How Chinwe Overcame Fibroids

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My name is Chinwe Okechukwu, I work with a market research firm I'm here to talk about my fibroid journey. My testimony actually treatment recovery the success story um all right when I first discovered I had fibroid in 2015 and that's month suddenly my flow was extremely high I didn't know what to do I had to go meet my Gynaecologist and I like this is what I'm experiencing he gave me some drugs he said use it, it will help the flow then you come and do a scan let's know what the problem is and after that I went back and I, I was heartbroken he said Ma’am you have fibroid I said no no, no it's not life-threatening not that it's not life threatening but it's um I shouldn't be scared but the only thing is when I'm bleeding that much is because of the placement I was like okay so what next operation he said yes but he scared me he said where it was placed it's like a 50 50 thing and I was scared he said it's a place where if one isn't careful could affect the womb and at that point I said no to operation and I went for herbs you know people saying they've used herbs and worked for them, it shrunk or it dropped or it fell off so it did help, since the doctor said it was a 50-50 thing I was scared so I started doing that initially I felt this relief but suddenly it came back, the bleeding heavy bleeding prolonged bleeding you know it's stretched normally I have my seven days period but it stretched on to eight days nine days 14 days and I would bleed so heavily and um that was from 2015 then around that should be 2018 I guess that's when I went to the hospital I was ill so normally when I go I do my football account and the doctor called me I said Madam your blood count 20 I was like oh he said yes like if you come back here again and I see a 20 I'm gonna place on admission all my cocaine so and I noticed I was always getting weak I was always getting tired I couldn't do lots of things I was very sceptical always bringing I've been my both my pads my cotton wool, extra panties , always having water I couldn't do exercises in fact whenever I was on sometimes I'll ask myself am I going to die this way I'll point out you know so that was what I used to think and at that point I couldn't do much I couldn't talk to people that I lost I couldn't tell people what I was wearing through I couldn't tell people that actually going through I was struggling to do my work because like I said I work in a research firm and I'm in the client service so I had to do lots of reportings and all it was always affecting me when I had to work that's how much it's affected me then after I, I got married by 2019 it's like it said okay am I right now let's get worse it became worse and by 2021 right also 2022 2021 at first I realized the first time I realized how bad my blood count was was when it's I had I went from my blood count and I was told it was a 14.9 and the doctors there for God actually at that point at the doctors and we're like okay what should she use there is this um vegetable she could use there is this herb she could use there's this drugs you could use they were saying all sorts because I refused a blood transfusion and they were telling me I needed a blood transmission like four pints of blood at that point that I was pretty bad and I didn't know how I walked to the hospital that day I refused I stayed off work for about 10 days I had to recuperate I had to build up my blood level again I told my boss my boss was scared he asked what happened even though he's not Nigerian but he understood that I had told him I had fibroids, I told him my symptoms so sometimes I could call him sir I can't make it to work today I was like okay take rest sometimes I'll call him some coming mates sometimes I'll like sir the pain is terrible I need to take some drugs first I resume nine o'clock but I found myself going to work 10 11. he understood but he didn't say much so that day I had to take 10 days after I had to request for 10 days to build up my blood checkpoints and I told him that this was the reason he said okay he then told me that his wife had these symptoms some time ago so that's why he understand what I was going through and it happened the constant flow uses all sorts of things to try to see if I could walk um cup the whole of fibroid stuff until last year when it went down to 14.4 percent my PCV went down to 14.4 when the doctor called me almost kneeling down begging me I said madam and please your life is at stake right now the way you're going it's either a heart attack or a stroke that you are way too long for your seriously enemy and um my witnesses in marriage I had to call her I told her look Madam this is it I because I needed help at that point for maybe who to run around look for money for operation I thought that I've been scared all my life but right now I've been told that my life is at risk here and I need to go do an operation after I told her I said she knew about it but and she knew that's why I couldn't walk that much then I called her that was last year in May so I spoke to her I told her that this is it this is how low I was 14.4 she screamed I said yes I need to do an operation and They begged me that it's urgent it's very life-threatening so two weeks after she sent me a message on my WhatsApp she said look I just saw this I don't need it but I think you do that Access Bank is trying to sponsor a woman I was like oh at that point my heart suck she said know that the truth it's one woman you can be that woman I was like okay she says so just pray about it tell God to touch you tell God to help you so you could be that woman and I took my chance I called my husband I told him about it I said look we're going to prayerfully do this and I told my sister and she said ah so I had started writing out something she said sister no I think you need to see how bad your condition is first talk about the fact that your your age you know you've advanced in age that you're still looking for what to have your own child before you say everything about maybe why you can't why you're looking for this and that you might not be able to afford to sponsor yourself that much for an operation so the journey started you know my husband and I we joined hands we prayed and I spoke to God I talked to him I said father it's one woman I can be that woman I wrote the application and I sent it to Access and we prayed so much about it and why we did that mainly because most of the time whenever I prayed about being for an operation in the past all I kept telling me was you don't need operation I'm like okay I want to go for an operation I press father please help me I want to turn operation and next you don't need an operation so I was worried and I was wondering so when this came about like Father you're really awesome you said I didn't need an operation and somehow somehow I'm gonna go, I might go through this and I might not need to go to the London in life and I might not need to be cut open and I prayed and I hoped, and I wished that this was how God wanted to answer my prayers so when I submitted my application I kept checking my mails and when I was sent the mail, I called my husband I was so excited I like I had gotten back to me he said okay so then next to the um I was contacted by the fibroid Center at Nordica so the doctor that called me she introduced herself so trying to find out if I had done this kind of reason I told her I know go to one then send to her so I did the scan I sent to her then after that she called again that they needed me at the centre so when I went to the centre they um they did a scan took my details comprehensively you know they asked every question they needed to find out about