The death of the late Bomet Governor, Joyce Laboso, came as a surprise to many Kenyans who until Monday, didn't know she was battling cancer.
The Standard reported that according to medical files, Governor Laboso was first diagnosed with the illness in 1991.
She had been in remission until recently when her health deteriorated.
Caroline Maina, a medic from Outspan Hospital, told Kenyans.co.ke that remission of cancer refers to the absence of the active disease for a period of time.
The absence of active disease does not mean that cancer has been cured or even that there are no detectable signs of cancer.
There are two types of cancer remissions, the first one being complete remission where the evidence of the illness can only be found upon a physical exam or through radio tests such as CT, MRI or PET scans.
Partial remission occurs when the cancer cells decrease in number and the disease is in a controlled state.
Cancer that has gone into remission, whether complete or partial, is usually responding to whatever treatment that has been done.
On rare occasions, however, cancer may go into remission without any treatment directed at cancer. This uncommon occurrence is referred to as the spontaneous remission of cancer.
Spontaneous remissions often occur when someone with cancer has been fighting an infection, and it's thought that the body's immune system, in this case, fights off cancer.
Unfortunately for Laboso, the illness took a toll on her in May 2019, after which she applied for medical leave and travelled to UK for treatment.
After one and a half months in UK, the governor was flown to India where she was treated for two weeks.
Laboso jetted back into the country on July 14, but her communications team stated that the county boss would still not resume her duties as she was scheduled to receive further treatment.
On July 29, the deceased succumbed to her illness after a long battle.
