This boy must not die

This boy must not die

Emeka Ibemere

The balls of tears rolling down his cheek are as big as the pains he goes through on daily basis trying to endure the challenges of double sickness: sickle cell and kidney problems.He is also an albino.

Severe headache, heart-ache, body rashes, pains of bone marrow, blurred vision, loss of voice and sickle cell induced crises, swollen angles and body are the experiences he battles every day as he lay facing the ceiling rooftop waiting where help could come.

This is the ugly situation the twenty- four- years- old Secondary School graduate, Onyedika Chukwu Udebuani is going through as sobbed while he recounts his pains and suffering as a sickle cell anaemia and kidney failure patient on his sick bed at his father’s compound, 27 Victor Ogundipe Street Isashi, Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State.

“I’m in pains. Every time this comes up, I always experience pains on my chest and I will be finding it difficult to breath. I will be having crises and bone pains and my stomach will be paining me. There will be rashes all over my body. I will not be able to see properly with my eyes and it will be very difficult for me to think properly and chest pains are also there. Itching of body and pores will be coming out of my body and restlessness like that. It is also affecting my voice. Now, this is not my normal voice and I can’t talk properly”, Onyedika-chukwu sobbed.

“I was born with sickle cell gene that is SS, when I was born, I had those normal sickle cell illnesses, later it stopped and I continued my school, and was able to finish my Primary and Secondary education. Immediately after my secondary education, my family moved from Yaba to where we are now in Iyano Isashi. Since we moved to this place, six to seven years ago, I started noticing changes on my body because any sickle patient at 20-21 years will be having sickle cell crisis. So when we relocated to this area, I started having those crises”.

Onyedika-chukwu is at home not because he prefers to remain with his illness but because he couldn’t provide the needed N6million for bone-marrow transplant which he was due to go to in India for sickle cell and another N6million for kidney transplant required for the kidney transplant.

According to the medical report from Dialyzer Specialist Medical Centre 60 Arowojobe Street Oshodi Lagos, which was made available to Daily Newswatch and dated April 11, 2013, Dr K E Asomugha, the Clinical Coordinator reported that the 24 years old Udebuani Onyedika with hospital number 00/37/11 was first seen at their dialysis Unit on 11 April, 2012.

The report said he had two months history of progressive leg swelling and two days history of difficulty in breathing with associated reduction in urine output, dizziness and PND.

The doctor said his patient is a known sickle cell patient who was diagnosed of having sickle cell Nephropathy in India where he had first session of haemodialysis.

“Physical examination at presentation revealed a young man, who was conscious and alert but in mild respiratory distress, pale looking, afebrile, anicteric and had bilateral pitting pedal oedema”, the report stated.

 It was revealed in the report that his vital signs at presentation were PR-80, BP-140/100MMHG. PR-24cpm, temp. 36.8c. while the weight is 64.7kg.

“Other Systemic examinations were unremarkable.” The report analysed.

Due to severe financial constraint, Onyedika-chukwu has not been having his haemodialysis session regularly. As a result of this, his Clinical Status is worsening every day. Onyedika-chukwu intends to have kidney transplantation as the mode of his replacement therapy. He has been counselled and he is currently making efforts to have suitable donor for the transplant operation.

 According to estimated cost implication for transplant, Donor/recipient evaluation HLA typing inclusive is N600.000, Transplant surgery will cost N5,000,000 while Incidental expenses is N400,000.

For now, he has stopped receiving treatment because the parents have spent all they have in dialysis and several medical tests in the last six years. He has done close to 16 dialysis and more are still needed. This year, he was due for the kidney transplant in an India hospital but he is yet to go because of fund.

“So with the help of some family friends and the little one with my dad we went to India on February 2012.  In India, we discovered that my swollen legs were as a result of kidney failure. So they gave us the vaccine for the sickle cell crises and the drugs for kidney problem. They gave us appointment to come back in 2013 or next year but till date am yet to honour that appointment because we don’t have money to go for it”, Onyedika-chukwu cried.

