First Consultants Hospital’s doctors tell their stories
By Chioma Obinna and Gabriel Olawale
It is no longer news that Nigeria has not recorded any Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, case since the last Ebola patient was discharged from the isolation centre at the Infectious Disease Hospital, IDH, Mainland Hospital, Yaba, Lagos. What is news, however, is that many countries of the world are impressed about the strategies applied by Nigerian experts to contain the spread of the disease .
To this effect, Nigeria has received accolades from various organisations including the World Health Organisation, WHO. In fact, tomorrow, Nigeria will be officially declared by WHO Ebola-free.
Four of those who died were healthcare workers who treated Liberian government official, Patrick Sawyer, who brought the virus into the country from Monrovia.
Most of the victims were from First Consultants Hospital where Sawyer was admitted. Sunday Vanguard was at the hospital alongside some WHO representatives who were there to get first hand information on how the personnel managed the Ebola crisis. The doctors gave vivid accounts of how they survived and the therapies that worked for them.
According to them, some of the therapies they
undertook through the 15 days period in the isolation centre in Lagos
were not easy. They said they took Paracetamol and consumed 4.5 litres
of Oral Rehydration Solution, ORS, daily
Their heart- rendering stories:
I was determined to survive— Igonoh
“A couple of days after Mr. Sawyer died, I started to feel unwell but I didn’t have fever; so I thought it was as a result of stress. I had joint pains, general feeling of unwellness. However, soon I developed fever and that was when my blood sample was taken for investigation and I was confirmed to be positive to EVD. I was taken to the isolation centre at IDH, Yaba where I was attended to by Dr. David who was contacted by our Chief Medical Doctor, Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, because he was an Ebola specialist. He told me that 90 per cent of the treatment will be solely dependent on me and I needed to do whatever he asked me to do which was to remain hydrated, to re-hydrate and monitor the fluid loss arising from the diarrhoea and vomiting. And no matter how bad I felt, he said, I should take the oral re-hydration which he mixed for me and told me how to mix it and I started mixing it by myself”, Dr. Adah Igonoh, one of the doctors who treated Patrick Sawyer, said.
For the young beautiful doctor, it was an emotional period for the members of staff at First Consultants Hospital, because some were kept in the hospital and some at the isolation centre. “Although, we were separated, we were all in it together. We received prayer support and materials from our colleagues”, she stated. She continued: “It was a matter of strong will to survive because you shouldn’t give up on yourself. I knew I had to do what I was asked to do, take the medication, oral re-hydration solution, Paracetamol for pains. I continued to take this until the diarrhoea and vomiting stopped.
“I took banana with the aim of increasing my potassium level because I knew that due to the diarrhoea involved, I had lost a lot of body fluid and there was no means to check my electrolyte level because many tests that should have been done were not done because, Lagos State government was not prepared to cater for the situation at the early stage. So, gradually, volunteers came to help because initially it was only Dr. David who was doing everything. The pressure was too much for him because he also had to limit contact and there was a number of times he should come in on daily basis.
“But when volunteers came to assist, the treatment got better and there was a lot of improvement and we were moved to a better isolation centre where we were properly catered for.
“My CMD sent us supplies, such as Vitamin C, anti-malaria drugs, tissue paper, buckets, bathroom slippers, diapers, all the basic things that we did not have the first time we came to the hospital.
“I had fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. For the fever, I was given Paracetamol which was supplied by Dr. Ohiaeri, and I was given oral re-hydro solution which Dr. David had already told me about when I first came to the isolation centre, he told me I had to consume at least 4.5 litres a day regardless of how I felt.
“My urine initially was dark. I was told to drink more electrolytes until my urine got lighter.
What kept me throughout my staying in that isolation centre was my belief that I will survive. Initially when I started taking the Paracetamol, the fever was not going down. My temperature was around 38.6. Sometimes, it will come down to 38.4 which did not make any sense. The reason for taking Paracetamol was not to bring the fever down but to relieve the body ache and pains.
“The ORS, I was supposed to consume 4.5 litres. So my strategy was to have a bottle on my hand, as soon as I vomit, I will drink it. Once I visit the bathroom, I must go with the ORS. The secret is that you must not be lazy in drinking the ORS”.
Compliance with doctor’s instruction was the only way out — Fadipe
“Ebola is an illness that requires commitment to the cause, you must be determined to fight the battle”, another survivor, Dr. Akinniyi Fadipe, also of First Consultants Hospital, said..
“I think when I contracted the disease was when I opened the door to the room where Sawyer was admitted. I wasn’t that close to him. In his room, there were two beds and I was only communicating with him from a distance and I washed my hands each time I had conversation with him”, he narrated.
“I never knew that from that point I could contract the disease. We were thinking that by August when the incubation period would have been over, we will all celebrate not knowing that almost all of us will be infected with the deadly virus. As time went on, I started feeling sick and I took my temperature which was very high. The following day, I decided to go to a laboratory to run a test. I wished it was malaria but when the result came out it was written in capital letters that malaria was negative.
