My names are Nao
mi Katungwa, I was born some 47 years ago, contrary to my little girls thinking that I have been around since Moses came down the mountain. Well at times it feels like I have been on the planet for too long, but yet not long enough to feel the full enjoyment of life.
I grew up just like any other little girl in Machakos county in the 70’s, we were a big loving family, and with that all the blessings of having people around me took shape, as I learnt to share love and attention as well as the sacrifices. I was the second blessing my parents got with their union, hence alot was expected of me, I had to take a crash course in growing up since there was not that big of a gap between I and my sister. Well as I got into my teens- coming from a family of healthy kambas’ contrary to a popular misconception that there is no food – we were blessed exceedingly with resources. My blessing soon turned into tears during my teens when I started putting on more weight than the average teen girl in Machakos. It all began when I would go to the river to fetch some water or to church and the children from the area would hurl all manner of insults at me due to my weight. I hadn’t thought there was an issue with it until it began getting to me, I became overly self-conscious of my young body, and rather than grow up happy and vibrant, I was depressed and the children around were not helping. It seemed that whatever I did could not help the situation and I resolved to sit at home and do other chores that did not involve people other than my family members. Due to the teasing and name calling I lost nearly all my self-esteem, I avoided school activities and I would just keep to myself. This went onto my secondary and college level.
I met my husband and instantly I knew we were meant to be he was everything I had prayed for and with that we got married relatively young. I had my first born, a boy and everything was okay. Not long after we had another child, but this time everything was not okay, my weight would not stop piling, it felt like every breath I took increased my weight. I began walking 7km from work every day in order to bring down my weight, but to no avail, my self esteem at that point reached an all time low; I used to train in tae-kwondo but I dropped out, since I felt inadequate to the task.
My desperation to lose weight was overwhelming. I even went to a doctor who advised me that it was because of hormonal imbalance. I went home dejected but after some time, the hormones stabilized. I noticed I was not loosing or adding any weight.
As I was starting tocelebrate this new development, I conceived my 3rd born. I was so scared that I literally refused to eat when I was pregnant. At 7months pregnant my doctor would reprimand me for not eating and actually told me that they will be forced to put my baby in an incubator because the child was too small. I panicked and started eating. Thankfully my baby was born at 2.7kilos. After delivery I noticed I was not putting on any more weight, but was still excessively obese. I once again embarked on walking home from work every evening but still little change would be seen. I ended up giving up on myself and just continued to grow bigger.
It was while I was still struggling with my weight, that one night on 27th December 2007, I woke up at night to use the bathroom and lo! I could not get up. My hip had this sharp pain that I could not understand, I fell to the ground in agony, my husband came and consoled me and helped me back into bed. In the morning I went to look for a doctor. Since it was a holiday, the doctor we saw prescribed pain killers and we went home. The pain literally disappeared…
On 5th January 2008, I again woke up with so much pain on my knees that I could not walk. I was rushed to AAR Sarit Centre, again I was given painkillers and send home. The pain this time did not bulge. On subsequent visits Imet Dr. Almeida. Oh, God bless him! He was very understanding and he tried everything to understand or rather to diagnose my pain. I did not know this was the beginning of my many hospital trips. Dr. Almeida send me to every specialists he could think of. I used to joke that my name was literally in every doctor’s clinic in Nairobi. There is no specialist I had not seen.
After many months of tests and doctors, I was finally diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. This was diagnosed by Dr. Oyoo of Ralph Bunche Clinic. RA is an autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system attacks normal joint tissues, causing inflammation of the joint lining. This inflammation of the joint lining causes pain, stiffness, swelling, warmth, and redness. RA affects both the small and large joints. Rheumatoid Arthritis is different from other forms of arthritis as it can also affect organs. There is no cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis.
By the time I was diagnosed, RA had really raked havoc on my body. Every part of my being was hurting. I even had to buy tear drops for my eyes. My jaws could not open I had to eat very soft food. I could not even lift a spoon to my mouth. My hands had started developing nodules – these are firm lumps under the skin. They form close to joints affected by rheumatoid arthritis. These bumps can be as large as a marble or as small as a pea. I could not even walk 100m without support. Constant fatigue was my other name. Rheumatoid Arthritis is a very painful condition and I cannot simply start to describe the pain. Throughout all of this I still had to be a loving mother to my three children as well as a loving wife to my husband. That meant I would try and do some things for them, taking the kids to school as well as going to work.
The first step to manage RA is aggressive treatment. This was started on me. I was put on DMARD (Disease modifying drugs), lots of pain killers. Though my condition improved I was still in a lot of pain. I could barely drive on most days hence my husband would have to drop all of us at work and school, and pick us up after, I could not sleep and even the basic things like opening a tap, taking a shower were unimaginably hard to do. I was still overweight.
It was at this time after diagnosis that Dr. Almeida recommended that I work together with Kepha Nyanumba, a consultant Nutritionist to bring down the weight. I started seeing Kepha for weight management. He prescribed a weight loss meal plan which I was to implement and visit him for regular review sessions. I also in cooperated exercise as part of the program, starting with simple walking exercises. I would get my young son to accompany me for exercise and within a year of making dietary adjustments and exercise, my weight dropped by 18kg. I became pain free, gained my self esteem, confidence and felt very beautiful!
I have been on remission for a long time now. I am now in control of my body. I still take the RA drugs. When I feel inflamed I know what foods to eliminate. I exercise a lot but most importantly I check on what I eat. There is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, so for now all I can do is continue treating it aggressively and thankfully my body has been responding well.
For the last 8years I have seen God’s faithfulness in my life. When my weight starts packing up I know what to do. It’s a struggle I live with daily. But through him I manage, 2 Corinthians 12:10 for when I am weak, then I am strong.
I wish to encourage someone out there going through this condition. Knowledge is power. Read as much as you can about your condition. Live with it positively. Do not try to hide what you feel, share with friends and family. Join a support group if possibleand above all Pray. God is always near to those who call. Strive to make everyday count, no one will believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself.