Samuel Kisembo, THRiVE’s chauffer, left his home in Tula early on December 21 2020, eager to report for duty as has been his norm. However, little did he know that it would not be business as usual. Shortly after 8AM, he began to cough uncontrollably, felt fatigued and was feverish. Although he passed off these symptoms as his usual morning allergies, they persisted. This worried some of the staff that were present in office and there was a nagging feeling among them that he could have contracted COVID-19.
With UGX 50,000 that his workmates gave him, Kisembo bought some drugs including coartem, Vitamin C and an immune booster. Seeing that his workmates who had tested negative for COVID were taking immune boosters, he was compelled to buy them. Nevertheless, none of them relieved the symptoms. It was thus recommended that Kisembo undergoes a COVID-19 test to ascertain whether he had contracted the disease.
COVID-19 Diagnosis: From two negatives to positive
Kisembo first tested for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, on November 17th 2020 at Mulago Hospital’s COVID-19 testing center. This testing was recommended by Harriet Nambooze, THRiVE’s coordinator, in a bid to ensure that staff like him who frequently travel to the field are safe. His results were negative. A month later, when THRiVE arranged for mass testing for its staff and research assistants, Kisembo was yet again on the list. This testing happened on December 16 2020.
“When I was told that I was going to be tested again, I was confident that I would be negative owing to the fact that my earlier results were negative. While some team members feared the nasal swab, I confidently braved it well knowing I was safe,” he retorted.
Kisembo’s confidence did not disappoint him. His results read negative for a second time. Despite the fact that field work was put on hold, he continued to diligently come to office. However, after learning that some team members had tested positive, he took precaution and had his mask on all the time. It was a matter of days before ill-health started to brew. His eyes turned red, he coughed incessantly and had general body weakness. These symptoms caught Nambooze’s eye.
“I realized that Kisembo displayed symptoms unique to what some team mates who had earlier tested positive had. His eyes were red and he had a continuous rough cough. I recommended that he goes home to rest as a third test was being arranged,” Nambooze said in an interview.
At home, Kisembo’s health continued to deteriorate so much so that he lost his appetite and grew thinner. Moreover, he always vomited even the little food that he ingested. Suspicion was triggered in his wife’s mind that her husband could be suffering from COVID-19. Owing to the stigma surrounding the disease, she quietly called in a nurse from Komamboga Health Centre IV to examine him.
“On examining me, the nurse recommended that I be put on drip immediately. I received three drip bottles that day. I wasn’t able to sleep properly and kept wondering whether I will survive COVID-19,” he recalls.
When Kisembo did not improve despite the various medication he was receiving, it prompted his wife to call Evelyn Bakengesa, the education coordinator in the College of Health Sciences, with a desperate plea for help. Bakengesa, a close friend of the family, liaised with Nambooze and immediately arranged for a third test for Kisembo. This test was done on Monday 21st December at Mulago Hospital. His results returned positive on Tuesday 22 December. They were relayed to him via telephone by Dr. Dan Semakula, a THRiVE staff.
Panic set in!
“I immediately told my wife to share a bedroom with the children to allow me to self-isolate in the master bedroom. Several thoughts emerged: Will I die? Will I survive this disease? What will happen to my family?” Kisembo recalls.
Meanwhile, new symptoms such as body aches, diarrhea, body chills and loss of the sense of smell had emerged. Prof. Nelson Sewankambo, THRiVE’s Director, recommended that Kisembo be brought to Mulago Hospital for medical attention. Meanwhile, his family was also tested and all their results returned positive. This was the beginning of self-isolation for them. For two weeks, they did not leave the house and only opened the small gate, once a day, to send for food. Bakengesa, reached out to Businge, Kisembo’s brother, with an appeal for him to look after them. However, because Businge is afflicted with high blood pressure, he would only speak to them from the gate and return to his home.
“There was massive fear among my children and wife that they hardly ate even when food was brought to them daily. Even the neighbors started shunning us and rumors that we were COVID-19 patients spread like wildfire throughout the village,” Kisembo says, adding that a certain death on the village made the stigma against them worse.
As a matter of urgency, together with the COVID-19 medication they bought from the health centre, they daily steamed themselves with a concoction of leaves from pine, eucalyptus, and mango trees mixed with bitter leaf (mululuza).
The unforgettable trip to the COVID Ward
On Christmas eve, Kisembo was lethargic and breathing rapidly. He was later picked from home by two staff- Wilson Kamya and Edward Kakooza and brought to Mulago hospital. However, the memories of boarding the van will forever be etched onto his mind.
