Second year in high school started off on a low with constant reports that my mum was ailing. She was in and out of hospital back in upcountry. I had an uncle who was a doctor and so he kept prescribing medicine for her. She eventually got worse and was admitted at a hospital in Kisumu town. They had diagnosed her with Gall Stones that had to be removed surgically.
After they were removed, her recovery became slow. She stayed in the hospital abit longer as they monitored her until it reached a point they had to transfer her to Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi for better treatment.
We took a bus to Kisumu with my sister Susan and organized for my mum to be transported to Nairobi while lying on a bed. She was put at the back of the hospital van with a siren and we sat at the back with her. She was a strong woman because she persevered an 8 hour journey to Nairobi. She was quickly transferred to a hospital bed and wheeled to her room on the 10th floor of Kenyatta Hospital.
After check up, the doctor said that while the Gall Stones were removed, something was tampered with that was making her remove a certain liquid from the wound. We kept dressing her wound because of the liquid. I was not about to leave her alone so I stayed with her whole time.
Luckily it was the April holiday break but students were attending holiday tuition. One of my classmates was my neighbor so she kept bringing for me the work. I used to be at the hospital the whole day and go back home in the evening. The hospital was also not far off, only 20 minutes walk. I would make her porridge everyday then take for her as she preferred that then I would eat the nice breakfast they would bring for her. Her room had a television so I kept myself busy. My sisters would visit when they came from work. Another time my sister suggested we shave my mum, but we all refused and I chose to plait her instead.
When the nurses came to take her for x-rays, I would help them wheel her all the way to the x-ray room and back to her room. I eventually made friends with other patients on that floor who were my age mates so we would stroll for a few minutes and go back. I remember I used to pray for her healing that I was so sure she would recover.
One time Grace came to visit and she broke down crying. We had to remove her from the room. I did not understand why she cried only to realize that I rarely left my mum so I never noticed her countenance was changing. She looked weaker and thinner everyday but I chose to believe on our healing God. There was a time my mum decided she wanted to try walking to the toilet. I used to keep for her a bedpan and clean her just on the bed. So this day I helped her off the bed and to the toilet. As she came back to the bed, she almost fell and I held her. We were stuck like that for a while because I could not move her but I could not allow her to fall either. Thank God Pamela walked in after a few minutes and helped me carry her onto the bed. She kept telling everyone how strong I was to hold my mum.
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