Born like other kids in the year 1976, in Mayuke in Lukume village Kakamega county, Anerico Otunga was a healthy child until that time when he turned four years.
At the age of four a small pimple appeared on his face, on the right side of his nose, just like any pimple of an adolescent.
Little did he know that would mark the beginning of a strange and rare disease knocking in his life.
Initial phase
Anerico narrates that the pimple started to grow day by day and what his family thought was just a small thing, started to grow bigger forcing his father to take him for check up.
“The pimple that had appeared on my right side of my nose enlarged slowly by slowly and when I was taken to hospital, nothing was diagnosed out of the swelling, “said Otunga.
He was given some drugs by the doctor and allowed to go back home with hopes that the medicine given will be of help and provide cure to the strange disease.
While at home the situation worsened again and they were forced to visit Kenyatta National Hospital, an X-ray was done to find the root cause of the swelling, but nothing was diagnosed.
He narrates with lots of pain, that he was forced to undergo an operation to remove the swollen part that the Doctor termed as the cause to Otunga’s problems.
“The operation was very costly as my parents struggled a lot to ensure I get my health back,” said Otunga.
After the operation, Otunga returned to the village and continued with his life, a very strong and healthy man. He lived in a stable state for a number of years before the swelling resurfaced.
Diagnosis
This time he was advised by a friend to visit AIC Kijabe hospital and get checked.
“I went to Kijabe hospital, doctors examined me, but there was no specific disease that was diagnosed. He narrated.
“I was admitted for check up, then the second day a white Doctor from America who was working with the hospital, cut some part of the swollen side of my nose that by that time had covered my mouth to be used for lab test ,that was to be carried out in America,” added Otunga.
After a while the Doctor brought back the results that showed Otunga was suffering from a cancer related disease called BURKITT’S LYMPHOMA and therefore an operation was done to remove the affected part.
He says the operation was done on the head, as according to the Doctor the root cause of his illness was in the head.
The operation was successful and he returned home.
In the year 2013, the swelling started to show up again but he had no money to go for medical check up, as during the second operation he sold his piece of land to raise the medical bill.
The father of three says he remains optimistic he will go for check up but lacks the money to do so now.
“This disease has been so expensive the fact that I don’t have a job makes it even worse. I have gone for prayer meetings of prophet Dr. Owuor, but still I have not been healed, ” recounted Otunga.
His plea
He is a family man, with three kids, the first born being in class four and living the life of hand to mouth, as he doesn’t have much for himself.
Until now it has been three years down the line since the swelling showed up again and Anerico Otunga is pleading for help to be able to raise his medical bill that is approximately 50,000 to put his life back on track.
He calls for well wishers to help him contribute his medical bill through his M-pesa line 0728722018, and help him get medication
Otunga’s condition provoked our curiosity on the Burkitt lymphoma disease he was diagnosed for.
This is a form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in which cancer starts in immune cells called B-cells.
It has been recognized as the fastest growing human tumor and is associated with impaired immunity and is rapidly fatal if left untreated.
However, intensive chemotherapy can achieve long-term survival in more than half the people with Burkitt lymphoma.
Burkitt lymphoma is named after British surgeon Denis Burkitt, who first identified this unusual disease in 1956 among children in Africa.
In Africa, Burkitt lympoma is common in young children who also have malaria and Epstein-Barr, the virus that causes infectious mononucleosis.
One mechanism may be that malaria weakens the immune system’s response to Epstein-Barr, allowing it to change infected B-cells into cancerous cells.
About 98% of African cases are associated with Epstein-Barr infection.
The once upon a time healthy and productive man lives by hope, hoping that his condition will one day get a lift.
