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Martin Gitonga going through a dialysis session in Nairobi hospital/FELIX MAGARA

Kenya

Silent killers plague Martin at only 34

Sometimes an individual can lose up to 90 percent of their kidney functions without any warning.

And although the writing is always on the wall, most people do not see it.

“I did not know that I was sick and I thought I was having normal headaches so I would take different kinds of paracetamols to treat the symptoms,” recalls Martin.

“He would wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air so this forced us to go to hospital because we used to self medicate. He was first diagnosed with pneumonia, then bronchitis and asthma before we eventually went for a proper check up,” says Daphine.

Martin has chronic kidney disease – which borders total kidney failure.

He either has to get a new kidney or rely on dialysis for the rest of his life.

And at Sh9,000 per session, life-long dialysis does not sound like an economically viable option.

“We have already spent Sh100,000 and that is on dialysis alone because we spend Sh27,000 in a week and insurance does not cover kidney diseases because they are termed as terminal so we will eventually have to get a donor,” notes Daphine.

But Martin cannot get a kidney transplant before his heart recovers.

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“The heart can go back to its original size but you rarely get a perfect reversal. In some cases you may get what appears to be a complete reversal but most patients who come to us come in late and the reversal is impossible,” says Kariuki.

“The aim of treatment is to prevent or delay deterioration rather than focus on improvement which is the ideal target but you get away with containing the condition rather than treating it,” he adds.

Support Martin
Account Name: Martin/Daphine/Angela
Account Number: 0605384001
Swift Code: DTKEKENA
Diamond Trust Bank, Westgate Branch – Westlands

A catheter is placed on the right side of his torso, just below his collar bone.

The catheter is connected to other pipes in the dialyser every time he walks in for a dialysis session.

“The catheter has to be cleaned before the pipes are inserted each time so they have to clean above the skin and it is very painful. If it gets infected I have to go to the Intensive Care Unit and they will have to remove it from the right side to the left,” he explains.

The dialysis machine has two pipes colour coded in red and blue.

It works as an external kidney to make sure that Martin’s blood is not poisoned by the waste products in the body.

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