“When I got home, I checked my temperature again, it was high. That was the point I contacted the ministry of health and they came and pick me up. When I started manifesting the symptoms I knew it was Ebola, but I had read in the papers that it was possible for people exposed to the virus to survive; so I made up my mind to fight it.
“I was taken from the hospital to the isolation centre. My parents were not happy because they thought I was taking steps towards death. Getting to the isolation centre, I spent a lot of hours inside the ambulance. Later, Dr. David took my blood samples and kept me in a room.
“When
I got to that room I knew Nigeria was not in any way prepared for
Ebola. The environment was dirty you could not even describe the bed
there as bed. At a point, I was asking Dr. David where will I stay,
and where was the rest room? And where he pointed to me I doubted
whether I will survive because the environment was not going to in
anyway help my recovery.
“The 15 days I spent at the isolation centre, I experienced frequent vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, pains and there was a particular time I felt I was going to succumb to Ebola.
“This was particularly so when I remembered that before the ECOWAS guy died, he was doing well at a point.
“I remember they will bring food to us to eat; he was the only one taking solid food. He would ask for Semovita, but all of a sudden, he said he was not taking those things again.
“When he stopped taking ORS, one particular night, precisely on August 15, I called a nurse to come and look at him, that was the day he died. His sudden death made me to shiver. I was afraid. I was shaking and I asked myself whether this was how Ebola was going to be taking us one-by-one?
“One scary thing that happened to me was when rashes came out of my body; red spots but to God be the glory, they disappeared the following day.
“What actually helped us was the fact that we are medical personnel and we understood the fact that compliance with the doctor’s instruction was the only way out.
“The absence of doctors at the isolation centre at the early stage of Ebola outbreak did not help some people. If things had been different, probably those who came there before I was admitted might not have died.
“I was happy when we were moved to a new site, it was perfect.
Later, everything got better. During that time I became closer to God. On the day I was discharged, August 18, some people came around asking us about stigmatisation, whether we would be able to go back to work. I told them I was not scared of stigmatisation. Concerning my belongings that were burnt, promises were made, but up till now nothing came out of those promises.
When I left the centre my family members received me and threw a party for me”.
Our greatest challenge – Ohiaeri, Chief Medical Director, First Consultants Hospital
“Mr. Patrick Sawyer came to Nigeria with Ebola Virus Disease. The medical team at First Consultants Hospital, led by one of the best physicians this country would ever produce, Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh, detected after 24 hours that it was possible that this man had Ebola virus subject to confirmation”, Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, Chief Medical Consultant at First Consultants Hospital, said..
“We have always had one of the best personnel.
One of the greatest challenges of the Ebola virus saga was when Mr. Sawyer said he needed to be discharged. He said he was not going to wait for any test to be done. To do a test is one thing and the time the result is going to come out is another. So we had 48 hours window between when we did the test and when the result will come out.
“We lost four of our key staff. We were not prepared. More awareness still needs to focus on hygienic life style. However, we have paid the price. The fight is not over. In a few days time, Nigeria will be declared Ebola free but awareness needs to continue because now it is Ebola; something else may come tomorrow; whatever it is, you (WHO) must support us”.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/ebola-virus-free-country15-days-ebola-survivors-horror-isolation-centre/#sthash.G4oie6U3.dpuf
By Chioma Obinna and Gabriel Olawale
It is no longer news that Nigeria has not recorded any Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, case since the last Ebola patient was discharged from the isolation centre at the Infectious Disease Hospital, IDH, Mainland Hospital, Yaba, Lagos. What is news, however, is that many countries of the world are impressed about the strategies applied by Nigerian experts to contain the spread of the disease .
To this effect, Nigeria has received accolades from various organisations including the World Health Organisation, WHO. In fact, tomorrow, Nigeria will be officially declared by WHO Ebola-free.
Four of those who died were healthcare workers who treated Liberian government official, Patrick Sawyer, who brought the virus into the country from Monrovia.
Most of the victims were from First Consultants Hospital where Sawyer was admitted. Sunday Vanguard was at the hospital alongside some WHO representatives who were there to get first hand information on how the personnel managed the Ebola crisis. The doctors gave vivid accounts of how they survived and the therapies that worked for them.
L-R:
The Chief Medical Director, First Consultans Hospital, Dr. Benjamin
Ohiaeri, and the Ebola survivors; Dr. Ada Igonoh and Dr. Akinniyi Fadipe
.
Their heart- rendering stories:
I was determined to survive— Igonoh
“A couple of days after Mr. Sawyer died, I started to feel unwell but I didn’t have fever; so I thought it was as a result of stress. I had joint pains, general feeling of unwellness. However, soon I developed fever and that was when my blood sample was taken for investigation and I was confirmed to be positive to EVD. I was taken to the isolation centre at IDH, Yaba where I was attended to by Dr. David who was contacted by our Chief Medical Doctor, Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, because he was an Ebola specialist. He told me that 90 per cent of the treatment will be solely dependent on me and I needed to do whatever he asked me to do which was to remain hydrated, to re-hydrate and monitor the fluid loss arising from the diarrhoea and vomiting. And no matter how bad I felt, he said, I should take the oral re-hydration which he mixed for me and told me how to mix it and I started mixing it by myself”, Dr. Adah Igonoh, one of the doctors who treated Patrick Sawyer, said.
