World TB Day - 24 March 2003

Patient Stories

INDIA

INDONESIA

KENYA

NEPAL

PERU

 

The Story of Mr Shri. Subash Tejappa Tadsare, India

I work in Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation as an Insecticide Spray worker. I suffered from a cough, fever and body aches for one month. First I went to a private practitioner. I spent 2000 rupees for my medicines, but I did not get better. Then I went to Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s Talera Hospital where all my investigations were done and I was diagnosed as a TB patient. I started DOTS treatment. I took all the medicines regularly and completely, and now I am completely cured. My treatment was free. I regret the fact that in spite of being an employee of the Corporation, I spent 2000 rupees before being properly diagnosed with TB.

 

The story of Mr Bhupendra Rajaram Rakshe

This is Bhupendra. He lives with his parents and one sister. When Bhupendra and his sister were still in school, his father left his job and the family became increasingly poor. It was very difficult to earn enough for a daily meal, and Bhupendra’s health was affected. He became very weak and started suffering from cough and fever. The whole family was under tension, so Bhupendra’s sister left school and started working for money. She took Bhupendra to Talera Hospital for a sputum examination because she knew that it was free of charge there. He was diagnosed with TB and put on DOTS therapy. His medicine is free of charge, and he is improving now.

 

The Story of Mr Ali Munir, Indonesia

The Case History of Mr. Ali Munir - A history taken by Dr. Erita, an Indonesian doctor attached to the TB team from the University of Nijmegen (AZN) in the Netherlands.

Mr. Munir is one of nearly 400 TB patients adopted by AZN. He is retired after working as a city-bus driver for twenty years and lives with his wife and eight children, some of whom fortunately have jobs and help their parents to support the family.

After Mr. Munir retired, he noticed that his health began to deteriorate. His body became increasingly weak, and a small ulcer appeared on his back. The ulcer became bigger and bigger, followed by redness, swelling and pain. He took traditional medicines rather than going to a doctor to seek treatment, but his ulcer became an abscess with a big cavity, and his condition worsened when he began to cough up blood and became short of breath.

When his neighbour Mrs. Mumun, who also suffered from TB and was treated free-of-charge through an adoption program at the TB Control Clinic of PPTI-Jakarta (the Indonesian Association Against TB), noticed that his symptoms were almost the same as hers, she suggested that he go to the TB Control Clinic for medical examination and treatment.

Accompanied by his wife, Mr. Munir went to see the TB Control Clinic’s doctor. After a physical examination and laboratory tests had been done, the doctor ordered a chest x-ray. Several days later he was diagnosed as having active pulmonary TB with a positive sputum smear. He was asked whether he preferred the free treatment program (through an adoption program which involved signing a treatment contract) or a monthly prescription to buy his medicines by himself. He opted for the first alternative and was subsequently adopted by AZN, which only adopts smear-positive patients.

The results of Mr. Munir’s blood tests also showed that he was suffering from Diabetes Mellitus, and he began to receive diabetes medication at the same time as he received his TB medication through the DOTS program.

After the first week of treatment, Mr Munir felt much better. The cavity and abscess on his back became better, he stopped coughing up blood, the shortness of breath disappeared, his appetite became normal again and he was able to sleep again.

Before being treated in the TB Control Clinic of PPTI-Jakarta, Mr. Munir thought that his illness could not be cured. He felt totally desperate because he didn’t have much money to buy medicine and his condition was so poor. After receiving free TB treatment and starting to feel better so quickly, he promised himself to take his medication regularly and obey all the recommendations made by his doctor.

Mr. Munir says that he feels very grateful for the free treatment and to all the doctors and paramedics for their kindness and willingness to help him get cured. He advises fellow patients with TB to take their medication regularly until the end of the prescribed treatment period, to stop sleeping late, and to stop smoking (Mr. Munir used to smoke 1.5 packs of cigarettes per day).

 

The story of Mrs Umyati

Mrs. Umyati lives about 100 km from Jakarta in Indonesia. She is 52 years old and has 10 children and 17 grandchildren. Approximately eight years ago, Mrs. Umyati began to complain of a cough, breathlessness, a slight fever with occasional chills, and blood-stained sputum. She went first to a practising paramedic and then to a Rural Health Centre where she was treated for two years on an irregular basis. When conditions improved she did not return to the doctor because of the cost of treatment, and when there was a relapse she went to see her doctor again. This cycle was repeated several times.

