For most young adults, completing nursing school marks the beginning of a fulfilling career, financial independence and a future dedicated to saving lives.
But for Patience Appau Owusu, a 28-year-old trained nurse, graduation did not lead to a career in hospital wards. Instead, hospital wards became her unlikely home as she was admitted countless times.
Her life has been agonisingly put on hold as she fights a gruelling battle for survival against stage 5 chronic kidney disease.
“I always compare myself to them (course mates) in my mind. That if not for sickness, I’d also be working by now. So, I always feel sad about that. That if not for this sickness, I would’ve been working with them,” Patience said as she panted for breath.
A promising future interrupted
Just as she was preparing to write her final licensing examinations at Tepa Nursing Training School in the Ahafo Ano North Municipality of the Ashanti Region, Patience’s world unravelled.
What began as subtle physical struggles deteriorated into a chronic condition after a hospital diagnosis revealed a devastating truth: her kidneys were failing.
“I was at Tepa. I was about to write my final exams; those were my licence exams. That was when I started feeling sick. So, I went to a hospital called Pesga, and the doctor told me I was having kidney failure. That was when I discovered I was having kidney failure. So, he referred me to Sunyani Teaching Hospital, where I met a doctor over there. Then, he started the procedure there. From then, I came to Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.”
Patience’s existence has since been confined to regular dialysis sessions and a desperate wait for a life-saving kidney transplant.
The once-active and vibrant young woman, full of energy and potential to become a nurse and serve her community, now relies on her mother for even the most basic daily needs, including bathing, walking and eating.
“In my daily routine, my mum will bathe me… even when I want to eat, they have to feed me. Because when I try to do something on my own, I feel exhausted. Even when I want to walk, my mum needs to support me… I can’t do something without getting exhausted.”
There is little Patience can do now, as the years of toil and sleepless nights spent preparing for her examinations have been overshadowed by her illness.
“When I look at the old me, because I was very active, the old me and I have always had an aspiration to work hard. But due to this sickness, I can’t do anything on my own. I can’t go anywhere. Even when I look at my certificates too, I cry.”
Confined to a bed on the floor, she battles fluctuating body temperatures and severe physical discomfort and struggles to lie down comfortably for long periods.
“Even when I look at my certificates, I cry.”
Four years of kidney failure
Patience has lived with the condition for the past four years.
She requires three dialysis sessions a week, the cost of two of which, until recently, was absorbed by the government. She has been on dialysis for the past three months.
Despite the state support, the financial burden of medication and regular dialysis has pushed her single mother, a seamstress in Tepa, to the brink.
“I am unable to work as a seamstress in Tepa.
“Why me? Why should I be the one to fight this complex disease? I cannot leave her side to work. This has brought untold hardship on us.”
Patience is one of many kidney failure patients receiving treatment at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).
Lupus behind kidney failure
Doctors say Patience first developed an autoimmune condition called lupus, which subsequently affected her kidneys.
Consultant Nephrologist at KATH and Associate Professor at the KNUST School of Medical Sciences, Prof Elliot Koranteng Tannor, explained that Patience’s kidneys are no longer functioning adequately.
Source: myjoyonline.com
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