For the young beautiful doctor, it was an emotional period for the members of staff at First Consultants Hospital, because some were kept in the hospital and some at the isolation centre. “Although, we were separated, we were all in it together. We received prayer support and materials from our colleagues”, she stated. She continued: “It was a matter of strong will to survive because you shouldn’t give up on yourself. I knew I had to do what I was asked to do, take the medication, oral re-hydration solution, Paracetamol for pains. I continued to take this until the diarrhoea and vomiting stopped.
“I took banana with the aim of increasing my potassium level because I knew that due to the diarrhoea involved, I had lost a lot of body fluid and there was no means to check my electrolyte level because many tests that should have been done were not done because, Lagos State government was not prepared to cater for the situation at the early stage. So, gradually, volunteers came to help because initially it was only Dr. David who was doing everything. The pressure was too much for him because he also had to limit contact and there was a number of times he should come in on daily basis.
“But when volunteers came to assist, the treatment got better and there was a lot of improvement and we were moved to a better isolation centre where we were properly catered for.
“My CMD sent us supplies, such as Vitamin C, anti-malaria drugs, tissue paper, buckets, bathroom slippers, diapers, all the basic things that we did not have the first time we came to the hospital.
“I had fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. For the fever, I was given Paracetamol which was supplied by Dr. Ohiaeri, and I was given oral re-hydro solution which Dr. David had already told me about when I first came to the isolation centre, he told me I had to consume at least 4.5 litres a day regardless of how I felt.
“My urine initially was dark. I was told to drink more electrolytes until my urine got lighter.
What kept me throughout my staying in that isolation centre was my belief that I will survive. Initially when I started taking the Paracetamol, the fever was not going down. My temperature was around 38.6. Sometimes, it will come down to 38.4 which did not make any sense. The reason for taking Paracetamol was not to bring the fever down but to relieve the body ache and pains.
“The ORS, I was supposed to consume 4.5 litres. So my strategy was to have a bottle on my hand, as soon as I vomit, I will drink it. Once I visit the bathroom, I must go with the ORS. The secret is that you must not be lazy in drinking the ORS”.
Compliance with doctor’s instruction was the only way out — Fadipe
“Ebola is an illness that requires commitment to the cause, you must be determined to fight the battle”, another survivor, Dr. Akinniyi Fadipe, also of First Consultants Hospital, said..
“I think when I contracted the disease was when I opened the door to the room where Sawyer was admitted. I wasn’t that close to him. In his room, there were two beds and I was only communicating with him from a distance and I washed my hands each time I had conversation with him”, he narrated.
“I never knew that from that point I could contract the disease. We were thinking that by August when the incubation period would have been over, we will all celebrate not knowing that almost all of us will be infected with the deadly virus. As time went on, I started feeling sick and I took my temperature which was very high. The following day, I decided to go to a laboratory to run a test. I wished it was malaria but when the result came out it was written in capital letters that malaria was negative.
“When I got home, I checked my temperature again, it was high. That was the point I contacted the ministry of health and they came and pick me up. When I started manifesting the symptoms I knew it was Ebola, but I had read in the papers that it was possible for people exposed to the virus to survive; so I made up my mind to fight it.
“I was taken from the hospital to the isolation centre. My parents were not happy because they thought I was taking steps towards death. Getting to the isolation centre, I spent a lot of hours inside the ambulance. Later, Dr. David took my blood samples and kept me in a room.
Late Dr. Adadevoh
“The 15 days I spent at the isolation centre, I experienced frequent vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, pains and there was a particular time I felt I was going to succumb to Ebola.
“This was particularly so when I remembered that before the ECOWAS guy died, he was doing well at a point.
“I remember they will bring food to us to eat; he was the only one taking solid food. He would ask for Semovita, but all of a sudden, he said he was not taking those things again.
“When he stopped taking ORS, one particular night, precisely on August 15, I called a nurse to come and look at him, that was the day he died. His sudden death made me to shiver. I was afraid. I was shaking and I asked myself whether this was how Ebola was going to be taking us one-by-one?
“One scary thing that happened to me was when rashes came out of my body; red spots but to God be the glory, they disappeared the following day.
“What actually helped us was the fact that we are medical personnel and we understood the fact that compliance with the doctor’s instruction was the only way out.
“The absence of doctors at the isolation centre at the early stage of Ebola outbreak did not help some people. If things had been different, probably those who came there before I was admitted might not have died.
“I was happy when we were moved to a new site, it was perfect.
Later, everything got better. During that time I became closer to God. On the day I was discharged, August 18, some people came around asking us about stigmatisation, whether we would be able to go back to work. I told them I was not scared of stigmatisation. Concerning my belongings that were burnt, promises were made, but up till now nothing came out of those promises.
When I left the centre my family members received me and threw a party for me”.
Our greatest challenge – Ohiaeri, Chief Medical Director, First Consultants Hospital
“Mr. Patrick Sawyer came to Nigeria with Ebola Virus Disease. The medical team at First Consultants Hospital, led by one of the best physicians this country would ever produce, Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh, detected after 24 hours that it was possible that this man had Ebola virus subject to confirmation”, Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, Chief Medical Consultant at First Consultants Hospital, said..
