John's story

Hello everyone!
A big welcome to Pee's Blog. I am glad the month of May is over and I am more than happy to be back here.
I was sent a real life story by John (real name withheld) and I thought to share with you all.

Dear Pee,

"A lot can happen within a year, and nothing in years. Life has two phases, birth and death. When you are born, the race to life starts till the day you die. As I usually say, 'from womb to tomb'.

My parents married in June 1988 and had me on the 31st of November the following year. They moved to Ibadan, Nigeria months later to start a new life. Things got better for them and they welcomed a second child 'Jessica' on August 14 1991, the third child 'Abigail' in July 1995 and the fourth Nicholas in March, 2000. This story is not a fairytale... it is a story of life's challenges and overcoming.

It all started on the 11th of March 2012, a day after my mum celebrated her 50th birthday when she woke up complaining to my dad about feeling ill. My dad offered to take her to the hospital on the way to work which she turned down, insisting that she'd get better eventually. Though he didn't exactly agree, he decided to let her have her way. At about 10 am, dad got a call from mum saying she wasn't feeling any better, so he requested she joined him at his office so he could take her to the hospital. This time, she agreed without hesitation and opted to take a public transport service as she was too weak to drive.

Tragedy struck on her way to the park as the motorcycle she was being carried on fell over and an oncoming trailer stepped on her left leg. She dislocated her ankle but sustained no major injuries which was indeed a miracle much to the relief and surprise of everyone. After being admitted for a week in the hospital, a cast was placed on her ankle and two weeks later, my mum returned for the cast to be removed only to discover that there was a wound.

The thing is my mum was diabetic and a wound covered for three weeks wasn't exactly good news. In the space of two weeks, it had formed puss and maggots were falling out of it. She had to be readmitted because it was developing into a serious case of diabetic foot ulcer. Just like that, days turned into weeks and what seemed like a minor injury became very enormous. It was a graphic sight and at this point she had to walk with the aid of a stick.

Though we faced a major challenge with Mum's health, we were not doing badly ourselves. Myself and Jessica had both finished our undergraduate degree at this point so we took turns nursing mum at the hospital while Abigail and Nicholas remained in school. A month later, mum was discharged. You can't imagine the joy that filled our hearts....

The Joy which we were experiencing was cut short when Mum's second leg developed a foot ulcer in the same spot as the left leg which was being treated. We were all thrown into a state of pandemonium as we couldn't imagine what could possibly have happened to her right leg which wasn't involved in the accident. Just like that, we were back to square one.

Mum was readmitted to the same hospital and treatment commenced on both legs. As you can imagine, she was helpless and had to be helped to do everything. She became depressed, tired and fed up of eating the same meals. In as much as she wanted something different, we couldn't afford to give it to her because she was diabetic and placed on a strict diet.

As if what we were going through wasn't enough my dad was diagnosed with kidney disease and he needed an urgent kidney transplant....  
To Be continued. Watch out for Part 2 of John's story.

Thank You for visiting Pee's Blog
May our Joy never be cut short and may the blessings of God never bring us sorrow.

Love, Pee.