Premium Times - Nigeria'bs leading online newspaper, delivering breaking news and deep investigative reports from Nigeria
SPECIAL REPORT: Jigawa villagers link declining farming output, urban drift to abandonment of damSPECIAL REPORT: Katsina farmers lament impact of climate change1st of August protest: Another opportunity for government to recalibrate, By Frank Nweke IISPECIAL REPORT: Jigawa villagers link declining farming output, urban drift to abandonment of damSPECIAL REPORT: Katsina farmers lament impact of climate change1st of August protest: Another opportunity for government to recalibrate, By Frank Nweke...
Since that fateful Monday morning, I have gone into and out of the surgical theatre nine times for six major operations and three minor procedures. I have spent six days in the Intensive Care Unit , surviving on oxygen and relieving myself through catheters. I have become totally dependent on others for the performance of even such personal functions as cleaning myself. I have lost 20 kilogrammes in five months and was reduced to a mere sack of bones.
Although it did not mean much to me at the time, but in this hospital, patients do not have access to the results of their laboratory tests. The doctor electronically sends requests to the laboratory and once the patient has made payment, the laboratory will conduct the test and send the results in the same manner back to the doctor. The doctor would access the results on his computer and based on this, make pronouncements on what the patient needs to do next.
Akintoba also called my boss, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, who was then in the United States. The former Senate President immediately directed Akintoba to get some money across to my wife and also promised to speak with the Health minister. My wife also sent an urgent message to my brother, the Senator representing my Senatorial District, Ogun Central, Senator Shuaib Afolabi Salis. The Senator immediately came over to the hospital to meet the Chief Medical Director.
Immediately, we called a urologist working in another government hospital, who after listening to us promptly declared an emergency. He then directed that we should go to the emergency ward of the public hospital where he works and he would get a consultant to attend to us. We did as he directed. But one hour after, we were still waiting. No one was in sight to attend to us. After a quick deliberation, we decided to go to the private hospital where we were normally registered.
In no time, I began to depend on my wife to brush my teeth, clean myself in the bathroom, put food in my mouth, perform ablution, and do any chore that involved the use of my right hand. Then my right leg soon followed. It was like something was switching off my limbs one by one. Then at night, the pains descended on my neck and shoulder like a boulder. Sleep became impossible. Turning became a torture.
When Akintoba left the house, he went straight to Dr Saraki’s residence and told him of my situation. The former Senate President immediately started to make calls to different hospitals in Saudi Arabia, the UK, and the US. I did not have a valid US visa and we had no time to apply for one. The Saudi hospital, after studying the MRI, later replied that they could not deal with the situation. Then, someone suggested Egypt. Contacts and appointments were made.
After the successful operation, the surgical team decided to culture fragments of bones and tissues extracted from my back to determine what went wrong in the first place. It was an investigation that took days and a lot of blood tests. What they found was, to say the least, shocking. It was described in medical terms as “necrotizing Granulomatous Inflammation Compatible With Tuberculosis of the Vertebrae. No malignancy.” In short, it is called tuberculosis of the vertebrae.
A few days after the surgery, I began physiotherapy sessions in the hospital. Several physiotherapists came to work on me. But a particular one stood out for me. His name is Ahmed El-Sanadidy, the man from Alexandria. Even after I left the hospital for a rented apartment close by, we contracted El Sanadidy to continue my rehabilitation therapy. He got paid per session. He was such an effective, devoted, passionate, friendly, hardworking, and creative professional.
I have written this piece to celebrate the fact that I am alive, despite my ordeal in the past five months. But I have also written it to share my experience of the Nigerian medical system. Even before I traveled to Egypt, I realised that so much is wrong with our medical system, for which I nearly paid with my life. But my experience in Egyptian hospitals and with Egyptian doctors made me realise this even more.
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Umahi: Nigeria would be failed state if God didn't make Tinubu presidentDavid Umahi, minister of works, says President Bola Tinubu's timely emergence was a divine intervention that saved Nigeria from potential collapse.
Read more »
Nigeria’s God of Darkness, By Niyi OsundarePremium Times - Nigeria'bs leading online newspaper, delivering breaking news and deep investigative reports from Nigeria
Read more »
2024 Hajj: Why VIPs didn’t secure Tent A in MunaPremium Times - Nigeria'bs leading online newspaper, delivering breaking news and deep investigative reports from Nigeria
Read more »
1st of August protest: Another opportunity for government to recalibrate, By Frank Nweke IIPremium Times - Nigeria'bs leading online newspaper, delivering breaking news and deep investigative reports from Nigeria
Read more »
Farouk Ahmed and the rise of a new dawn in petroleum regulation, By Dunni AladefaPremium Times - Nigeria'bs leading online newspaper, delivering breaking news and deep investigative reports from Nigeria
Read more »
In government, size matters, By Dakuku PetersidePremium Times - Nigeria'bs leading online newspaper, delivering breaking news and deep investigative reports from Nigeria
Read more »