“We have always had one of the best personnel.
One of the greatest challenges of the Ebola virus saga was when Mr. Sawyer said he needed to be discharged. He said he was not going to wait for any test to be done. To do a test is one thing and the time the result is going to come out is another. So we had 48 hours window between when we did the test and when the result will come out.
“We lost four of our key staff. We were not prepared. More awareness still needs to focus on hygienic life style. However, we have paid the price. The fight is not over. In a few days time, Nigeria will be declared Ebola free but awareness needs to continue because now it is Ebola; something else may come tomorrow; whatever it is, you (WHO) must support us”.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/ebola-virus-free-country15-days-ebola-survivors-horror-isolation-centre/#sthash.G4oie6U3.dpuf
First Consultants Hospital’s doctors tell their stories
By Chioma Obinna and Gabriel Olawale
It is no longer news that Nigeria has not recorded any Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, case since the last Ebola patient was discharged from the isolation centre at the Infectious Disease Hospital, IDH, Mainland Hospital, Yaba, Lagos. What is news, however, is that many countries of the world are impressed about the strategies applied by Nigerian experts to contain the spread of the disease .
To this effect, Nigeria has received accolades from various organisations including the World Health Organisation, WHO. In fact, tomorrow, Nigeria will be officially declared by WHO Ebola-free.
Four of those who died were healthcare workers who treated Liberian government official, Patrick Sawyer, who brought the virus into the country from Monrovia.
Most of the victims were from First Consultants Hospital where Sawyer was admitted. Sunday Vanguard was at the hospital alongside some WHO representatives who were there to get first hand information on how the personnel managed the Ebola crisis. The doctors gave vivid accounts of how they survived and the therapies that worked for them.
According to them, some of the therapies they
undertook through the 15 days period in the isolation centre in Lagos
were not easy. They said they took Paracetamol and consumed 4.5 litres
of Oral Rehydration Solution, ORS, daily
Their heart- rendering stories:
I was determined to survive— Igonoh
“A couple of days after Mr. Sawyer died, I started to feel unwell but I didn’t have fever; so I thought it was as a result of stress. I had joint pains, general feeling of unwellness. However, soon I developed fever and that was when my blood sample was taken for investigation and I was confirmed to be positive to EVD. I was taken to the isolation centre at IDH, Yaba where I was attended to by Dr. David who was contacted by our Chief Medical Doctor, Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, because he was an Ebola specialist. He told me that 90 per cent of the treatment will be solely dependent on me and I needed to do whatever he asked me to do which was to remain hydrated, to re-hydrate and monitor the fluid loss arising from the diarrhoea and vomiting. And no matter how bad I felt, he said, I should take the oral re-hydration which he mixed for me and told me how to mix it and I started mixing it by myself”, Dr. Adah Igonoh, one of the doctors who treated Patrick Sawyer, said.
For the young beautiful doctor, it was an emotional period for the members of staff at First Consultants Hospital, because some were kept in the hospital and some at the isolation centre. “Although, we were separated, we were all in it together. We received prayer support and materials from our colleagues”, she stated. She continued: “It was a matter of strong will to survive because you shouldn’t give up on yourself. I knew I had to do what I was asked to do, take the medication, oral re-hydration solution, Paracetamol for pains. I continued to take this until the diarrhoea and vomiting stopped.
“I took banana with the aim of increasing my potassium level because I knew that due to the diarrhoea involved, I had lost a lot of body fluid and there was no means to check my electrolyte level because many tests that should have been done were not done because, Lagos State government was not prepared to cater for the situation at the early stage. So, gradually, volunteers came to help because initially it was only Dr. David who was doing everything. The pressure was too much for him because he also had to limit contact and there was a number of times he should come in on daily basis.
“But when volunteers came to assist, the treatment got better and there was a lot of improvement and we were moved to a better isolation centre where we were properly catered for.
“My CMD sent us supplies, such as Vitamin C, anti-malaria drugs, tissue paper, buckets, bathroom slippers, diapers, all the basic things that we did not have the first time we came to the hospital.
“I had fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. For the fever, I was given Paracetamol which was supplied by Dr. Ohiaeri, and I was given oral re-hydro solution which Dr. David had already told me about when I first came to the isolation centre, he told me I had to consume at least 4.5 litres a day regardless of how I felt.
“My urine initially was dark. I was told to drink more electrolytes until my urine got lighter.
What kept me throughout my staying in that isolation centre was my belief that I will survive. Initially when I started taking the Paracetamol, the fever was not going down. My temperature was around 38.6. Sometimes, it will come down to 38.4 which did not make any sense. The reason for taking Paracetamol was not to bring the fever down but to relieve the body ache and pains.
“The ORS, I was supposed to consume 4.5 litres. So my strategy was to have a bottle on my hand, as soon as I vomit, I will drink it. Once I visit the bathroom, I must go with the ORS. The secret is that you must not be lazy in drinking the ORS”.