“And they inserted fistulae in my hand, which I will be using to go for dialysis when the time comes. At the time I had the fistulae, I was not having the dialysis because I didn’t need it at that time. Later after the operation for fistulae, we came back to Nigeria and after two-three months later, my body started swelling again, and this time it’s becoming too much. So I went to the hospital again to insert the fistulae because it’s now the time to use it. We went to this hospital at Oshodi, Dialyser at Oshodi and ever since then, we have been going for the dialysis. I’m in pains”, he stated for the second time.

All started when he had an injury from mosquito bites which later grow to an injury that affected his two legs. He suffered it for three years as a result of sickle cell gene. Then, when the injury healed, due to prayers and medications, the next thing he saw was hestarted noticing swollen legs which became uncontrollably because,he thought it was another symptom of sickle cell disease.

“But later my dad said his friend told him that we should go for test to find out what was the cause of the swollen feet. So we went to different hospitals carrying out tests until we went to Lagos State University Hospital (LUTH), and the doctor told us to go for kidney function test. But because we don’t have enough money, and the test going to take a long time, we didn’t go for the kidney function test on time and  because then the doctors were on strike, we couldn’t make it”. Onyedika-chukwu told Daily Newswatch.

Relief somehow came the way of Onyedika-chukwu, when his friend told him that there was some body that went to India for sickle cell vaccine and that the person explained that if he should go for the vaccine in India, the sickle cell crises would go for five years and that he can now take it again for the next five years and so on.

“So my dad said we are going to try it and with the little money remaining on him, we embarked on the Indian medical trip”. Onyedika-chukwu is due to go to India for another round of treatment, this time for the kidney transplant but before going to the Press, the Nnewi north local government Area of Anambra State born indigene is fervently begging for assistance, especially from his Governor, Peter Obi and other well-meaning Nigerians to help him.

“I want my state Government and Governor to come to my help before I die. I want all those good Nigerians to come to my aid. Going to India will cost us N6million for kidney transplant. I need help, Sir, please help me, I need help. I want to live and I don’t want to die. The pains are too much, please I want to use this medium to appeal to my National Assembly Representatives and our Senators and the State Assembly members to please help safe my life. They should not allow me to die. My dad has spent all he has and my mother is not working”, he added.

“I want people to come to my aid because we have run out of cash. We don’t have money again and people who have been helping me are all tired, so I want the people of Nigeria to helm me financial so that I can do the kidney transplant which seems to be the only remedy now. I need donations from kind-hearted people”.

For Mr Ben and Faith Udebuani, the parents of Onyedika-chukwu, what is uppermost now is how their first son could get his health back and continued his University education, which has been in the boy’s mind. Mr Udebuani said he has spent all he has for the problem yet it seems the solution is still miles away.

“I want my son to get his health back. I don’t want to lose my son. He is very intelligent and hardworking before this crises started. I don’t want my son to die. I need the help of spirited Nigerians to help us. We haven’t appeal to any church group or organization but have gone to some Christians for help and they have helped us”, he added.“We have visited so many private hospitals and government owned ones. Even from when we were at Yaba, it has been one hospital to another. We went to LUTH severally yet no head way.Close to N5miilion have been spent so far, becausethe India trip alone caused us about N3miilion and all the money we got from people and the ones from us have finished”, Udebuani stated.

According to Mr Udebuani, it will cost within range of N6million. He said the cost was from the Dialyser Hospital at Oshodi. He said his son would under-go two transplant operations. According to him, he would under-go bone-marrow- transplant for the sickle cell and secondly, kidney transplanting for the kidney failure.

“So, the problem is too much for the boy. Any one we have the money for now, we can go for it”, Mr Udebuani pleaded.

“I believe that God will not allow my child to die but I need help from people to go for the transplants. We need financial help so that we can take him to hospital again for God to have His complete healing on him, the Mother added.