Tuesday 28 June 2016

PALLIATIVE CARE IS EVERYONES BUSINESS

Today i begin on a very sad note,the other week i did an article about a young family from Kisii whom their second born daughter,Nelvin was battling nephroblastoma.Unfortunately the child passed on last monday at MTRH.She was due to start chemo but then they had been discharged home as they awaited for the return date,however they had to come earlier than scheduled after the child developed anorexia and dyphagia.The child passed on immediately upon arrival and the several months of misery came to an end,my condolences to the family and may she R.I.P.This is not to mention the fact that they came all the way from Kisii county,today she was laid to rest at Nakuru cemetry.Why the burial at cemetry?I know thats the question lingering on your mind,well i will refer you to my previous article to get an insight of the matter.

Misfortunes of this world,cancer included knows no race ,gender nor tribe or so they say.The quality of healthcare in this country is still at developing stage,especially in the mashinani where common mwananchi is found,with devolution however there has been slight improvement though not to the desirable optimum.It mostly depends on which county one is coming from,with respect to palliative care its only fair to say that practically nothing is happening in most counties except in Nairobi,Eldoret,Kisumu and may be Mombasa.While he served as the health CS Mr Macharia stated that the govt have plans to avail cancer equipment worth Sh21.5billion in at least 94 hospitals across the country and was setting up four cancer radiology centers set to be launched by July in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Nyeri counties and is also set to cater for patients from other countries in East Africa.Until then the hoi polloi of this country will be at the mercy of the Lord,shockingly the Cs clearly stated that over 10,000 cancer patients in Kenya spend Sh11.28billion for treatment in hospitals overeas.Yes,you heard it right 11 billion and for your information Cancer deaths in the country are third after infectious diseases and cardiovascular ailments. Each year, according to the Ministry of Health, there are nearly 40, 000 confirmed cancer cases.This is suppose to raise genuine concern of any responsible leader worth its name. Both at the national and county level.Health is a fully devolved funtion of the county government.Sometime last year the health workers wanted to petition parliament to reverse health funtion to the national government citing mismanagement,however the governers were up in arms and the story ended there.

It is therefore imperative that palliative care should and must be everyones business.Today you are in good health, tomorrow is in the hands of the almighty God.Mr kipkirui lelgo higlighted the story of Agnes Cherotich of Kenegut battling Ca breast,complete with pictures to back it up however scary they may have been on social media last week,and i was glad and delighted in equal measure,concerned Kenyans expressed their sympathy,others pledging donations,however it should not stop there.We should look beyond and modify our lifestyles which largely constitute rrisk factors as advised by the experts.I personaly visited Agnes at Rehema ward in  MTRH.I am glad she is responding well to treatment and hopefully she will be back to her normal life soon.Aproximately 900 metres away in memorial wing within the same hospital is another old man from Kericho as well battling Ca stomach,and the story goes on and on....I want to end  it here today with a polite request to Kericho county and South rift leadership  in general,there is a greater need to create a focus and establish reason for the spiraling cases of cancer from the region,efforts should focus on screening,management and timely refferal,when the worst comes to worst as is mostly the case,there should be an hospice so that the terminally ill can spend their last days in peace.Have a blessed week,wont you?

Thursday 2 June 2016

JOHN: THE AGONY OF CANCER ON A YOUNG FAMILY FROM KISII.

JOHN: THE AGONY OF CANCER ON A YOUNG FAMILY FROM KISII.: Born in mosocho Kisii county,Mr David Ogoti did not have an idea of how rocky life would be 35 years later.Just three years after he was bor...

Wednesday 1 June 2016

THE AGONY OF CANCER ON A YOUNG FAMILY FROM KISII.

Born in mosocho Kisii county,Mr David Ogoti did not have an idea of how rocky life would be 35 years later.Just three years after he was born, his mother a single parent passed away.He was left behind with her only sister who was later to be married to a Ugandan,unfortunaly she too passed away while she was pregnant with her first child,no one knows exactly the cause of her death.He has no idea whom his Biological father is,whether he is alive or dead.Around april last year his story ran on NTV as he continued his search for his father,unfortunately he has not managed yo trace him to date.Ogoti therefore was brought up by his maternal uncle back at home untill he finished his form four,it was at this point that his lifes journey took another twist after he  abandoned him following a family dispute that borders on jealousy.He later went to kisumu and had to survive on casual jobs to keep himself going.He later went to nakuru in search of manual jobs for survival,while in Nakuru he managed to juggle between mjengo at building and construction companies and attending tracom college for a course in human resource management.That enabled him to secure a job in a security company in Nairobi and later in Mombasa until 2009.As if the hard moments were not enough,he lost his job as the company wound up.Life became unbearable and he decided to go back to kisii to continue and try something different in the village ,Mr ogoti got married to Mrs Ruth in 2007 and gave birth to their first born.In 2013 God blessed them with another bouncing baby girl,and like any other couple they were happy and hoped for a smooth ride as they raised their child.That happiness lasted up until February 2016 when the child felt sick and was taken to kisii county and refferal hospital when a diagnosis of neuroblastoma was made,Neuroblastoma is a rare cancer that mostly affects young children. It develops from nerve cells called neuroblasts.They were reffered to Moi teaching and refferal hospital for further management and have been in hospital since then,life has taken a toll on the young family,with a staggering hospital bill of over Kshs 100,000 he has resorted to the fate of well wishers.On 31.5.2016 courtesy of Q-Fms Rashid Abdalla his story ran on air and concerned kenyans managed to raise Kenya shillings 15,000.Mr ogoti is grateful for support to all the persons who have managed to support him this far,remember you dont have to be wealthy to offer help,all you need is to be rich and kind in your heart and contribute the little you can,his mobile number is 0791749558.Be blessed for whatever support you can manage,remember even a phone call can go a long way to empathise with the family and it will relief their psychological fatigue.