Deji lay in the hospital bed wheezing slowly. He had lost a lot of weight and was relatively weak. He couldn't walk unaided for about three days since the commencement of his illness. The once lively 3-year-old had become gradually withdrawn to the extent of rejecting food and that was the driving force that made his mother, Titi, rush him to the hospital. She had thought he had serious malaria or typhoid and she had administered the drugs the chemist along her street had prescribed to her.
On getting to the community hospital, Deji was immediately placed on drip while his blood samples were taken to the laboratory for tests. After a few hours, a nurse came to the ward and instructed Titi to see the doctor in his office.
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"Mrs. Ade," Dr. Mark began, handing over the pieces of paper, which Titi guessed to be her son's lab results, to her.
"Deji has sickle cell aneamia," he said, and paused for effect.
"Wetin be that?" she asked, looking surprised.
"That sickness wey HIV patient dey get don catch my pikin? "Titi asked, trying to comprehend what she had just heard.
" No, Ma. SCD is not a HIV related disease. It is inherited and it affects the red blood cells of the body. It makes them sickle shaped and weakens the immune system. Inherited means Deji got this disease from his parents," Dr. Mark explained.
"Ahh! But I no get this disease o! My husband no get am. So how Deji take carry am? Abi person for school pass am to my pikin?"
"No, Mrs. Ade. SCD is not contagious. Do you know your genotype, Ma?"
"Wetin come be that one now?" Titi asked, ignorantly.
"Mrs. Ade, please I'd like you to go home and come back with your husband. I think the both of you need to cooperate with me to help trace where Deji's problem comes from," Dr. Mark instructed.
"My husband dey work. He no dey come back now," Titi said.
"Mrs. Ade, I need your husband to be here so both of you can hear what I want to say and he'll help you where you don't seem to be able to help yourself and your son," Dr. Mark insisted.
Reluctantly, Titi got home and made her way home to fetch her husband.