In this riveting account, Dr. Ada Igonoh writes about her experience contracting Ebola as one of the handful of doctors who treated Liberian Patrick Sawyer when he arrived in Nigeria: I examined him and observed that there was no respiratory movement. I felt for his pulse; it was absent. We had lost him. It was I who certified Patrick Sawyer dead. I informed Dr. Adadevoh immediately and she instructed that no one was to be allowed to go in to his room for any reason at all. Later that day, officials from WHO came and took his body away. The test in Dakar later came out positive for Zaire strain of the Ebola virus. We now had the first official case of Ebola virus disease in Nigeria. ... On Friday 1st of August, my temperature read a high 38.7c. As I type this, I recall the anxiety I felt that morning. I could not believe what I saw on the thermometer. I ran to my mother’s room and told her. I did not go to work that day. I cautiously started using a separate set of utensils and cups from the ones my family members were using. ... The ambulance door opened and a Caucasian gentleman approached me but kept a little distance. He said to me, I have to inform you that your blood tested positive for Ebola. I am sorry. I had no reaction. I think I must have been in shock. He then told me to open my mouth and he looked at my tongue. He said it was the typical Ebola tongue. I took out my mirror from my bag and took a look and I was shocked at what I saw. My whole tongue had a white coating, looked furry and had a long, deep ridge right in the middle. I then started to look at my whole body, searching for Ebola rashes and other signs as we had been recently instructed. I called my mother immediately and said, Mummy, they said I have Ebola, but don’t worry, I will survive it. Please, go and lock my room now; don’t let anyone inside and don’t touch anything. She was silent. I cut the line. And this would begin Dr. Igonohs journey of fighting Ebola even as she watched her peers perish in the ward all around her. But it would end up being her faith, prayer, and thirst for knowledge that would get her through to the other side of health and returning to her family. Read her stirring journey here. It will remind you that no challenge is too big to overcome as long as one has definitively decided that God will see him or her through. Many blessings to Dr. Igonoh for sharing her story. It impacted me, and I hope it impacts you too.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 21:30:00 +0000
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