me when it came to health-wise you know history with anything family history everything that you need to find out so they asked me so when I was done they said okay that um they'll need me to um that I'll be sent to do an MRI and after that they'll let me know if I would be um among those who would go further with the procedure I was like okay I came back I told my husband I was gonna do an MRI he said okay so I went for the MRI and I met two other ladies and we kept talking so we found out okay Victory and uh so Tosin we're there and we kept talking so we're like okay we found out that it's been they've extended it to three women but like wow three women not one anymore we said yes we're like okay do we know who else they've contacted how they've contacted we speculating actually amongst ourselves will be the chosen ones or not the chosen ones we're not sure then she then I think one of is it Tosin said it might be us o, three of us were like God please let it be three of us let it be that we really wanted it you know where we told ourselves our own short stories you know how we've gone and where we've suffered because of the fibroid you know so we told ourselves we shared our own experiences amongst ourselves there and um after the MRI we all went home we when the results was ready I took it to Nordica and they called me again for me to conduct some tests they took my blood samples and all, so before then before they called me but I told my witness I said this is what she said no way that MRIs are expensive for them to call you for you to do an MRI that look I am 70 percent sure that you've been chosen in fact she was then shouting thank God thank God thank God I'm so happy for you yes it will yes I want to I'm, I'm happy but I let me know just say 100 that I'm just certainly forget it that they explain is already is much so definitely you're one of those who will be chosen I went back to Nordica when they called for me to run some tests they said okay the blood sample that we detected something in your blood and my face fell my heart sunk and I was like okay what is it they said my platelets was high incredibly high and they needed me to see her mythologists that they cannot go on with the process with me having that much my template being that high and I won't tell a lie I was I was low my experience was very very low and I was like why, what is all this so I met a doctor there was this family doctor of ours and I reached out to him he's a top consultant in Luth so I met with him I told him I asked him if he knew a nematologist he could direct me to that I need to talk to one and see one of those urgently you know so he didn't know our audience two or they were like okay later I said he's in the meeting then I sent him a mail I said as a doctor this is it I'm supposed to pay for a procedure I have fibroid and this is it this is what they've told me they said my platelets is high, immediately he just said no this is the doctor contact this man and I did I contacted the doctor I showed him my results and he said Madam I need to see you take me this is Extreme the platelet is extremely high it was the range is supposed to be like a 400 I was having a thousand something inside this extremely I need to see immediately I called my boss I said sir I've been on booked to see haematologist said why I said this is the condition he said okay fine go so I went he saw me said he has to draw my bone marrow to conduct a test immediately let him understand the pro the reason and I was like okay you know so he, he called them on to say I didn't you're going to spend about the 150 for the operation for this um test I just saw why he said it's just normal um tests it's okay but I need to understand the cost of these roots we need to know why is it severe is it something that is needing to cancer, whatever because you know it could be anything so I prayed I prayed so hard I was so if I I know that I my worry made me even lean some more because I was so tired I was so weak I was so, I didn't know I don't know how to explain it and I was like okay fine so after the um after the test I knew he needed 10 days before the results came out he called me he said thankfully it's not severe that for your platelet to be this High something has triggered it you know because when it showed me the results I saw that he did lots of results those people leukaemia and all that I was like did you think that maybe I was it was cancerous I said yeah but I could be so I was like okay father thank you so he said so something triggered it I was and I said I have fibroids he said oh that I need to take care of it immediately I said yes then I had to ask him lots of questions my field I asked lots of questions I had to ask him lots of questions and like why uh they have I've been put for his procedure okay but they've told me that my platelet being high has stopped this procedure why, that he told me he said when people lie down Tendencies of a clot is higher so that's why a lot of times when people have strokes is maybe from bed where they wake up and all that so that um since I've been lying still for some time the chances of a blood clot during that process is high so they don't want to take such chances so I need my platelet needs to drop to a point before I am okay to go for the process another Journey started I was placed on drugs he increased the medication initially for the first week after that I did another full Blood count it had dropped a little the second week he reduced the medication and I took medication like that for almost a month before Nordica got back to me I said look they started almost impatient sort of they're like I didn't like to like um reach out you know they wanted to reach out to me to know what's up that did that others had done there that they're waiting for me and I said I understand I really thanked them because it's not easy to you know wait on someone like that so I I told them okay that I was going to get back to the doctor and they said fine no problem so they were waiting for me and I got back to the doctor the doctor said yes that I was fit at least at that point for me to go for the procedure so I sent the sent I the mail the haematologist in Luth, he's a professor he sent the um letter a mail, to um Nordica, that’s the fibroid Care Center at Nordica I told them that I was fit for them to go for the procedure before I was put forearm, so I'll say thank you to Access Bank because I, I found out that this was the very first time that Access Bank is doing this and I, I was so happy and I was so touched that I was one of those who benefited from this and I know that I am a whole lot better I am I am well I would say that I'm a whole lot better because of Access Bank and I said thank you very much for this initiative it's it's a lovely story for me it's something that sometimes when I think about it, I still cry you know when I talk about it sometimes I still cry I'm so happy because I , I didn't know life could be this sweet yeah so thank you. Access Retail Banking Retail CSR unit now they have decided to bring out this initiative this Project 111 to reach out to more women as a Bank did Touch by Life they want to reach out to other women. I'm happy that they want to touch the lives of other women and I hope that they've made my life beautiful although men's lives too will be touched and it will be beautiful and I wish other women to open up to it they shouldn't be shy about it because when you're shy and you can't tell your story and you can't get help you die with that problem so reach out when you’ve reached out or where you can please do reach out you can take advantage of this um initiative so that your life too will be changed the way my life has been changed.

Thank you