In October 2016, Belinar Rutebera Namuddu watched a television programme demonstrating how to detect breast cancer. When she examined herself, she felt a tiny lump in her right breast, about the size of a coffee bean. She told her family, who advised her to seek medical attention.
‘I went to Nsambya Hospital in Kampala and did a test,’ she recalls.
She waited two weeks for her results. On the day she returned, she noticed that most patients had come with someone, and they all emerged from the doctor’s room crying.
‘I overheard the doctor say, ‘It seems I am only going to give bad news today.’ I was alone, and when I got the results, I had cancer. I was devastated. I called my sister, who was in Mukono, and she told me not to leave before she came. I waited because I was too confused to move.’
Namuddu’s breast looked normal, and she knew of no one in her family who had suffered from cancer. The diagnosis came as a shock. She went to Mulago National Referral Hospital and opened a file to begin treatment. Dr Victoria Walusansa recommended that the lump be removed and a biopsy performed to confirm the type of cancer.
Namuddu returned to Nsambya Hospital, where the lump was removed. However, she did not know that she needed to ask for the specimen and take it for laboratory testing.
‘I went back to Mulago, but they asked for a biopsy report, which I did not have. I did not understand the medical terms the doctors used. I got tired of being sent from one place to another, so I went back home and continued as normal, especially since I was not in any pain.’
For nearly three years, Namuddu stayed away from formal care, taking supplements that friends brought her from abroad.
Another lump developed in the same breast, but because it was not painful, she remained unbothered. Things took a turn when the scar left by the surgery developed an ulcer that refused to heal despite prolonged treatment. She tried different herbs, but the pus discharge and foul smell persisted.
‘I rang Gertrude Nakigudde of Uganda Women’s Cancer Support Organisation (UWOCASO), but she did not answer the call. I had known her before she had cancer, and I knew she had beaten cancer. She called back, but I had changed my mind and did not want to speak to her.’
Eventually, Nakigudde found Namuddu with the help of her siblings, who took her to the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) in 2019. When Dr Walusansa saw her again, she was livid about her prolonged absence from care.
By then, tests showed her cancer had progressed to stage IV and had spread to her lungs. She began chemotherapy immediately. The ulcer healed, and Namuddu responded well to the treatment. She later underwent surgery to remove the breast, followed by radiotherapy. By January 2021, she had started hormone therapy.
However, her journey was far from over. While on hormone therapy, she developed irritation at the end of her surgical scar. Although she continued attending her quarterly reviews, the irritation became a deep, painful wound within a month.
When she returned to hospital, Dr Walusansa recommended another course of chemotherapy. Namuddu underwent treatment for a year before receiving radiotherapy again.
When cancer spread further
In January 2022, while undergoing radiotherapy, Namuddu began experiencing alarming symptoms.
‘In January 2022, I developed a terrible, sharp headache that lasted a few minutes and left me sweating. I began losing my balance, missing steps and falling. I could no longer write, and my right side was failing. I thought these problems were related to the breast that had been removed,’ she says.
One evening, she suffered a seizure and was rushed to Mulago Hospital. A CT scan revealed two tumours in her brain.
‘I do not know whether the tumours were cancerous, but I underwent radiotherapy immediately. I recovered and regained movement in my right limbs and continued with hormone therapy.’
For about three years, her condition remained stable. Then, in January 2025, she noticed a nodule slightly above her collarbone.
‘If you have had cancer, everything becomes suspicious, and the earlier you report it, the better. I went and had it removed, but luckily, it was not cancer this time.’
In April 2026, however, Namuddu began experiencing breathlessness accompanied by a sharp pain below her left breast.
Initially, she blamed the symptoms on asthma, which runs in her family. She began using inhalers, but even simple activities such as walking left her struggling to breathe.
When the breathlessness persisted for a month, she returned to Uganda Cancer Institute for further assessment. A CT scan revealed lesions in her lungs and liver. Her left lung was also collapsing because it had filled with fluid.
‘The fluid in my lungs was removed, and I breathed better, but my cancer had metastasised. I needed booster doses of chemotherapy.’
She began another course of chemotherapy, receiving the first five cycles weekly. She is expected to undergo 12 cycles in total, with the remaining sessions scheduled at intervals of 21 days. For now, she says, she is not experiencing pain, although she struggles with fatigue. Her greatest worry is the cost of treatment. One of the drugs required for her chemotherapy costs Shs1m per cycle, an expense that has become increasingly difficult to meet.
‘I am now left with seven cycles and, therefore, need Shs7m. I kindly request financial support to enable me complete my treatment,’ Namuddu pleads, adding that any support can be sent to 0740838354.
Finding purpose
Despite the physical and financial challenges, Namuddu is determined to remain productive. Before her diagnosis, she worked as a tailor, a trade she continues to practise whenever her health allows. She still visits her shop, although she no longer has as many clients as she did before falling ill. On days when she feels unwell, she stays home.
She advises those diagnosed with cancer to identify activities they can undertake from home to help them remain financially independent. For Namuddu, remaining economically active is not only about earning an income. It also helps her maintain a sense of purpose despite the uncertainty surrounding her health.
The financial burden of cancer treatment remains a challenge for many patients, who must also meet the costs of changing their diets, attending regular reviews and undergoing repeated assessments. For those who can no longer work consistently, the expenses can become overwhelming. The strain can also extend to family relationships, leaving some women vulnerable when they need support the most.
‘I also see many women abandoned by their husbands, and sometimes their property is sold without their consent. It’s very painful.’
Her advice
Before her breast cancer diagnosis, Belinar Rutebera Namuddu worked as a tailor. Although treatment and fatigue have reduced the time she spends at her shop, she continues sewing whenever her health allows.
She encourages people living with cancer to identify work they can do from home, even if it earns less than their previous jobs.
”You may not earn as much money from it, but it helps break the stigma and also be productive,” she says.
Namuddu also urges people who have had cancer to report suspicious symptoms promptly rather than dismissing them.
”If you have had cancer, everything becomes suspicious, and the earlier you report it, the better.”