“My 11-year-old son, Mark Muhumuza held one of my arms, crying and begging me not the die. My heart sank seeing him do this and yet I could not help myself because I was extremely weak,” Kisembo said.
When we reached the car, he garnered all the meagre energy in him, reached the back seat and lay there motionless until they reached Mulago Hospital. At the hospital, Kamya and Edward carried him out of the van and sat him on a chair within the waiting tent. As a common practice for every car that enters the hospital, the van was disinfected. As he waited, Kisembo felt thirsty and asked for water. However, despite downing a 500ml bottle of water, Kisembo says there was no difference because his chest was still as dry as a stone.
After a medical file was opened for him, he was admitted to the COVID-19 isolation ward on level three of the hospital. As Kisembo moved through the lift to reach the ward with his bucket and bag of clothes, he teared as he thought he would die. This was the first time in his life he had been admitted to hospital.
On the ward, he could see tens of people, some of whom he knew, struggling to live through the day. However, a team of nurses and Dr. Bruce Kirenga, an expert pulmonologist and director of Makerere University’s Lung Institute, reassured him that he would be well soon.
Shortly after an hour of being admitted, his oxygen saturation greatly dropped prompting the medical care workers to take him to the High Dependence Unit (HDU).
Treatment in the HDU
On entering the HDU, sights and sounds of oxygen cylinders were ubiquitous. Kisembo’s hope for survival crumbled, his fear rose to hitherto unknown levels and imagination run amok with thoughts of whether he would ever see his four children again.
“I had never felt so alone in my life. The thought of never seeing my wife and children was simply unbearable!” he reminisces.
Moreover, he saw about five dead bodies being wheeled out which flickered out any hope he had to live. Still on this ward, he heard patients wincing in pain- this time due to excretion. Every patient had a bucket next to his/her bed and that acted as the toilet. As horrified as Kisembo was by the option of using a bucket, he had no choice but because it was the norm.
He was given an oxygen mask and this is what aided his breathing for the first day. Then on Christmas day, the mask was replaced with nasal tubes as he has registered a slight improvement in his breathing. All the while, he frequently asked the healthcare workers if he would survive or not. The treating team would reassure him. To cope with his anxiety and worries, he made silent prayers to God, which would help him ward off these negative thoughts. Kisembo says the earnestly with which he said these prayers is indescribable.
Steps to recovery
On December 31 2020, Kisembo was shifted out of the HDU to a post COVID-19 rehabilitation ward on level four. Its here that he created friendship with another patient, Michael, who inspired him that life after COVID-19 is possible.
“Michael had already spent a month in hospital and was on the brink of recovering. However, he begged not to be discharged because he felt more peace in the hospital than home. The care and constant availability of food relaxed his mind from the burden he previously had of fending for a family of eight,” Kisembo narrated.
Unfortunately, the day Michael was admitted to hospital, his mother succumbed to diabetes but he was unable to bury her. His mother’s loss compelled him the more to want to remain in hospital because he was uncertain of how to live without her.
With his new fond friend, Kisembo’s anxiety reduced although he continued to have sleep disturbances. Therefore, a psychologist was recommended to counsel him. He was also told to buy Vitamin D tablets to support his immune system fight the infection. According to a study titled, ‘Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory tract infections,’ published in the British Medical Journal, Vitamin D reduces the risk of respiratory tract infections, including COVID-19. In fact, Vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of coronavirus infection and severity of COVID-19.
In the meantime, other drugs were also administered and his breathing was aided by a breathing tube. However, this tube irritated his throat so much so that he suffered constant migraines and would sometimes sneeze blood droplets. Nevertheless, he was on the road to recovery and after four days on this ward, he once again tested negative for COVID-19.
“When you contract a disease that has no cure, not knowing whether you will live or die, you have to thank God when you actually survive,” Kisembo said in an interview.
On January 3 2021, he was discharged from hospital.
He owes his quick recovery to various people including his work colleagues, nurses, doctors, psychologists and cooks. Kisembo testifies that Mulago Hospital’s COVID-19 ward is well equipped with drugs and healthcare workers, contrary to misinformation that is propagating among the public.
“My experience with COVID-19 changed the way I look at life. You never know what you have until you have lost it. Life is precious and should not be taken for granted!” he emphasized.
Kisembo is delighted that he has rejoined his family. His last born, Meshach Tashobya, 3, is now closer to him than ever. COVID-19 may have given him the scare of his life, but it has also made him stronger. Kisembo is now back at work and ready to pick up where he left off.