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How Tumuramye nursed his six-year-old daughter
Dickson Tumuramye and his daughter who recovered from Covid-19. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- In this series ‘Beating Covid,’ we trace victims who caught the virus and overcame it. On June 10, Dickson Tumuramye and his wife got home at around 7.30pm and found their six-year-old girl complaining of a fever. He tells Joan Salmon how they treated the little one who had contracted Covid-19.
“When we got home in the evening on June 10, and found out that our daughter had fever, we gave her Panadol and the temperature reduced.
On checking on her at around 3:30am, however, the temperature had increased again, and since she did not show serious signs of flu, we decided not to give her medication for the illness.
At 9am, I took her to the nearest clinic for a medical check-up and her temperature read 38oC. It was recommended that a malaria test be done but the results were negative.
Then the doctor recommended a Covid-19 test and gave us a referral to a nearby government hospital. Convinced it was a mere cold, I reluctantly took her for the test.
On reaching Mukono Hospital, there was an overwhelming number of people, and the nurse carrying out tests categorically informed everyone who did not have a medical form with a Covid-19 recommendation or who did not first test for malaria to leave the line because the kits were very few. At 11:16am, the nurse collected medical forms from the last 10 people.
Save for complaints of tiredness, my daughter seemed okay. At some point, when I told the nurse that my child was feeling unwell due to high fever, her response was, “I don’t work on emergencies; you can go and leave the results.”
What we went through at that hospital is a story for another day but after a five-hour wait and pleading, we finally got the results.
Shocked by results
On looking at them, I thought they were not ours. I also wondered if we had irritated the nurse who was being rude to everyone that tried to question her professionalism thus making a mistake.
Yes, my daughter was positive for Covid-19 but it was unbelievable because she was always at home and not allowed to move anywhere.
I decided to do a confirmatory test for her again in a private hospital and within 15 minutes, I got the results, which were still positive. It was here that I realised Covid-19 was real even among children.
She got medication immediately, some of which we would administer from home as she did not warrant admission. Though distraught, I had to encourage myself because I wondered how I would break the news to my family.
Moreover, my daughter heard me tell someone that she had tested positive and her response broke my heart: ‘Daddy, you mean I have coronavirus, am I going to die?’ I had to first counsel her and see how I could bring this bad news to her level of understanding without hiding the truth. Many questions lingered in my mind, especially where she contracted it from. I resolved to go home, deliver the news to my household, and ask them to ensure we observe all SOPs and treat her well without stigmatising her or the other children.
I also had to keep in mind my mother-in-law who has hypertension and was staying with us.
The next day, I took all the other members for testing and fortunately, we were all negative. This brought relief from the night of anxiety some had experienced.
Precautions
My mother-in-law is in a category of the most vulnerable. So we ensured she did not interact with her granddaughter and she did well. We also ensured to put on masks all the time, whether we were in the house or outside, as well as social distancing.
This was coupled with steaming with various herbs, taking concoctions such as the garlic, ginger, lemon and onions mixture, taking immunity boosters, sunbathing every morning and exercising every evening.
My wife and I also stopped going to work and stayed at home. I can say everything worked well because we were diligent and committed while administering medication.
The biggest challenge though was isolating our daughter. She often told us we no longer loved her because she had Covid-19.
On other occasions, she would say, ‘You are isolating me because I have Covid-19, am I going to die?’ These statements traumatised us. She also likes hugging a lot and pecking; while the other children welcome me home with a wave, only a hug works for her and a spontaneous hug and peck are not an anomaly in her case.
We thus decided to let her be and trusted God for protection. However, I also explained and counselled her about the disease and she tried her best to do better.
Aware of the stigma many have faced, before we could share about the diagnosis, we first made sure that everyone in the family had come to terms with it before we could share publicly.
We are thankful that when we shared publicly, rather than stigma, we got overwhelming support. We thus thank family and friends who kept praying for us and sent us words of encouragement.
From my wife’s workplace (Compassion International), we received some money to buy foodstuffs that would boost our family immunity and sanitisers. This support helped us a lot and I appreciate them very much. Above all, we thank God who got us through it all.
Advice
Therefore, I encourage people to be strong when faced with such challenges; do not panic or lose hope but keep calm and take your medication as prescribed. Do not fear to share with friends and family members whom you trust because they will be a strong pillar. For those who are sick, remember that many people have got healed and you too will be among them.
Looking back, I now understand that Covid-19 is real and this wave does not segregate between children and adults for we have seen children of different age groups get it. Additionally, avoid self-medication without testing to confirm what you are treating.
Covid in children
The cases of Covid-19 deaths and infections are not severe in children like in adults.
In fact, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), evidence suggests that older people (from 40 years) and those with underlying medical conditions (having ailments like diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, HIV/Aids, cancer, among others) are at a higher risk of getting severe Covid-19 disease.
Dr Richard Lukandwa, a consultant physician and medical director at Medipal International Hospital in Kampala believes that the cases of Covid-19 have not been very severe in children because of the thymus gland which is usually very active during early development.
“The gland is instrumental in producing T cells, a specific type of white blood cell that protects the body from infections including viruses,” Dr Lukandwa mentions.
On the other hand, Dr. Alex Kakoraki, a general medical practitioner at Murchison Bay Hospital, in Luzira says the aspect of age plays a crucial role in fighting diseases.
“As you grow older, the law of diminishing returns takes centre stage meaning that however much you maintain a healthy lifestyle, age catches up, springing in all sorts of effects,” Dr Kakoraki says, adding, “This is why the immune system in children is more splendid than adults.” Also, adults are more exposed to getting infections than children whose movements are restricted, Dr Kakoraki concludes.
Common symptoms of covid
According to Ministry of Health, the commonest symptoms of Covid-19 range from fever, dry cough, tiredness to flu, aches and pains, sore throat, headache, loss of taste or smell, difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath and chest pain.