Compliance with doctor’s instruction was the only way out — Fadipe
“Ebola is an illness that requires commitment to the cause, you must be determined to fight the battle”, another survivor, Dr. Akinniyi Fadipe, also of First Consultants Hospital, said..
“I think when I contracted the disease was when I opened the door to the room where Sawyer was admitted. I wasn’t that close to him. In his room, there were two beds and I was only communicating with him from a distance and I washed my hands each time I had conversation with him”, he narrated.
“I never knew that from that point I could contract the disease. We were thinking that by August when the incubation period would have been over, we will all celebrate not knowing that almost all of us will be infected with the deadly virus. As time went on, I started feeling sick and I took my temperature which was very high. The following day, I decided to go to a laboratory to run a test. I wished it was malaria but when the result came out it was written in capital letters that malaria was negative.
“When I got home, I checked my temperature again, it was high. That was the point I contacted the ministry of health and they came and pick me up. When I started manifesting the symptoms I knew it was Ebola, but I had read in the papers that it was possible for people exposed to the virus to survive; so I made up my mind to fight it.
“I was taken from the hospital to the isolation centre. My parents were not happy because they thought I was taking steps towards death. Getting to the isolation centre, I spent a lot of hours inside the ambulance. Later, Dr. David took my blood samples and kept me in a room.
“When
I got to that room I knew Nigeria was not in any way prepared for
Ebola. The environment was dirty you could not even describe the bed
there as bed. At a point, I was asking Dr. David where will I stay,
and where was the rest room? And where he pointed to me I doubted
whether I will survive because the environment was not going to in
anyway help my recovery.
“The 15 days I spent at the isolation centre, I experienced frequent vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, pains and there was a particular time I felt I was going to succumb to Ebola.
“This was particularly so when I remembered that before the ECOWAS guy died, he was doing well at a point.
“I remember they will bring food to us to eat; he was the only one taking solid food. He would ask for Semovita, but all of a sudden, he said he was not taking those things again.
“When he stopped taking ORS, one particular night, precisely on August 15, I called a nurse to come and look at him, that was the day he died. His sudden death made me to shiver. I was afraid. I was shaking and I asked myself whether this was how Ebola was going to be taking us one-by-one?
“One scary thing that happened to me was when rashes came out of my body; red spots but to God be the glory, they disappeared the following day.
“What actually helped us was the fact that we are medical personnel and we understood the fact that compliance with the doctor’s instruction was the only way out.
“The absence of doctors at the isolation centre at the early stage of Ebola outbreak did not help some people. If things had been different, probably those who came there before I was admitted might not have died.
“I was happy when we were moved to a new site, it was perfect.
Later, everything got better. During that time I became closer to God. On the day I was discharged, August 18, some people came around asking us about stigmatisation, whether we would be able to go back to work. I told them I was not scared of stigmatisation. Concerning my belongings that were burnt, promises were made, but up till now nothing came out of those promises.
When I left the centre my family members received me and threw a party for me”.
Our greatest challenge – Ohiaeri, Chief Medical Director, First Consultants Hospital
“Mr. Patrick Sawyer came to Nigeria with Ebola Virus Disease. The medical team at First Consultants Hospital, led by one of the best physicians this country would ever produce, Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh, detected after 24 hours that it was possible that this man had Ebola virus subject to confirmation”, Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, Chief Medical Consultant at First Consultants Hospital, said..
“We have always had one of the best personnel.
One of the greatest challenges of the Ebola virus saga was when Mr. Sawyer said he needed to be discharged. He said he was not going to wait for any test to be done. To do a test is one thing and the time the result is going to come out is another. So we had 48 hours window between when we did the test and when the result will come out.
“We lost four of our key staff. We were not prepared. More awareness still needs to focus on hygienic life style. However, we have paid the price. The fight is not over. In a few days time, Nigeria will be declared Ebola free but awareness needs to continue because now it is Ebola; something else may come tomorrow; whatever it is, you (WHO) must support us”.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/ebola-virus-free-country15-days-ebola-survivors-horror-isolation-centre/#sthash.G4oie6U3.dpuf
First Consultants Hospital’s doctors tell their storiesBy Chioma Obinna and Gabriel Olawale
It is no longer news that Nigeria has not recorded any Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, case since the last Ebola patient was discharged from the isolation centre at the Infectious Disease Hospital, IDH, Mainland Hospital, Yaba, Lagos. What is news, however, is that many countries of the world are impressed about the strategies applied by Nigerian experts to contain the spread of the disease .
To this effect, Nigeria has received accolades from various organisations including the World Health Organisation, WHO. In fact, tomorrow, Nigeria will be officially declared by WHO Ebola-free.
Four of those who died were healthcare workers who treated Liberian government official, Patrick Sawyer, who brought the virus into the country from Monrovia.
Most of the victims were from First Consultants Hospital where Sawyer was admitted. Sunday Vanguard was at the hospital alongside some WHO representatives who were there to get first hand information on how the personnel managed the Ebola crisis. The doctors gave vivid accounts of how they survived and the therapies that worked for them.
L-R:
The Chief Medical Director, First Consultans Hospital, Dr. Benjamin
Ohiaeri, and the Ebola survivors; Dr. Ada Igonoh and Dr. Akinniyi Fadipe
.
