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| ANTONY with his mother. |
MIGRAINES are something that never ran in the family of Antony Chiwone, a 21-year-old first year student in the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Zambia (UNZA). Neither his late father nor mother ever had them.
But Antony has had migraines and swollen face for some time now. He had migraines on and off since he was in high school in Lusaka’s Chunga area.
However, they were more frequent around mid-January this year; he could not sleep, was often thirsty, had blurry vision and was fighting chronic fatigue.
One morning in February, as he was in class at UNZA, he got sick and was taken to the University clinic, where he was diagnosed with high blood pressure and told to rest for a few hours with the hope that the pressure will normalise.
But after waiting for over six hours, the blood pressure could not normalise, and so, he was referred to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) for specialised diagnosis.
At UTH, Antony learned that he had end-stage renal failure, which is a total shutdown of his kidneys. His blood pressure was so high such that doctors were surprised that he had not had a stroke.
He was admitted in hospital for one month before doctors at UTH recommended in March that he be taken for a kidney transplant in India.
The donor is there; his mother.
But there is a challenge still.
His mother, Grace Chiwone, cannot afford the costs attached to the kidney transplant. So, Antony is seeking for US$30,000 to undergo a kidney transplant as quickly as possible in India.
At 21, this is still a young life, one that is seeking to become a medical doctor so that it could help in saving lives.
Unfortunately, all he has is hope, just hope, that someone can come forward and assist him.
Currently, Antony is undergoing three to four hours of dialysis three times a week at UTH. The dialysis machine filters blood to remove excess water and waste products from the kidney.
“I really didn’t understand,” is his initial reaction of his condition. “I didn’t know anything about kidney disease. [It] just never even entered into my mind.”
Antony is the only child, and as any mother in that position would do, she is willing to do anything to enable her son have a chance at life. So, she is willing to donate a kidney.
“I lost my father in 2001, when I was five, so since then, all the needs have been provided for by my mother. It has not been easy and now it is worse because I need transport from here (Kabanana Extension area in Lusaka) to UTH three times a week. I have been restricted on what to eat and not what to and this has become more expensive for my mother,” he says.
“I now visit UTH three times a week for weekly sessions on their haemodialysis machine. I am glad that the cost which I am told ranges between K1,800 to K2,500 per session is being done on me free of charge.”
Antony uses a public bus to move from Kabanana Extension to UTH while his mother follows him on foot to the hospital and back.
“It costs K30 for transport each day I go to UTH, I use the public buses and my mother follows me later because she has to walk from Kabanana to UTH and back. So, if the two of us were to use the bus, the cost each day comes to K60 which is too expensive for my mother to afford,” he says.
Things are certainly dire for Antony and the mother.
His school requirements are met by well-wishers while he lives with his mother in an incomplete house as caretakers of the property belonging to a good Samaritan.
Antony’s sickness has only compounded matters for her mother.
“Being a single parent hasn’t been easy, but neighbours and friends have been very helpful in ensuring that my son and I keep up,” Antony’s mother says.
Diabetes and high blood pressure are among two leading causes of kidney diseases in the country, and they are on the increase.
The financial costs involved in kidney treatment are staggering; for instance, for each kidney transplant to India, one has to part away with US$30,000, an amount that is beyond the majority of Zambians in the position such as Antony’s.
“[Kidney failure] is absolutely increasing because of hypertension and diabetes. It’s a very serious disease. It’s on the rise, and many patients cannot afford the transplant costs because it is done outside the country. Currently, it costs between US$25,000 to US$30,000 is,” says Dr Michael Mbambiko, a United Kingdom-trained kidney transplant surgeon.
Dr Mbambiko says kidney disease is called the silent killer because the patient often does not notice any symptoms until the disease has done severe damage.
“Early detection is the key. If people have a history of diabetes or high blood pressure, they should get tested for kidney disease once a year,” he says.
And Ministry of Health spokesperson Kennedy Malama says Antony’s problem is being looked at by the ministry.
Currently, Zambia has no capacity to conduct a successful kidney transplant because such an operation requires the necessary equipment and supporting staff like nurses trained to handle kidney transplant operations.
That is why Anthony’s case is urgent.
PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON JUNE 24, 2017: LINK: https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/holding-out-for-hope/
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