Misdiagnosis burden that ended at a medical camp

I have walked to countless number of hospitals with my four year old daughter, Faith Chemtai, seeking treatment that was unknown.

Doctors in three health facilities misdiagnosed her with pneumonia whose treatment she had been receiving until October 30, 2013 — on her second birthday — when she was diagnosed with congenital heart disease.

Since her birth at a village in Baringo, my daughter would be fatigued frequently and had difficulties breathing. She was even stunting in growth and could not walk after three years. She is my last born in a family of four.

Since she could not walk, I had to carry her on my back while on my daily errands-throughout.

Our first trip to the hospital was at the Marigat District Hospital. Her difficulty in breathing was mistaken for pneumonia and the doctors admitted her under close monitoring.

Every time we left for home after being discharged, we would return to the health facility. I have lost count of the number of times she has been admitted… still being treated for pneumonia that she did not have.

I sought second opinion at Kabarnet District Hospital at the orthopaedics and that was where it was detected that Faith actually had congenital heart disease after an ECG test was done.

It cost Sh1,000, which I didn’t have — I had to call my father to send me some money for that.

I went back home and told my people that my daughter had a heart problem but I did not have any papers to show; so, they did not believe me. A heart surgery was the only solution.

To my surprise, Faith was born with the heart condition and if I had not sought second opinion, today we would be telling a different story.
Tenwek Hospital, the third hospital I visited in Marigat, asked for Sh200,000 for treatment before surgery. It came as a shocker.

We simply could not afford it. Even the Sh3,000 I spent to and from the hospital was through the kindness of my ageing father.

We could not do it alone. We organised a fund-raiser where we could only raise Sh40,000. Faith was required to go for daily check-ups and she could only get painkillers and other drugs to relax her muscles to help her breathe.

Someone advised that we seek help from Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret, if it coud be cheaper.

At MTRH, I almost ran berserk. They asked for Sh1 million for an open heart surgery to correct my daughter’s condition. It is the only hospital in the Rift Valley that could perform heart surgeries. I was confused.

I wanted to leave the hospital but I lost my way. I kept finding myself in the wards. Where were we to get the Sh1 million they asked for? I did not even have fare back home with a sick baby in my arms.

In 2014, I was asked to go to Kenyatta National Hospital KNH but decided to go to Mater Hospital instead — they also perform heart procedures.
I produced Sh16,400 for the first consultation at Mater.

At least now I had documents to show what my daughter was suffering from. The package comes with bi-monthly checkups and some drugs.

The drugs helped because the baby started becoming active and trying to walk but her breathing did not improve. The medication was to ensure she did not to pass out. It was an expensive drug that could only be found at Mater or MTRH.

My small savings later ran dry and travelling to Nairobi for her checkups was a nightmare.

As a community volunteer at the Marigat District Hospital, I came to witness God’s blessings.

The hospital bosses asked us to offer support during a medical camp in the village. I did not know this was what would save my daughter’s life.

I’d been diabetic for the past 14 years and thought of presenting myself to the doctors but then the thought of daughter’s condition clouded my judgment.

The medical camp was organised by Safaricom Foundation in conjunction with the Kenya Diabetes Management and Information Centre (DMI).

The Foundation has funded the cause up to Sh236 million since its inception 11 years ago and my daughter was going to be a beneficiary.
I quickly called her father to bring her over to the camp.

We did consultations and explained my troubles to the doctor and they called me back with assistance.

Being a volunteer and casual labourer having produced about Sh100,000 in less than five months for wrong treatment was painful.

My baby was later enrolled at the Mater Hospital and we have been going there for the last one year for tests and treatment until December 2, last year when she was finally operated on.

When I took her to Mater Hospital in 2014, foreign doctors had come for a skills exchange and that is when they noticed an abnormality in the heart.

Before that tests were done and the operation dates kept changing as she had to undergo special examination at the catheterisation laboratory (cathlab).

The cathlab had diagnostic imaging equipment that showed Faith’s arteries of the heart and it showed she had abnormalities with the heart veins.

When her veins were finally okay we were set for the operation.

Her surgery was scheduled for December 1, last year and we were asked to bring a blood donor which we did but on that day there were no admission beds. So we had to wait longer. We did not lose hope.

I was her caretaker throughout so the doctors prepared me psychologically and was asked to be ready for any outcome during my daughter’s surgery.

Faith was operated on the following day and was taken to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). I had nowhere to sleep at the hospital and confined myself to the hospital’s corridors. I was straining but I had faith.

Five-day coma

A certain priest at the hospital, Father Kizito, stood by me. He did not know me personally but prayed with me. Faith was in the ICU for eight days. She was in a coma for five days.

I could not believe it when she opened her eyes… I thought she had “left us” but doctors did not just want to reveal it to me. But God came through and she woke up from the ICU bed.

Faith can now play and as we speak I have enrolled her in school. I had a dream that she would once become a journalist since she is confident.

But upon being discharged from the Hospital, I asked her what she wanted to become when she grows up and she said she wanted to be a doctor; just like the one who treated her. I pray that her dream comes true.

Safaricom came and paid the bill. We could not be here today if not for them. Because of the support we have received, we do not have anything to give them but thank God for His blessings.

As narrated by Priscah Chemoba, the mother to Faith Chemtai, 4, and compiled by Stellar Murumba.