HelpHer: Barrium swallow &upper endoscopy procedures

Hi, everyone.

My name is Ntsiki. I’m a 22 year old bcom degree graduate. I’ve come to this platform as, I believe it is my last resort to get the assistance I desperately need. My health issues initially started in October 2018, while I was busy with my 2nd semester exams for first year studies. One particular morning, I just woke up with a headache, nausea, tremor, lightheadedness & fatigue. It went on for days, until I decided to go home and see a family doctor. I checked in with him and he clinically diagnosed me with anaemia as: my eyes, gums, hands & feet were extremely pale. It was my first time hearing of such condition. I was given iron medication and guidance on diet modification, the instructions given was to eat food rich in iron. I did as told and took my meds. I went back to Res & finished the rest of my exams. By December 2018, My body has regained its energy back, but I noticed there was a gap forming between two of my upper front teeth. I didn’t pay much attention to it, just until January 2019 when I took notice of the affected area being swollen, my gums receding and a discharge was present. What’s more worse is that my teeth were becoming loose & that became a wake up call. I made an appointment with a Dentist &she ran a scan but could not interpret the results so she referred me to an oral surgeon at Netcare Milpark for further investigations. March 2019, I was seen by an oral surgeon. She performed a full scan of my teeth and told me I might have some gum infections. She further sent me to a Periodontist in Norwood who then officially diagnosed me with a localised aggressive periodontitis. April 2019, I underwent a gum operation which costed nearly R15 000 & post the operation I had to go for check ups and I paid for them too. I was taking antibiotics for a week and had to eat soft food only for 2 months. I don’t know if it is the antibiotics I was taking for the very first time or the change in diet that affected my bowel movement but I started having bowel related issues.The matter got even more worse when other symptoms such as itchiness occured & It affected my sleep. It got worse until I decided to check in with a Gastroenterelogist at Netcare Milpark hospital. This was around September 2019 & same morning of the appointment I woke up with an intense headache, nausea, lightheadedness, hands tremor & fatigue. I just thought mabye the anaemia symptoms have resurfaced. I then forced myself to the doctor. He checked me & didn’t find any piles, he just said it was pruritus ani. He prescribed me an ointment & tripilines tablets. They did not work. All of these symptoms aggravated and the following month, which was October 2019...I’ve set another appointment with a Physician. One of the tests he ran was ECG and everything seemed to be normal. I’m not on any medical aid and all my previous consultations I paid in cash so I was close to running out of funds and that became a concern for me & the physician suggested I do a ct brain scan & full blood count at a public hospital. I wrote my 2nd semester exams in so much pain and I kept hoping for things to go back to normal but the rest of November- December 2019 I was the walking dead. The headache became a morning & a night thing, to a point even affected my eyesight. January 2020, my physician wrote me a referral letter for ct brain scan & blood test. I went to Edenvale hospital as it is just nearby. I was only able to do full blood count which came back normal. The hospital does not have a radiologist facility therefore I was sent to Tembisa hospital for a ct brain scan. I was booked for March 2020 & my resulted were supposed to be ready by April 2020 but it was around the time when we had national lockdown. I called the hospital for follow ups and I was told to wait on the president’s announcement regarding any hospital visitations. Between May-June, I had my 3rd year 1st semester exams. The hospital promised to give me a call, but that never happened. So I decided to go to the hospital and upon my arrival, I was told my scan has been lost. I asked for a re-scan & they told me the machine was out of service and they do not know when will it be availed for service. I returned home with so much disappointments. The rest of 2020 I was severely sick, I went back to the doctor who initially diagnosed me with anemia ans asked for the meds he prescribed back in 2018, hoping they’ll be so changes. I was taking iron meds, supplements like a maniac still I was always fatigued, pale, nauseous, lightheaded & vomited here and there. Also I forgot to mention that the evening of easter saturday in April 2020, after eating my lunch it just felt like the food did not pass down my throat. It got worse the following morning and added to the existing symptoms. At first the there was no pain whatsover, but the feeling of, “lump on the throat” was rather annoying. Late June, I started noticing a change in my body weight. I was losing without even trying. Things got even more worse, pain when swallowing anything( both liquid & solid food) began. I was becoming picky with what I eat. Mind you I stopped consuming any caffeine, acidic, salty, oily spicy food since 2019. In fact, I cut off any junk/sweets & etc after my gum operation. December 2020, I went to Dischem clinic to check my iron levels and it was below a minimum 10. I was sitting at 5.7 which was extremely low. I went to the GP who diagnosed me with iron deficiency anaemia and told him the lady at Dischem suggested I get iron drip. The doctor discouraged that idea saying I might get even more worse considering the severity of my symptoms. I crossed over to 2021 & still the symptoms were still very much present. There was a week in March 2021, where I failed to lift up my feet as I was extremely fatigued. I went from 55kg to 45kg of weight. I never stopped my hospital consultations as I was hoping to find help. So this year, someone gave me their address for Joburg and I went to The Gen hospital. When I got there, I was told that my address does not fall under their region, therefore they sent me to Helen Joseph. Back then I had a referral from the GP which specifically pointed that I should do endoscopy. He suggested this particular procedure because I noticed some yellowish bumps at the back of my throat & he said it was a bile & if he can see it at the back of my throat it means it is excessive inside my stomach. So doing an endoscopy was the only way to see a root cause. At Helen Joseph, they did not even consider my referral letter. The nurses told me I was going to do everything in accordance to their hospital implying doing other tests from starts: full blood count, HIV, pregnancy and etc. I did blood test again and this time around my iron went to 9 which showed some improvements. I was sent to Rahima Moosa & children for a ct brain scan finally!!