Their heart- rendering stories:
I was determined to survive— Igonoh
“A couple of days after Mr. Sawyer died, I started to feel unwell but I didn’t have fever; so I thought it was as a result of stress. I had joint pains, general feeling of unwellness. However, soon I developed fever and that was when my blood sample was taken for investigation and I was confirmed to be positive to EVD. I was taken to the isolation centre at IDH, Yaba where I was attended to by Dr. David who was contacted by our Chief Medical Doctor, Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, because he was an Ebola specialist. He told me that 90 per cent of the treatment will be solely dependent on me and I needed to do whatever he asked me to do which was to remain hydrated, to re-hydrate and monitor the fluid loss arising from the diarrhoea and vomiting. And no matter how bad I felt, he said, I should take the oral re-hydration which he mixed for me and told me how to mix it and I started mixing it by myself”, Dr. Adah Igonoh, one of the doctors who treated Patrick Sawyer, said.
For the young beautiful doctor, it was an emotional period for the members of staff at First Consultants Hospital, because some were kept in the hospital and some at the isolation centre. “Although, we were separated, we were all in it together. We received prayer support and materials from our colleagues”, she stated. She continued: “It was a matter of strong will to survive because you shouldn’t give up on yourself. I knew I had to do what I was asked to do, take the medication, oral re-hydration solution, Paracetamol for pains. I continued to take this until the diarrhoea and vomiting stopped.
“I took banana with the aim of increasing my potassium level because I knew that due to the diarrhoea involved, I had lost a lot of body fluid and there was no means to check my electrolyte level because many tests that should have been done were not done because, Lagos State government was not prepared to cater for the situation at the early stage. So, gradually, volunteers came to help because initially it was only Dr. David who was doing everything. The pressure was too much for him because he also had to limit contact and there was a number of times he should come in on daily basis.
“But when volunteers came to assist, the treatment got better and there was a lot of improvement and we were moved to a better isolation centre where we were properly catered for.
“My CMD sent us supplies, such as Vitamin C, anti-malaria drugs, tissue paper, buckets, bathroom slippers, diapers, all the basic things that we did not have the first time we came to the hospital.
“I had fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. For the fever, I was given Paracetamol which was supplied by Dr. Ohiaeri, and I was given oral re-hydro solution which Dr. David had already told me about when I first came to the isolation centre, he told me I had to consume at least 4.5 litres a day regardless of how I felt.
“My urine initially was dark. I was told to drink more electrolytes until my urine got lighter.
What kept me throughout my staying in that isolation centre was my belief that I will survive. Initially when I started taking the Paracetamol, the fever was not going down. My temperature was around 38.6. Sometimes, it will come down to 38.4 which did not make any sense. The reason for taking Paracetamol was not to bring the fever down but to relieve the body ache and pains.
“The ORS, I was supposed to consume 4.5 litres. So my strategy was to have a bottle on my hand, as soon as I vomit, I will drink it. Once I visit the bathroom, I must go with the ORS. The secret is that you must not be lazy in drinking the ORS”.
Compliance with doctor’s instruction was the only way out — Fadipe
“Ebola is an illness that requires commitment to the cause, you must be determined to fight the battle”, another survivor, Dr. Akinniyi Fadipe, also of First Consultants Hospital, said..
“I think when I contracted the disease was when I opened the door to the room where Sawyer was admitted. I wasn’t that close to him. In his room, there were two beds and I was only communicating with him from a distance and I washed my hands each time I had conversation with him”, he narrated.
“I never knew that from that point I could contract the disease. We were thinking that by August when the incubation period would have been over, we will all celebrate not knowing that almost all of us will be infected with the deadly virus. As time went on, I started feeling sick and I took my temperature which was very high. The following day, I decided to go to a laboratory to run a test. I wished it was malaria but when the result came out it was written in capital letters that malaria was negative.
“When I got home, I checked my temperature again, it was high. That was the point I contacted the ministry of health and they came and pick me up. When I started manifesting the symptoms I knew it was Ebola, but I had read in the papers that it was possible for people exposed to the virus to survive; so I made up my mind to fight it.
“I was taken from the hospital to the isolation centre. My parents were not happy because they thought I was taking steps towards death. Getting to the isolation centre, I spent a lot of hours inside the ambulance. Later, Dr. David took my blood samples and kept me in a room.
Late Dr. Adadevoh
“The 15 days I spent at the isolation centre, I experienced frequent vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, pains and there was a particular time I felt I was going to succumb to Ebola.
“This was particularly so when I remembered that before the ECOWAS guy died, he was doing well at a point.
“I remember they will bring food to us to eat; he was the only one taking solid food. He would ask for Semovita, but all of a sudden, he said he was not taking those things again.
“When he stopped taking ORS, one particular night, precisely on August 15, I called a nurse to come and look at him, that was the day he died. His sudden death made me to shiver. I was afraid. I was shaking and I asked myself whether this was how Ebola was going to be taking us one-by-one?
“One scary thing that happened to me was when rashes came out of my body; red spots but to God be the glory, they disappeared the following day.
