I'm starting this GoFundMe to help with the devastating medical expenses my friend in Uganda, Arther, has had to endure.
You may recognize Arther from my social media: he often asks insightful questions about the places we travel, places he is unlikely to ever get the opportunity to visit.
We met by chance in 2011 when I was living in Rwanda and took a weekend trip to explore Uganda. At the time, Arther was early in nursing school. We shared dinner, stories, and vowed to keep in touch.
In the subsequent years, we've remained in touch and I have helped him work on his nursing degree, providing laptops so he could complete his coursework. His education was put on hold for a few years as he entered the military and served in Somalia, a very challenging period for him.
Eventually he returned to Uganda and resumed school until he emailed me in March 2023:
"...its been a couple of months since we last spoke and it's been unfortunate that during the first month of my reporting to school at mulago paramedical school I fel in the bathroom hitting my head down and sustained severe head injury....I have been hospitalised at lubaga hospital and I thank God that today I can be able to type an email.
...it was a terrible evening in my life۔I left the hospital at 3am heading to hostel in mulago National hospital۔I went for lectures then in the evening of a Saturday which I can't recall now I was in bathroom۔ .i slide on the tile I was standing on calling someone outside to bring me juice after long hours in the lectures. I climbed on a think to call someone to bring me a juice i lacked oxygen i left what I was holding falling back on my neck۔۔۔it was a terrible fall. It aftected my memory and still havjng severe headaches."
So Arther fainted, hit his head, and in addition to the physical pain, was paralyzed in his right hand and started having memory issues.
Just prior to the accident, he finally met his match and fell in love. Their wedding was scheduled for a month after the accident.
Arther recovered over time, and the wedding finally occurred in September 2023, but then a new illness befell him:
“...following the head Injury I got at the beggining of this year I was lately diagnosed with angina pectoris. pain has been too much. An very down and was hopping to recover soon. But am somehow down.”
“...my doctor tells me it could have been due to severe stress i underwent in morgadishu somalaria. Or sometimes it has no couse. its unfortunate that i got it at my young age....the doctor told me that its still under its acute process where by it can be cured with proper management and medication. …I am told am getting better abd i can still return to school as long as i get good drugs despite their high cost.”
By February he sent me an update:
“Today am in the hospital called mengo hospital for PTINR BIOPSY operation. WILL UPDATE YOU on the results of the biopsy when they are done.
Hopefuly the surgery will go on well.
Here at Mengo hospital today charges are 2m ugsh [$526] but my wife has paid 1m i hope i will be covered soon also.”
(Here are the documents from that visit )
I sent a couple hundred dollars to Arther to help pay for his medical bills, but it’s just a fraction of what he needs.
As of February, his medical bills came to 25,000,000 UGX ($6,581) as they performed a biopsy to try and determine what his lesions were.
“Am still struggling but I thank God for the biopsy they did last week have come and they tested negative. i still have severe chest pain but I hope it will be well.”
(Here are the documents from that visit )
Arthur summarizes his current situation as follows:
“the injury affected me financially because am unable even to resume school soon. Leter i realised i had severe chest pain and went in for several chest ct scans and results scared me that made me to repeat several times which was very expensive. Later they did a scan guided biopsy thats turned out to be negative of cancer.i was very happy though it was very expensive for me. I still have severe chest pain and pain under the scapula. I cant sleep on my stomach or my back. So today am also in the hospital to see both neurologist and and and the doctor for the chest.......These total expenses I can't tell because am still seeing the doctors but its more that 10000 dollars. This chest pain came this year in January following the work I was doing at my home lifting heady loads and sand and I kept ignoring it.when it became severe i separated the beds so that I could sleep alone and spent night crying . My wife took me to hospital and they did what they could like I said above. No doctor has said anything no one knows what caused it but I try to read when am not in pain. When I get any info I will definitely tell you brother. my current symptoms are severe chest pain back pain headaches, forgetting is like order of the day. I hope to be better and heal normally soon and return to school. The expenses are too hard to monitor because it's a private hospital and there is no way I can monitor them. Otherwise thanks so much I live love u brother...pray that I get better soon..bye”
Another update from this month:
“pertaining the recent information about my illness am still under treatment and the doctor are still planning for surgery on rib 1 of the left chest but I haven't cleared the standing bill.
I was planning to put my small room on sale so that I can atleast get a half of the money but still I have not yet got customers.
But hopefully if I can get customers who can give me around 6000-7000 dollars, the surgeon is likely to accept to do the surgery as they wait for the remaining balance.
Tomorrow doctor will be with me to discuss more.
I still have severe chest pain because of that abses between rib 1 and the lung. The pressure is too much and pain is unbearable sometimes.
Thanks for the last time assistance that helped me to do my ct scan...”
As of today, the doctor is refusing to perform the surgery to remove the abscess and hopefully relieve Arther’s pain, until he is able to pay more of his bills.
So for now, Arther remains in pain, has become bankrupt of his own finances and has greatly depleted the finances of his new wife’s family. The pain prevents him from being able to return to school to finish his medical education and support his new wife, and I worry that he will continue on a downward spiral without help.
Arthur and I have begun organizing and documenting his medical expenses in a spreadsheet here , if you want to see the details.
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