I SUPPORT THE SUGAR PROJECT CAMPAIGN – MY STORY

My worst fear unraveled when I witnessed first-hand the pain and suffering my father had to go through during his last days living with a diabetic condition.

It was the Harmattan season in December 2014 and my family and I took turns in travelling to his residence until the entire family had moved safely from Accra to spend the Christmas holidays at Tamale in the Northern Region, where he held the position of Principal of a reputable Technical Institute.

Diabetes had taken a better part of my father and unknown to us it had put his life on an inevitable time bomb although he never mentioned it to us. Not to say he was secretive so to speak, he just did not want his family to worry much about his condition. Even though it was obvious he was ill, he still felt the need to sacrifice for us regardless.

I recall a day I had accompanied my father to a Clinic in Accra for his usual but very expensive checkup. The doctor, after the checkup had given him a brown envelope as progress report of his health, detailing also how much time he had left. I did not know this at the time. My father suspecting I may have had an idea of the information concealed in the envelope diverted my attention with his unbeatable sense of humor “these doctors just enjoying me flying down here from Tamale, maybe they just enjoy my coming here” he said. We shared a father-to-son smile while I assisted him down the hospital hallway. We chatted a lot on our way back home just to create the impression to me that he was actually fine although his physical state said otherwise.

Back in Tamale, my twin and I applied a local ointment on his body to ease the itch since all other drugs given him from the hospital had proven futile. The ointment made him feel better but the pain reverted each time we paused. We later decided that my twin and I take turns to apply the medication on his skin to enable him feel alive for a longer time until we both got tired. There were instances where we fell asleep while applying the ointment, because of the routine nature and the long hours it took. Sores that never healed, blurry visions, itchy skin, night blindness, nausea, loss of appetite, amnesia, body pains, hallucinations, tiredness, sleepless nights, frustrations are but a few examples of the associated symptoms he experienced. He slept at all times with the diabetes test kit by his side to facilitate the easy test of his blood sugar at regular time intervals during the night to prevent him from going into an induced coma as instructed by the doctor.

Eventually, we were out of options and desperate as doctors did not also seem to see any light at the end of this diabetic tunnel. My mother came back from the market in Tamale one fateful day with a local ointment in a small container the locals sold to her as a probable cure for diabetes. Upon hearing this, my father made a rather humorous but desperate statement “if this ointment truly works, I’ll jump into the container and lay in there forever” he said. 
All attempts to restore his health back to normal however were unsuccessful till he finally gave up the ghost a few months into the New Year. A real sad and heart-breaking moment and experience.
“3nto wo a, da!”, a common expression in a Ghanaian language(Twi) to mean people tend to be unconcerned when they have not gone through a particular situation. Let us however not live with such a perception as a nation mainly because living with diabetes is a real torment and we do not have to wait for diabetes to take the life of another member of our families or society with its merciless hands or to take any of them through this torment before we act.

Diabetes is a sickness I have nicknamed the "Chairman" of the Board of Council of all minor and major sicknesses and a colleague to the deadly HIV/AIDS with respect to its mortality rate.

Let us come together to educate the Ghanaian populace about diabetes and support the Sugar Project which is an initiative of Kojo Yankson, a seasoned journalist and Host of the Joy FM Super Morning , to campaign against diabetes.

Get tested for diabetes today to know your health status. Always remember that this is NOT a death sentence but a chance to LIVE RIGHT.

I am Atsu Dogbey and this is my story. What is your story?