“What actually helped us was the fact that we are medical personnel and we understood the fact that compliance with the doctor’s instruction was the only way out.
“The absence of doctors at the isolation centre at the early stage of Ebola outbreak did not help some people. If things had been different, probably those who came there before I was admitted might not have died.
“I was happy when we were moved to a new site, it was perfect.
Later, everything got better. During that time I became closer to God. On the day I was discharged, August 18, some people came around asking us about stigmatisation, whether we would be able to go back to work. I told them I was not scared of stigmatisation. Concerning my belongings that were burnt, promises were made, but up till now nothing came out of those promises.
When I left the centre my family members received me and threw a party for me”.
Our greatest challenge – Ohiaeri, Chief Medical Director, First Consultants Hospital
“Mr. Patrick Sawyer came to Nigeria with Ebola Virus Disease. The medical team at First Consultants Hospital, led by one of the best physicians this country would ever produce, Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh, detected after 24 hours that it was possible that this man had Ebola virus subject to confirmation”, Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, Chief Medical Consultant at First Consultants Hospital, said..
“We have always had one of the best personnel.
One of the greatest challenges of the Ebola virus saga was when Mr. Sawyer said he needed to be discharged. He said he was not going to wait for any test to be done. To do a test is one thing and the time the result is going to come out is another. So we had 48 hours window between when we did the test and when the result will come out.
“We lost four of our key staff. We were not prepared. More awareness still needs to focus on hygienic life style. However, we have paid the price. The fight is not over. In a few days time, Nigeria will be declared Ebola free but awareness needs to continue because now it is Ebola; something else may come tomorrow; whatever it is, you (WHO) must support us”.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/ebola-virus-free-country15-days-ebola-survivors-horror-isolation-centre/#sthash.G4oie6U3.dpuf
By Chioma Obinna and Gabriel Olawale
It is no longer news that Nigeria has not recorded any Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, case since the last Ebola patient was discharged from the isolation centre at the Infectious Disease Hospital, IDH, Mainland Hospital, Yaba, Lagos. What is news, however, is that many countries of the world are impressed about the strategies applied by Nigerian experts to contain the spread of the disease .
To this effect, Nigeria has received accolades from various organisations including the World Health Organisation, WHO. In fact, tomorrow, Nigeria will be officially declared by WHO Ebola-free.
Four of those who died were healthcare workers who treated Liberian government official, Patrick Sawyer, who brought the virus into the country from Monrovia.
Most of the victims were from First Consultants Hospital where Sawyer was admitted. Sunday Vanguard was at the hospital alongside some WHO representatives who were there to get first hand information on how the personnel managed the Ebola crisis. The doctors gave vivid accounts of how they survived and the therapies that worked for them.
L-R: The Chief Medical Director, First Consultans Hospital, Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, and the Ebola survivors; Dr. Ada Igonoh and Dr. Akinniyi Fadipe .
L-R: The Chief Medical Director, First Consultans Hospital, Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, and the Ebola survivors; Dr. Ada Igonoh and Dr. Akinniyi Fadipe .
According to them, some of the therapies they undertook through the 15 days period in the isolation centre in Lagos were not easy. They said they took Paracetamol and consumed 4.5 litres of Oral Rehydration Solution, ORS, daily
Their heart- rendering stories:
I was determined to survive— Igonoh
“A couple of days after Mr. Sawyer died, I started to feel unwell but I didn’t have fever; so I thought it was as a result of stress. I had joint pains, general feeling of unwellness. However, soon I developed fever and that was when my blood sample was taken for investigation and I was confirmed to be positive to EVD. I was taken to the isolation centre at IDH, Yaba where I was attended to by Dr. David who was contacted by our Chief Medical Doctor, Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, because he was an Ebola specialist. He told me that 90 per cent of the treatment will be solely dependent on me and I needed to do whatever he asked me to do which was to remain hydrated, to re-hydrate and monitor the fluid loss arising from the diarrhoea and vomiting. And no matter how bad I felt, he said, I should take the oral re-hydration which he mixed for me and told me how to mix it and I started mixing it by myself”, Dr. Adah Igonoh, one of the doctors who treated Patrick Sawyer, said.
For the young beautiful doctor, it was an emotional period for the members of staff at First Consultants Hospital, because some were kept in the hospital and some at the isolation centre. “Although, we were separated, we were all in it together. We received prayer support and materials from our colleagues”, she stated. She continued: “It was a matter of strong will to survive because you shouldn’t give up on yourself. I knew I had to do what I was asked to do, take the medication, oral re-hydration solution, Paracetamol for pains. I continued to take this until the diarrhoea and vomiting stopped.
“I took banana with the aim of increasing my potassium level because I knew that due to the diarrhoea involved, I had lost a lot of body fluid and there was no means to check my electrolyte level because many tests that should have been done were not done because, Lagos State government was not prepared to cater for the situation at the early stage. So, gradually, volunteers came to help because initially it was only Dr. David who was doing everything. The pressure was too much for him because he also had to limit contact and there was a number of times he should come in on daily basis.
“But when volunteers came to assist, the treatment got better and there was a lot of improvement and we were moved to a better isolation centre where we were properly catered for.
