, family and faith, however, she kept fighting.
“I gathered my courage and resilience and decided to fight to the end,” she recalls.
After recovering sufficiently from surgery, Juma underwent 20 radiotherapy sessions and later proceeded with chemotherapy treatment.
Diagnosed with Stage 2A breast cancer, she says doctors informed her that the disease had not spread to other parts of her body.
Unlike the experience commonly associated with chemotherapy, Juma has retained her hair, which she attributes to the type of treatment she is receiving following surgery and radiotherapy.
Turning pain into purpose
Cancer has affected Juma’s finances, work, body and emotional wellbeing. Yet amid the pain, she says the experience has also strengthened her family, bringing relatives closer and making them more attentive to one another.
Friendship has equally played a defining role.
From doctors who helped connect her to specialists, to Carol sending KSh50,000 when she desperately needed a CT scan, and supporters raising KSh1.5 million within three weeks, Juma says she has repeatedly witnessed people standing beside her when she needed them most.
She remains on treatment, but her story is no longer only about cancer.
For a woman who spent years behind the camera telling other people’s stories, Juma is now using her own experience to encourage others facing frightening diagnoses not to lose hope.
“I know that God had a purpose for my life,” she says, “and that is why I am telling my story today.”
