Good news! I needed this one. My mind was doing cartwheels.
I could not properly define my feeling of elation as I got the call from the Indian hospital early December 2019; “we have a Nigerian heading back to Nigeria in some days’ time and he has agreed to help bring your drugs along”. I was due for one after series of heart-breaking ones and the feeling of wonder that accompanies them.
I thought: Finally! The yuletide has finally brought me good tidings, one that was badly needed. It has been months of waiting in anticipation and palpable fear in some cases, to hear such great news; It was a relieve I sought.
A minor glitch occurred. It sounded to minor that it is barely believable that all of that good news and the tidings expected have gone down the drain. A glitch in the payment platform and this affected the plan and ability of the Indian hospital to meet up with the Nigerian’s travel plans. A lot of lemons in life. A lot of strive and assumed good tidings but a lot of times, as I have to realize, it has to be mutely celebrated until the actual realization. This was a celebration cut short, and it came with grave consequences as well.
We couldn’t get another Nigerian to help bring the drugs early in the year and then the covid-19 pandemic struck, and all the goods news and associated feelings went back into Santa’s box.
It is just a minor peek into the ordeal I go through every single time I needed to buy drugs. I have to place the order for them in India and wait till I could get a Nigerian coming in, before I could get them.
Most times, I have been able to get a part of my medications from the UK, but the major drugs needed are way more expensive there. In simple comparative analysis, the price of a month’s dosage for one of the medications is equivalent to a year’s rent for a two bedroom flat in a high brow area in Lagos; that’s way more than what I get it for in India.
Why the medications? Why the apprehension? It is because of my journey with PH! Pulmonary Hypertension – a severe disease that affects the lungs and heart – has no known cure, it can only be treated to slow down its progression and improve the quality of life for people living with it. It is akin to a death sentence when these medications are nearly impossible to get for Nigerians living with the disease; because the question would be: how do they get a good quality of life?
Life happens to all of us, but Nigeria happens to some of us. We still have to pick up the pieces and soldier on like nothing bothers us, in many of the instances.
In America, there are 14 FDA (food and drug administration) approved drugs to treat PH, but in Nigeria, we have very limited access and options to these medications. It is nothing short of a miracle how a lot of people who suffers from PH are able to live and be useful for themselves, owing to the almost fatal level of want for proper medications that could help relieve a lot of the pain, stress and fear they experience.
PH is a highly progressive disease, and if not treated on time, it can lead to heart failure and that can be fatal. As PH progresses, everyday activities like walking, running and climbing the stairs become more difficult to accomplish.
A patient’s prognosis depends on how quickly a diagnosis is made and how advanced the symptoms are. This disease is often misdiagnosed as its symptoms are similar and easily mistaken for other lungs and heart conditions like asthma, tuberculosis and others. This is what makes it a bit scary as well.
Due to the obscurity and lack of abundant knowledge of PH in Nigeria, getting quick and accurate diagnosis is more difficult. This has been a cross we bear and we sure hope things get better in the future.
PH as a disease is still very much unknown in Nigeria. So, as the world celebrates Pulmonary Hypertension day today, we have to look for ways to shed light on the disease and ensure it leaves the dark place it has been hiding.
We can change that by creating the necessary awareness to aid and advocate for quicker, more accurate diagnosis and better treatment for people living with this condition in Nigeria.
There is still hope yet, if we all agree to shed more light on it and join hands as we all bring the appropriate awareness to it.
Today I celebrate all #PHighters in Nigeria.