“My CMD sent us supplies, such as Vitamin C, anti-malaria drugs, tissue paper, buckets, bathroom slippers, diapers, all the basic things that we did not have the first time we came to the hospital.
“I had fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. For the fever, I was given Paracetamol which was supplied by Dr. Ohiaeri, and I was given oral re-hydro solution which Dr. David had already told me about when I first came to the isolation centre, he told me I had to consume at least 4.5 litres a day regardless of how I felt.
“My urine initially was dark. I was told to drink more electrolytes until my urine got lighter.
What kept me throughout my staying in that isolation centre was my belief that I will survive. Initially when I started taking the Paracetamol, the fever was not going down. My temperature was around 38.6. Sometimes, it will come down to 38.4 which did not make any sense. The reason for taking Paracetamol was not to bring the fever down but to relieve the body ache and pains.
“The ORS, I was supposed to consume 4.5 litres. So my strategy was to have a bottle on my hand, as soon as I vomit, I will drink it. Once I visit the bathroom, I must go with the ORS. The secret is that you must not be lazy in drinking the ORS”.
Compliance with doctor’s instruction was the only way out — Fadipe
“Ebola is an illness that requires commitment to the cause, you must be determined to fight the battle”, another survivor, Dr. Akinniyi Fadipe, also of First Consultants Hospital, said..
“I think when I contracted the disease was when I opened the door to the room where Sawyer was admitted. I wasn’t that close to him. In his room, there were two beds and I was only communicating with him from a distance and I washed my hands each time I had conversation with him”, he narrated.
“I never knew that from that point I could contract the disease. We were thinking that by August when the incubation period would have been over, we will all celebrate not knowing that almost all of us will be infected with the deadly virus. As time went on, I started feeling sick and I took my temperature which was very high. The following day, I decided to go to a laboratory to run a test. I wished it was malaria but when the result came out it was written in capital letters that malaria was negative.
“When I got home, I checked my temperature again, it was high. That was the point I contacted the ministry of health and they came and pick me up. When I started manifesting the symptoms I knew it was Ebola, but I had read in the papers that it was possible for people exposed to the virus to survive; so I made up my mind to fight it.
“I was taken from the hospital to the isolation centre. My parents were not happy because they thought I was taking steps towards death. Getting to the isolation centre, I spent a lot of hours inside the ambulance. Later, Dr. David took my blood samples and kept me in a room.
Late Dr. Adadevoh
Late Dr. Adadevoh
“When I got to that room I knew Nigeria was not in any way prepared for Ebola. The environment was dirty you could not even describe the bed there as bed. At a point, I was asking Dr. David where will I stay, and where was the rest room? And where he pointed to me I doubted whether I will survive because the environment was not going to in anyway help my recovery.
“The 15 days I spent at the isolation centre, I experienced frequent vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, pains and there was a particular time I felt I was going to succumb to Ebola.
“This was particularly so when I remembered that before the ECOWAS guy died, he was doing well at a point.
“I remember they will bring food to us to eat; he was the only one taking solid food. He would ask for Semovita, but all of a sudden, he said he was not taking those things again.
“When he stopped taking ORS, one particular night, precisely on August 15, I called a nurse to come and look at him, that was the day he died. His sudden death made me to shiver. I was afraid. I was shaking and I asked myself whether this was how Ebola was going to be taking us one-by-one?
“One scary thing that happened to me was when rashes came out of my body; red spots but to God be the glory, they disappeared the following day.
“What actually helped us was the fact that we are medical personnel and we understood the fact that compliance with the doctor’s instruction was the only way out.
“The absence of doctors at the isolation centre at the early stage of Ebola outbreak did not help some people. If things had been different, probably those who came there before I was admitted might not have died.
“I was happy when we were moved to a new site, it was perfect.
Later, everything got better. During that time I became closer to God. On the day I was discharged, August 18, some people came around asking us about stigmatisation, whether we would be able to go back to work. I told them I was not scared of stigmatisation. Concerning my belongings that were burnt, promises were made, but up till now nothing came out of those promises.
When I left the centre my family members received me and threw a party for me”.
Our greatest challenge – Ohiaeri, Chief Medical Director, First Consultants Hospital
“Mr. Patrick Sawyer came to Nigeria with Ebola Virus Disease. The medical team at First Consultants Hospital, led by one of the best physicians this country would ever produce, Dr. Ameyo Adadevoh, detected after 24 hours that it was possible that this man had Ebola virus subject to confirmation”, Dr. Benjamin Ohiaeri, Chief Medical Consultant at First Consultants Hospital, said..
“We have always had one of the best personnel.
One of the greatest challenges of the Ebola virus saga was when Mr. Sawyer said he needed to be discharged. He said he was not going to wait for any test to be done. To do a test is one thing and the time the result is going to come out is another. So we had 48 hours window between when we did the test and when the result will come out.
“We lost four of our key staff. We were not prepared. More awareness still needs to focus on hygienic life style. However, we have paid the price. The fight is not over. In a few days time, Nigeria will be declared Ebola free but awareness needs to continue because now it is Ebola; something else may come tomorrow; whatever it is, you (WHO) must support us”.
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