Finally, Mrs. Umyati heard about the PPTI* TB Control Clinic from a neighbour of her daughter who lives in Jakarta. This neighbour has a daughter who had TB and received a full course of free anti-TB treatment through an adoption program. When Mrs. Umyati went to the PPTI Clinic, she was diagnosed with TB and subsequently put into an adoption group sponsored by a foreign doctor. When she started treatment, Mrs. Umyati’s weight was only 40 kg. After two months of DOTS treatment she gained two kg, and after four months she weighed 45 kg and all her complaints vanished.

Her neighbours say that it is as if she has been given a new life, as before starting DOTS treatment she was regarded as being on the brink of death.

PPTI*: Perkumplan Pemberantasan Tuberkulosis Indonesia-Jakarta (Indonesian Association against Tuberculosis-Jakarta branch)

Story sent by Dr Halim PPTI Jakarta

 

The Story of Lovemore Ncube, Kenya

"DOTS cured me-it will cure you too!"

FIFTY-YEAR-OLD Lovemore Ncube, a well-known freelance photojournalist in Kenya, is also an ex-TB patient.

Early last year, he spent several hours lying unconscious in bed until a close friend came along and found him. Ncube’s friend, Lovejoy Ndlovu, had to break into the room where he had been sleeping for a period he can hardly remember.

Finding his friend in critical condition, Ndlovu immediately took him to Wilkins Hospital in Harare, where he eventually regained consciousness.

"I could have died if my friend had not decided to check on me after he became curious about my silence. He peeped through the window and saw me lying helplessly on my bed," Ncube says.

At the hospital, the doctor who attended to him discovered that he had a persistent cough, night sweats and non-stop hiccups, some of the unmistakable symptoms of tuberculosis.

Ncube’s doctor recommended that an X-ray be conducted. He was subsequently diagnosed with tuberculosis and immediately started receiving free TB treatment under the DOTS programme.

"I am now very much scared of getting TB because I suffered a lot when hospital tests confirmed that I had TB. For some time I was unable to work," he says.

Ncube remembers vividly how he took his daily TB medication without defaulting. "I followed all the instructions carefully until I got cured. I have no doubt that DOTS cured me and it will cure you too!"

He is now physically fit and back at work.

The story of Mr. John Makau Ndeti

John Makau Ndeti was registered in the Makueni district of Kenya, tuberculosis registry number 83/2001. He is 28 years of age and worked in a wholesale shop as an employee of a small town tycoon. In May 2000, Mr. Ndeti started noticing that his appetite was getting poorer as time went by. He also noticed that his trousers seemed to be getting bigger, he had a yellowish cough, and he found it difficult to wake up early in the morning. His employer started complaining that he was becoming lazy because he could not carry the sugar bags he could carry six months earlier.

Mr. Ndeti started buying cough medicines and eating honey to suppress his symptoms. They continued, so he went to the nearest health centre and was examined by a nurse and found to have malaria and an upper respiratory tract infection. He was given antibiotics and told to come back in one week. After completion of the dosage, he became worse and was advised by friends to seek treatment at a bigger district hospital. In the hospital he was diagnosed as having pneumonia and was admitted and put on antibiotics and painkillers. He felt better after eight days and was sent home.

In September 2000, his cough, chest pain and fever worsened and a friend thought that he had AIDS. His uncle took him to see a well-known Kamba herbalist, but when they arrived, they learned that the herbalist had died of what the neighbours thought was AIDS. In desperation, Mr. Ndeti went home only to discover that his wife and child had gone back to her parents because the rumour had gone around that he had AIDS. His employer then transferred him to work on the farm for the same reason.

In January of 2001, Mr. Ndeti’s younger brother, who worked in the neighbouring district of Machakos, came home for a visit. In Machakos, a community TB care project was started in 1997, and as a result, everybody there knows the signs and symptoms of TB. The brother saw that Mr. Ndeti was very likely suffering from TB and so he took his older brother to the hospital where he was indeed diagnosed with TB.

Mr. Ndeti was counselled by the clinic nurse and agreed to start an 8-month DOTS treatment regimen. His sputum conversion at two, five and eight months was negative. After six months, Mr. Ndeti stopped treatment because he thought that he was cured because he had regained weight, his cough had subsided and he had no fever. The clinic retraced him, he resumed treatment, and he was declared cured in early October 2001.

On World TB Day in 2002, Mr. Ndeti went all the way to the provincial capital of Embu to join other cured TB patients to give a living testimony of his cure through DOTS.

Story sent by Dr Joel Kangangi, NLTP Kenya

 

The Story of Mr Ram Khadka, Nepal

There was once a small and happy family in the Kathmandu valley in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal with four members – parents and two sons. Sadly, the story of this happy family was very cruelly interrupted, and the happy story was turned into a tragic and pathetic story.

