"Beyond My Reach... I Need an Urgent Liver Transplant, Kindly Help." - Anthony Maina

Anthony Maina Ng'ang'a.

KENYA: My name is Anthony Maina Ng’ang’a. I am 27 Years old and I am currently residing in Nairobi. I was a normal boy up until 2011 when my health issues began. I went to primary school just like any other kid full of dreams and ambitions that I hoped to fulfil. Back when I was in Moi nyeri complex, I had a dream of a beautiful and fulfilling career. All I needed was to work hard and attain good grades to achieve my goals.

Once I was through with my primary school I went on to join Nyeri High school and I knew that my dream was starting to unfold just as I had envisioned it. My hard work did not stop there, I knew I had to join Campus. In the year 2008 I received a letter confirming that I had been selected to enroll for a degree programme in BSC. Telecommunications and information engineering at Dedan Kimathi University of Technology.

Everything seemed to be sailing smoothly until 2011 when my life took an unexpected turn.
It all started as a mild and minor condition characterized by bouts of diarrhea and I reacted just like any normal person would. After a visit to the doctor, I was given some loperamide with the hopes that it would control my bouts. As time went by with no significant changes, I sought the opinion of a different doctor since it was obvious that this wasn’t the normal day to day condition. After going through a series of tests, the doctor concluded that it was a case of untreated/mutated typhoid. After its medication, things became worse for me.

I started developing abdominal pains, convulsions at night, drench sweating, nausea and to some extent vomiting. This went for the whole of 2011 with everyday growing worse than the previous.
In early 2012 as I was making my regular visit to the doctor, he suggested that I should have a colonoscopy done so as to have a clear picture of what was going on my intestines. At this point my life had been transformed from someone who rarely visited the doctor to someone who would hardly go a week without a visit to the doctor.

Since colonoscopy was a new term to me, I had to research where it is done, how it is carried out and the best place around. One day as my dad was reading the papers he read about a boot camp in Karen Hospital where they were carrying out colonoscopy at reduced prices and I knew that was an opportunity that I wouldn’t want to miss. After the test was done I was diagnosed with colitis but the doctor was not sure what form of colitis though he suspected it might be lymphocytic colitis. After a few weeks I was referred to a gastrointestinologist for further checkup.

All this time I was balancing between school and hospital still holding on to my dream, though it was challenging since at times I missed classes and at one point I had to sit for special exams because I was not in a condition to sit for exams with my classmates.
Mid 2012 the gastrointestinologist came back with the diagnosis and confirmed that I had been suffering from eosinophilic colitis which is a rare form of colitis that can lead to other complications. The specialist put me on medication to manage my symptoms since the disease has no cure. Before I could start on my medication some tests had to be carried out so as to see whether my body could handle the drugs. As I underwent the various tests, one test stood out from the rest this was the liver functioning test.

According to the result my liver seemed to be overworking and this was a cause of a major alarm. My condition had deteriorated and an immediate plan of action was required. Even so, the doctor still had to confirm the exact problem in the liver. This meant I had to undergo another series of tests. By now time had elapsed and it was in late 2013 when I stated undergoing various liver tests.
Come 2014 I went for a magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP), the doctor diagnosed me with ascending primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) which is a very rare and very dangerous disease.

Unfortunately it has no medical cure, it requires management and constant doctors follow up. I went through 2014 without any serious incidents, but in early 2015 I started developing symptoms such as itching (pruritus), chronic fatigue, mild fevers and chills weight loss and jaundice (yellow eyes). In mid-2015 I was admitted due to abdominal pain which had come as a result of blood not clotting and low levels of vitamin K, plasma and platelets. Every day that passes by the condition of the liver worsens at the moment the only solution is a liver transplant.

During my recent visit to the doctor he stated that I need an urgent liver transplant, the more time passes the harder the transplant will become. Unfortunately there is no place in Kenya where the transplant can be done. The most suitable place for the transplant is in India.
If I had the ability I would have already booked an appointment for a transplant but the amount of money required is beyond my reach. The doctor estimated it at Ksh 8,000,000 (eight million Kenyan shillings) for the whole procedure. If left untreated it leads to kidney and heart failure.