Everything Is Tuberculosis

As a child, Henry was happy, energetic, and boisterous, but, at six years old he became quite lethargic, concerning Isatu. As Henry became increasingly ill and the children’s father abandoned them, Isatu struggled greatly to provide for her family. She often invested in their education, knowing that it was the only path to a good future, but Henry’s illness caused the family a lot of issues. He was first diagnosed with malaria, but it was later confirmed that both he and Isatu had TB; the two quickly began treatment, which inconvenienced them even further due to its distance from their home.

Henry was put on the common drug regimen for treating TB, but a rapid and inexpensive test to determine if he was drug-resistant had yet to be developed. As such, they could only hope that Henry’s TB was not drug-resistant. Henry’s father, however, insisted the drugs had failed, took him off the drugs, and instead brought him to a faith healer. While such a choice might seem ridiculous, it was likely fueled by a lack of trust in the country’s healthcare system and by the fact that faith healers were more likely to treat Henry and his father with dignity. It’s important to realize, then, that how we understand and construct illnesses in our society is vital, and stigma surrounding an illness can affect how patients are treated.

While Henry improved for a time, his condition eventually worsened, and Isatu returned him to his original drug regimen. At the same time, Favor developed a tumor in her throat that could block her windpipe if it wasn’t surgically removed. Her ailment was not caused by TB, as it was incredibly fast-growing. This put more financial strain on Isatu, who relied on her family and friends to help raise the money for Favor’s surgery. However, the money was not raised in time, and Favor died at home at the age of seven. Henry, who took pride in being Favor’s brother, was devastated by her loss.

Just a few years later, an outbreak of Ebola caused Sierra Leone’s healthcare system to collapse entirely. Because of their lack of resources, many healthcare professionals were killed in the epidemic, and though funding was given to assist the country, they eventually became dilapidated ruins, with funding dropping off after the severity of Ebola lessened. During this outbreak, Henry’s condition worsened, but the presence of Ebola combined with their denial of his ill-health slowed them from getting him treatment. Eventually, Isatu took Henry to the best hospital in Freetown, and though testing had been developed to determine if he was drug resistant, it was incredibly expensive, so he returned to the standard drug regimen; he was, unknowingly, multidrug resistant. After doctors finally determined this using a time-intensive method of testing his sputum, they transferred Henry to Lakka Hospital, a place where TB patients are often sent to die.