BY PHYLLIS MBANJE
A 21-YEAR-OLD stab victim, First Chisora (pictured), is literally wasting away on his hospital bed as he cannot afford the huge amount of money required for him to undergo corrective surgery. His kidneys are almost collapsing and his emaciated body is getting weaker.
Viciously stabbed with a knife in the abdomen by robbers last year in July and left for dead, Chisora has endured unbearable pain.
He has also to contend with the financial dilemma for his complicated medical condition.
Narrating his story from Sally Mugabe Hospital (formerly Harare Central Hospital), the soft-spoken Chisora said he was stabbed by robbers in the lower abdomen.
“I was taken to Harare Central Hospital and had an operation. However, the operation started leaking and that happened three times,”
The doctors resolved to fix the problem by carrying out a colostomy. This is a surgical procedure that brings one end of the large intestine out through the abdominal wall.
During this procedure, one end of the colon is diverted through an incision in the abdominal wall to create a stoma. A stoma is an opening in the skin, where a pouch for collecting excrement is attached. “So after that procedure, I pass everything out through the opening and it’s collected in plastic bags,” he explained.
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Ideally, a proper colostomy bag is used, but the hospital did not have it and it was too expensive for him to buy and he ended up using ordinary plastic bags.
Most public health facilities have been operating without basic drugs and medical sundries, an issue which caused doctors to down their tools in September last year protesting against such working conditions.
“I was discharged in September (round about the time the doctors’ strike began) and went home. But when I came back for colostomy closure, the doctors pointed out that I was too ‘wasted’ for any surgical procedure,” he said.
The doctors said a speedy recovery was needed and suggested total parenteral nutrition (TPN).
TPN is a way of supplying all the nutritional needs of the body by bypassing the digestive system and dripping nutrient solution directly into a vein.
“But the TPN costs $300 000 and I cannot afford it. My kidneys are almost collapsing because my body has little water since the colostomy is still open,” he explained.
According to Medicine.net, as dehydration progresses, the volume of fluids in the body decreases and blood pressure may fall.
This can decrease blood flow to vital organs, including the kidneys.
Chisora said he was desperately appealing for financial aid since time was not on his side.
“Anyone who wants to help me, please do so. I am still admitted at Harare Hospital, but the doctors cannot do anything until I embark on the TPN regime, which will make it possible for surgery,” he said.
