UTH PATIENT SURVIVES BRAIN SURGERY, GOES BACK TO SCHOOL

UTH PATIENT SURVIVES BRAIN SURGERY, GOES BACK TO SCHOOL

28 year old Martha Sakala has been a University Teaching Hospital (UTH) patient for 20 years now having been diagnosed with migraine headache at the tender age of eight.

At age 15, Sakala and mother decided to give up on hospital trips as they thought nothing would ever change.

“I felt a bit frustrated, I felt like I wasn’t living a normal way of life. I told mum let’s give this a break and see what God does,” stated Sakala.

However, this decision didn’t end up well as seven years later, complications resurfaced which were believed to have been generated from the effects of shunning the hospital.

The patient was only in her second year at the University of Zambia pursuing a bachelors in Educational Administration and Management with Religious Studies.

At this point, Martha developed severe changes in her way of life.

“So I slowly began to experience changes, my aunt noticed that there was some strange things in me I became clumsy, I used to drop things,” she revealed.

“I started experiencing symptoms that were quite unusual, climbing stairs became hard, lifting things became hard, I was getting tired at a short period.”

After these signs she decided to visit the clinic and got referred to UTH.

“Doctors did a scan and went for review It was revealed that I had Chiari Malformation with Syringomyelia.

According to health experts, Chiari is a neurological condition which affects the back of the brain and Syringomyelia is a condition in which fluid filled cavities form within the spinal cord and leads to pain and loss of function (weakness and numbness).

This was the beginning of a nightmare that saw her undergoing brain surgery as the symptoms got worse.

“I was told the only way to help alleviate these symptoms was for me to undergo brain surgery. When I received the news, my eyes were teary. I continued with my studies and in June 2019, the operation happened.”

Martha, now had to choose between school and her life as she was forced to withdraw from school in order to nurse her wound.

After a few months, she went back to school and continued in third year.

But the challenge was that she couldn’t catch up as much as she used to.

“After the surgery I stopped understanding things, I became a slow learner, it was really difficult and I couldn’t function like I used to – even typing and writing became slow and my assignments would always be submitted late,” shared Sakala.

Despite all these challenges, Martha Sakala managed to pull through and got her degree defying the odds and demonstrating that one setback should not hinder one from achieving their goals to become better.

By Catherine Pule
Kalemba