two-page spread : I felt lost after getting TB
- Jade Teo
- Mar 22, 2015
- 3 min read
Kind boss and social worker helps ex-TB patient win fight against disease
Report by JADE TEO jadeteo@sph.com.sg
PHOTOS by JADE TEO YU WEN
It started with a cough. For an entire month, he did not realise he had latent tuberculosis (TB). So all he took was cough syrup. It was only when he went for a routine check-up last June at a polyclinic that he realised he was suffering from something more sinister.
Tomorrow is World Tuberculosis Day. A former TB patient, who wanted to be known only as Mr Ahmad, 55, remembers the day he was diagnosed. The chauffeur was undergoing a diabetes check-up when doctors told him they suspected he had TB. Mr Ahmad, who is married and has five children aged between 23 and 32, was referred to Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Tuberculosis Control Unit (TBCU).
He said: “When it was confirmed I had TB, I just felt lost and depressed.” Since TB is an air-borne disease that can be spread by sneezing, Mr Ahmad was not able to go to work. Instead, for the first two months after being diagnosed, he had to visit the polyclinic daily. He also had to take 13 pills a day and receive an injection daily.
Income
His loss of income and the transport fees he incurred by visiting the clinic daily ($3.40 for a return trip) weighed heavily on his mind.
Thankfully, his boss gave him an undisclosed sum of money to tide him over the tough time. He also assured him that the limousine he drove would still there when he returned to work, said Mr Ahmad, who shed tears recalling the kindness of his boss.
When TBCU’s senior social worker, Ms Chiam Ai Ling, told him he was eligible for the Dot & Shop programme, he was even more relieved.
The programme issues supermarket vouchers to underprivileged patients every month during their six- or nine-month treatment programme.
Still, the recovery process was fraught with challenges, he said. He spent almost all his time in his room so that he would not spread the disease to others. He also lost 20kg in the process of fighting the disease, said Mr Ahmad, and had to contend with strange looks from passers-by when he wore a mask outdoors.
He said: “I asked myself, ‘Why must I face this thing alone? Why did I get this?”
One day at the TBCU, Mr Ahmad saw several TB patients, including a pregnant woman and a young boy who had contracted TB from his father. It made him realise he was not alone.
He said: “When I faced (the diagnosis) at the clinic, I felt I was unlucky. When I was at the control unit, I realised it could be worse.”
Doctors declared him free of TB two months ago. He told TNP that he was so overjoyed he jumped for joy.
Dr Cynthia Chee, senior consultant and respiratory physician at the TBCU, emphasised the importance of not stigmatising TB patients.
Over her 19 years at the unit, she has come across patients being asked to leave their homes and losing their jobs because of TB.
“It doesn’t help anyone if you treat them that way,” she said. Encouraging them to seek treatment would be a better option, she added.
More than 95% of TB patients cured
Tuberculosis (TB) is an air-borne disease that can be spread by sneezing. About a third of the world’s population is believed to have latent TB. the risk of it developing into active TB is higher in people with medical conditions such as HIV and diabetes as well as those with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include a persistent cough (lasting three weeks or more), low-grade fever, night sweats, fatigue, weight loss or chest pains. TB can be cured with anti-tB drugs taken for six to nine months. More than 95 per cent of patients who take all of their medications are cured, stated a Ministry of health website.
1,420
The number of TB cases among Singapore residents in 2013. In 2012, there were 1,560 cases. According to the world Health Organisation’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2014, the 2013 statistics for the total number of notified cases was 6,116,536 globally. The Ministry of Health will release statistics on TB cases for 2014 tomorrow, said a National Healthcare Group spokesman.
Comments