This is the personal history of my life and family. This is the tragic and sorrowful experience of my life. My father was killed by TB before his 32nd birthday. When TB attacked my father, there was no DOTS, and treatment was very expensive. I lost the warm lap of my father at a very early age, and then after that the word 'DAD' was no longer in my personal dictionary.

Not only my father, but then my mother, too, was killed at a very early age by TB, preventing her from seeing her children grow up. My mother was hospitalized in Kathmandu, and her TB became drug-resistant. I am troubled by this thousands-lives-killing TB. I don't have the opportunity to respect my mother and worship her womb. I hate the cruel disease TB, and I work for its elimination. I need several hands for my courageous and brave determination to fight TB.

But I have a further story of the cruelty of TB. Both my brother and I were victimized by TB. But – thank God! – DOTS saved our lives. My father didn't have DOTS and my mother didn't have DOTS either, but we did. DOTS saved my life…and I promise to fight against TB and promote DOTS.

I was diagnosed when I was looking after my mother in hospital, and I observed many TB patients. There was a great deal of frustration in the patients, and all were hopeless about their lives though they were under treatment. They didn't have knowledge of DOTS treatment and the necessity of regular anti-TB drugs. I was very much convinced about this TB treatment, and I tried to convince the other patients about it. I gathered more knowledge on TB treatment and the realities of TB and TB patients during my stay with my mother in hospital. This experience gave me the knowledge to include TB patients on TB treatment campaigns. Thus, I heartily thank WHO for selecting the slogan DOTS CURED ME – IT WILL CURE YOU TOO! for World TB Day 2003. (contact: fattbandhiv@mail.com.np).

 

The Story of Mr Tamser Lodh, Nepal

My name is Tamser Lodh, from Nepal. I'm 50 years old and a farmer by profession. I'm also the only one to earn for my family. A few months ago I got a cough and fever in the evening. I used to get pain in my chest also. Then I suffered from loss of appetite. One day while coughing I found some blood stains in my sputum. I was shocked and went to the Primary Health Care Centre at Lumbini The doctor asked me to get a sputum test. I had decided to go to Bhairahawa for the test, but then I heard about the lab facility run by NATA and assisted by JATA. I went to the laboratory assistant, and he asked me to bring in a morning sputum sample. I did, accordingly. After the test, it was found to be sputum positive. Then on the suggestion of the home visitor from NATA, I started anti-TB treatment in the DOTS clinic. In the beginning, my urine was red and I felt irritation in my legs and arms. But gradually these symptoms subsided. I took medicine for eight months continuously, and I'm now feeling much better and eager to work again .

 

The Story of Mrs. Abhiraji Chamar, Nepal

My name is Mrs. Abhiraji Chamar, and I am 40 years old, from Nepal. In the beginning, when I first got sick, I felt laziness and irritation in my throat. Then, while coughing I felt difficulty in breathing and gradually I lost my appetite. I would feel a bit warm and sleepy all the time. I told all this to my husband, but he turned on me a deaf ear. One day I met a Female Community Health Volunteer (F.C.H.V), and I told her about my problem. She suggested I visit the doctor. I went to the doctor and got my health checked up. The doctor advised me to get a sputum test. After the test was found to be positive, I was given anti-TB treatment. Now I am feeling much better.

Question – Is it safe to assume that since we were sent this story, the "anti-TB treatment" is DOTS treatment?

 

The Story of Omayra Chincha Llino

My name is Omayra Chincha Lino, and I’m a fifth-year medical student from Lima, Peru. I go to Cayetano Heredia University and … I work as a volunteer with patients, and many of these patients have TB because the area has a high level of poverty. Not so long ago, my 65-year old father came to me and told me that he had TB. He was misdiagnosed for a time and given surgery for his prostate problems and put on antiobiotics for five months. However, his problems continued. I recommended a good urologist who performed a second surgery on him, and two weeks later the hospital’s pathologist diagnosed my father with TB.

My dad was worried and upset. He didn’t understand how he could get TB, despite the explanations my brother and I gave him. However, now he has completed phase I of his treatment under a DOTS programme and has started phase II. He has had no problems with his liver, and we are careful to make sure that he is eating properly and getting lots of rest. Now my entire family knows all about TB and DOTS treatment, and my dad is feeling much better. In fact, my dad now knows more about TB than I do! I love my dad!

Sincerely,

Omayra Chincha
Lima Peru
(Contact: omychin@hotmail.com)

 

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