No tumor or anything was found so it is still unclear why I had a chronic migraine for almost 2 years. For my throat issue, they sent me to ENT department. My first appointment was in April 2021 & I was checked by a junior doctor. She was so dismissive and went about how everyone suffers from sore throat & etc. She inserted some tube through my nose to see the inside of my throat & I just heard her telling her colleague about some unusual masses in some part of my throat. Her colleague came over to take a look and she said they were normal. The doctor did not tell me what’s wrong. I just saw her writing, “LPR” silent reflux, under diagnose& prescribed me PPIs meds to take for 3 months. I did and sticked to my strict diet but no changes. July 2021, I had my 2nd appointment and I was seen by a different junior doctor. She asked obvious questions: if I changed my diet and etc. She then ordered a barrium swallow which I have to do on the 20th of September. I was told the ENT departement is fully booked so I can only come for my 3rd appointment and know the barrium swallow outcomes next year January. I’m in so much pain that I can’t afford to wait anymore. What I miss the most is swallowing food without any pain. Constant clearing of my throat and still having that lump on my throat feeling has become the new normal. Food don’t pass well, my throat pains which is affecting my chest & back with pain. I’ve lost weight & failing to regain it. Clothes don’t fit anymore. I’m still pale and don’t look healthy at all. It is still unclear what’s causing my body is not absorping iron. I still suffer from pruritus ani. This whole thing has affected both my physical & mental healthy tremendously. I’m suffering from a severe anxiety & depression due to these strange multiple chronic illnesses. I have graduated, but I can’t afford the luxury to go out and look for a job as I’m weak. What I do lately is just to try online platforms like indeed, linked in &etc but even if I get called for an interview or possibly score myself a job I’m afraid I won’t cope. My biggest wish is to have a normal birthday again in September as I’ve celebrated my 21st & 22nd birthdays not being well. I can’t even recall when last was I genuinely happy.I’m pleading with everyone to help me raise funds amounting to R13800 ( R1500 consultation fee, R7500 upper endoscopy procedure with a Gastroenterogist & R800 consultation fee &R4000 barrium swallow with an ENT doctor) at Arwyp private hospital. These specialists promised I can have these procedures done even before the end of August. Any help will highly be appreciated. I’ve lost so much hope in public hospitals as they keep making me do same tests over and over again, having to wait for ages before being assisted & them being dismissive all the times I present my symptoms. All the funds raised will be paid directly to Arwyp hospital. My biggest wish is to look for a job in the right state, physically & mentally. Also, to get myself a medical insurance as soon as I get a job. I thank you💙