Story by Ojijo Mbai Odhiambo, Epilepsy Advocate, Kenya
Hello, I’m Ojijo Mbai Odhiambo from Kenya. I was diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 6 months old due to loss of oxygen during birth. It has been a tough journey until now; I’m 25 years old.
I had frequent seizures when i was young and didn’t know what they were. Thanks to my parents for their support for where I am today. I could have frequent seizures when I was in my lower primary school. At times I could just go to school feeling well, but experiencing severe seizures I could wake up in the hospital undergoing treatment.
I was using phenobarbital until the age of 11 when I was stopped from the drug after a long period without seizures. All went on well until June 2015 in my final year in high school, when epilepsy ‘striked back’. It was a weekend when I had a severe seizure attack. I wanted to go home but I was denied a chance.
Tough times it was not only to find that my father had passed on. Finishing my high school, my mother took me to hospital and my neurologist sent me to go for an EEG test and a brain MRI.
The results were discouraging, left neurons sleeping over each other, loss of oxygen in the brain and an injury on my temporal lobe.
It has been a tough time on my academic journey. At times having seizures in class, colleagues not understanding, most of the times out of school seeking medication while others are learning. There was a time I nearly got burnt inside the house while I was cooking and alone in the house too. Missing medication and stress are also a challenge. I must study for long hours to understand because of the side effects of the medication.
It’s a blessing that God granted me the course that I wanted.
It has been a tough journey in the academic sector but all in all, I’m finishing it soon.
Shared on this platform by Samuel Chigamba, Epilepsy Warriors Foundation, Malawi.
Leave a Reply