Single father of five needs Shs107m for new kidney

Achora Masaensio Gwokto, a single father of five, needs Shs107m for a kidney transplant. Because of failed kidneys, he cannot do anything on his apart from talking. Photo by Rachel Mabala. 

By Christine Katende

Posted  Thursday, December 20  2012 at  00:00

Achora Masaensio Gwokto survived death when he went into a coma for 10 days in August, after his kidneys failed.

The problem started with diabetes that manifested in form of blisters on his feet in 1993. “I discovered later that I could be having diabetes after a postmortem report of a colleague of mine who collapsed and died revealed that he had diabetes,” he says.

Gwokto rushed to Mulago National Referral Hospital for a test but he was immediately admitted after doctors found out that his blood sugar level was very high. To save his life, doctors had to control the sugar level before he could be discharged. He was later advised to treat himself with an insulin injection that he had to have once every day, it is on this and some drugs that he has lived until this year in August when he went into coma.

After 10 years with diabetes, he developed high blood pressure which forced him to get medical insurance at International Hospital Kampala so that he could get treatment at any time. “Life did not improve. Instead, it worsened. Soon I would spend a day without urinating yet I used to go for short calls more than three times a day. The swelling developed again on the feet, legs and stomach,” he narrates.

The diagnosis
The routine check-ups Gwokto went for revealed that his kidneys had started getting ill and thus the body reactions. Doctors gave him drugs (he can’t recall which ones in particular) to treat the kidneys in vain. “I was then referred to Dr Ssekasanvu, a kidney specialist in Kamwokya, who told me that my kidneys had only remained with five per cent functioning levels. With that, he would not even recommend dialysis saying that the only option was to undergo a transplant because dialysis treatment is every expensive and does not solve the problem either,” he says.

After three months, Gwokto says Dr Ssekasanvu referred him to Mulago for kidney failure tests that revealed both his kidneys had completely failed. It was after this test that he was advised to start dialysis treatment, towards the end of August. He received the treatment thrice a week at a fee of Shs1.2m but once missed a full week’s treatment, when his family failed to raise the money, as Charles Onen, his brother, notes. “Because we couldn’t sustain the treatment fees we asked the doctor to reduce the sessions to twice a week at Shs800,000, including the prescribed drugs.

Gwokto cannot walk so it is his brother, an air craft engineer with Uganda police, who lifts him from place to place. He cannot do anything for himself apart from talking. His diet is limited to posho, fresh fish and beans with some milk, once in a while, to balance his diet.

What he needs
Dr Robert Kalyesubula a physician (Nephorologist) at Mulago says, “Gwokto was diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes which developed into kidney failure with reduced urine output, difficulty in breathing, and aneamia. Apparently he has developed end renal disease which means that he needs an urgent kidney transplant if he is to survive,” he says. He needs about Shs107m for the air ticket, hospital fees, a caretaker, and up keep for a donor who he has not got yet.

The 49-year-old single father of two, who is also guardian to a late brother’s three children used to work as a civil servant with the local government in Moroto and later Kiboga.

To Help:
You can call Charles Onen Gwokto on 077-2408273.
Or deposit money on account no. 0140529139001 in the name of Achora Masaensio Gwokto, Stanbic Bank, City Branch