THANK GOD IT’S TB! MY EIGHT YEAR BATTLE WITH TB

His outgoing nature and contagious laughter tells nothing about his 14-year battle with tuberculosis (TB). It instead is the typical character of the modern-day deejay keen on keeping his fans entertained and keeping in tandem with the demands of the competitive entertainment world.

Born in Kisauni Mombasa, Eliud Chichi enjoyed a healthy childhood and has fond memories of growing up at the Kenyan coast. He still cherishes his diving escapades as a child and as a teenager. He attended Mvita Primary School, Kenyatta Secondary School in Voi and later joined the then Mombasa Polytechnic to study mechanical engineering.

Chichi who is a currently a popular deejay in Nairobi says that his love for music started at a very tender age. He enjoyed singing in church and he confidently says that he was the best vocalist in his church choir. Chichi was a strong jovial child enjoying perfect health and by his own description, his breathing was like that of a fish. Perhaps this is what made him a popular diver among his peers.

In 1992, Chichi started coughing and he went to seek medical care at several private facilities. He was treated for what the doctors said was pneumonia and allergy. Chichi however continued to experience chest pains and the coughing was persistent. The symptoms were on and off for days, weeks and months which slowly but steadily turned into years and his health was fast deteriorating.

For seven years, Chichi was largely assumed to be suffering from either pneumonia or an allergy. Even with the on and off TB-like symptoms, he was never tested for TB because back then, most private facilities did not have amenities to test for TB.

Chichi’s family and friends suggested to him that he seeks medical care at Portreitz hospital which he did in 1997. An X-ray confirmed that he had TB. For any person, news of having TB can be shocking and even devastating but surprisingly, this was good news for Chichi!

I pause and ask him how he could possibly be happy to find out that he had TB and he calmly responds that it was a relief for him because he had suffered for years without knowing what exactly the problem was.

“I was happy, I knew that I would now get well because I had found out what was ailing me and now there was hope,” says a composed Chichi.

He is however quick to add that at the time of diagnosis, he did not know the magnitude of the trying journey that he had just begun.

He was put on medication which comprised of 60 injections which he had to take on a daily basis and oral drugs which he had to take for 8 months. After the medication, the coughing faded out but after some time, it exploded again and this time round, it was way more violent.

Chichi was put on several sets of TB treatment but his health was on a continuous downward trend. He had to quit his job in deejaying and events organizing in 2001 so as to concentrate on his health.

It was not until 2005 that he went to Moi hospital in Voi and was found to have Multi Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDRTB). Unfortunately, the hospital had no facilities for treating MDRTB. Only two hospitals in Kenya were treating MDRTB at the time; Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Nairobi and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret

Even after he was found to have MDRTB, Chichi was still being treated for normal TB due to lack of facilities. His health was worsening by the day and his weight came down from 67kg to 37kgs!! He says he spent about Ksh 12,000 on treatment every week! This dilapidated his savings and took a toll on his family since he could no longer engage in any meaningful economic activity.

With his health not showing any signs of improvement, Chichi had to find a way of accessing treatment at KNH, one of the only two hospitals that were offering MDRTB treatment in the country.

There were stringent conditions that had been put for patients who were seeking treatment for MDRTB at KNH. A patient had to get a letter from the local chief, have at least Ksh 150 000 in their bank account and prove that they could sustain themselves in Nairobi during the entire treatment period.

Chichi who had since moved in with his brother in Nairobi, narrates the kind of nightmare he had to go through as he tried to get a letter from the area chief. Walking uphill to the chief’s office was very wearisome for the frail Chichi. He finally got to the chief’s office only for the chief to ask him to bring his landlord because the chief did not know him nor his brother.

With the help of friends and civil societies, Chichi managed to secure a slot for MDRTB treatment at KNH. He however had to do another test to confirm that indeed he was suffering from MDRTB. The confirmation test could only be done in Australia. Chichi had to wait for nine long months for the results to come back. All this time, he was still ailing and there was little that could be done.

When the results came back, he indeed had MDRTB and he was put on treatment at KNH. Chichi confesses to have faced many tough challenges during this treatment period. He had to commute and sometimes walk to hospital daily because the hospital did not have an isolation ward back then. Getting to hospital was also very problematic for him because he was very weakly.

Treatment for MDRTB involved taking extremely strong antibiotics which Chichi said had very extreme side effects.

“I cannot even put it in words, I cannot explain because only my body knows how taking those drugs felt like, “says an emotional Chichi.

Chichi’s body was responding very slowly to treatment. At one point, his heath was so bad and he became too frail. He had to be admitted in hospital despite the fact that the hospital did not have an MDRTB isolation ward. Since he could not be put in the regular ward for fear of infecting other patients, Chichi admits to have been put in a store at the hospital from where he received treatment. He however says that the desire to get well and be able to do the things he loves, made him fight on.

He says that he had a good support system from a few friends especially from Civil Society Organizations. With their intervention, Chichi was moved from the store that was in a deplorable condition to a better place and was later discharged from hospital.

Deejay Chichi continued with his MDRTB treatment for four years and he had to go to KNH every single day! It was a hectic journey for him. The side effects of the MDRTB drugs were unbearable. He experienced heartburns, chest pains, fatigue and even blackouts. He narrates how he once got a blackout and collapsed while on the road on his way home from the hospital. This caused a huge traffic snarl up and inconvenienced motorists on that road.

The stigma that Chichi faced while undergoing treatment was not making life any easier for him. He was however very determined to fight to the very end. His determination and fighting spirit eventually paid off and his health begun to improve.

Chichi was finally declared to be TB free in 2004 after a brave and spirited 14 year battle with TB. He is grateful to have successfully sailed through that murky journey even though he still bears the ugly scars of his battle with TB. One of his lungs collapsed while the other one only functions at 47 percent. He still runs out of breath sometimes and the chest pains are yet to disappear but even with all this, he is grateful for every breath he takes.

Chichi has since become a TB ambassador and he uses every opportunity to sensitize people about TB. He recommends that people get screened and tested for TB. He also says that Kenya has made tremendous progress in the fight against TB. He cites the adoption of gene Xpert as the first line test for TB, rehabilitation of TB clinics and introduction of child friendly drugs as some of the milestones that Kenya has made. Chichi however admits that there is a lot more that can be done and that there is need for everyone to do something more to end TB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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