The story I'm about to tell you is one I do not like to tell, but it's also one that has taught me a bitter lesson, one that I won't be forgetting for the rest of my life.
When we talk about self-medication, Africans will always be the first in line and this is because we have this mentality that every illness has to be malaria, typhoid and sometimes even both. So whenever we start to feel funny, the first thing we always do is go to the pharmacy and request for malaria drugs.
Unfortunately, over here you don't always need a doctor's prescription for you to get any drugs you want, all you have to do is have your money with you and you can get whatever it is that you want, as long as they have it available at the pharmacy. And this is why we have a lot of people addicted to various kind of painkillers and other drugs because no one supervises any of these stuff.
Anyways, the story I want to tell is that of my mom and some of the things that happened during the early stages of her sickness that eventually led to her death, although I will be giving as minimum information as possible, for privacy and personal reasons.
I wasn't at home when she passed, but according to what I was told, when her sickness first started, everyone at home (including her), had thought it was malaria and as usual, they had gone to get her malaria drugs without even going for a test.
And by the time they realized that the drugs weren't working like they should, they had rushed her to the hospital and would have been able to save her if it wasn't for the stupid medical system in the country but that's a conversation for another day.
Although I feel like they would have had more time and more options if she had been tested earlier on and had actually taken the right drugs that she needed, rather than the malaria drugs.
Our ignorance as a nation had somehow contributed to her death and it's something I'm trying to make sure doesn't repeat itself. I feel like Nigerians need some form of education on why it's very risky to self-medicate because it's a norm over here and I know it will take a lot of time to bring a change but it's a much needed change.
And that is why I have made a promise to myself, to always double check whenever I feel ill before getting any form of medication. And even if I can't afford visiting a doctor, I could always visit a medical laboratory to run the necessary tests when possible.
And I also hope the rest of my family has learnt this lesson too, although it was a very expensive lesson, and like I said, one none of us will ever be forgetting anytime soon.
This is my entry to the Hive Learners contest. You can read more about it here.