I looked at the old man lying on the hospital bed ravaged by cancer and felt slow tears flowing down my cheeks. The curtains of the cubicle around the bed were closed probably to give him a little dignity and privacy on his way out. The man was all but gone. All around him was the smell of medication. Nurses had long stopped bringing food for him. He had been in a coma for the last two months. I was the only visitor for him this afternoon. I looked at him sadly wondering at the power of diseases to humble us and leave us at others mercy.
Family members left the hospital visit to the strong ones. The question was always the same… “Any change?” And the answer had been the same for a while….. no change
For some reason cancer had camped in this family ravaging and taking with it the resources. Barely two year ago Michael’s wife had been diagnosed with liver cancer. Monica was a kind and generous lady who wore a permanent smile. She was a religious and humble woman who was always in the forefront to assist anyone who had a problem. Her liver cancer stage four diagnosis had thrown the family in to crisis seeing that she was the pillar of the family. Not that the husband was ever absent from home but Monica had a way with all the relatives and friends being the talkative one.
She lay in a ward at Kijabe hospital gasping for air as her organs closed one by one. From the day she was given the results of her tests she never left the hospital and she passed away after only two weeks. The family had questions without answers. Why was cancer so quiet in its approach but so deadly in it’s outcome?
When Michael was diagnosed with colon cancer, it seemed the strain was so much for him. His sugar level had dropped suddenly leaving him in a coma. Doctors had tried their best to return the sugar level back to normal without success. Being diabetic and having lost his wife barely two year ago from liver cancer made it sound like immediate call of God. Colon cancer stage four?? there were more questions than answers. There was little hope for him and he found himself giving up. As the doctor continued to deliver what the family rightly saw as death sentence, he slipped away and had to be rushed to the ward. He never woke up again even as the family continued to hope for the best.
Apart from breathing, the other indication that he was alive was an occasional movement of the left eye. Life was very cruel to Michael having lived on the straight and narrow all his life. He had never smoked or even engaged in irresponsible behavior of substance abuse. He loved his family and deed everything possible to have them live comfortably. Indeed they were the envy of most of his neighbors. As I watched him I realized life and wealth was all vanity.
When ailing, wealth and properties were forgotten as one struggled for each breath of fresh air. The moment was humbling and the lesson was a life time one.
Two days after my visit to hospital, Michael passed away peacefully. When I was given the news, I was happy. Since my hospital visit, I had prayed to God to give Michael a rest. I was relieved that God had heard my prayer. This was because hospital bill was rising and there did not seem to be a positive outcome on his health.
Two years after Michael’s death, his son Gideon was unwell. He felt bloated after feeding and after stalling for a while, he visited Kenyatta hospital where his father had spent the last few months of his life. When I met with him, he casually mentioned to me that he had undergone biopsy sending me in to shock. You see we are cousins and I am always in the fore front of their issues. He tried to assure me that it would be okay but I was not convinced.
A week later, I called him and the news were devastating. Colon cancer stage four. This was totally unexpected. I went to his house and I was teary through out the visit.
I looked at his wife and felt a terrible sense of sadness and despair. This lady and lived through her mother in law illness and nursed her. Her father in law got sick and she nursed him. Now it was the turn of her own husband. They had three young children. Two were in primary school and the oldest had joined secondary school. I shed tears and asked God to reverse the illness or heal my cousin in a miraculous way. Gideon was sick for only two months. I remembered him every waking moment. He rejected chemotherapy and decided to be taking juices. For those two months, he was strong any time I visited. He assured me he was feeling strong. I was not sure he meant what he said. I think he was just trying to give us hope. We buried him a month ago. My thoughts go to the wife especially- life can be so brutal!