Page 5 - TB: The Ticking Time Bomb
P. 5
STORIES OF LOSS
“ When I was 13, my 11-year-old sister Rupal got TB. We thought it was
normal fever and first put her on antibiotics. She kept coughing a lot and then the
doctors gave her cough medicine. After two months we realised that she has TB
but just a month or so after putting her on the TB medication, she passed away. It
was too late. She was one of the most charming and beautiful members of our
family but TB affected her physically and mentally. We were so happy when we
saw your show because it gave us hope that others who see this will not wait for
long before getting checked for TB.
” -
Saloni Singh
“ My uncle passed away of TB in May 2014. Government doctors told
him to buy drugs from private doctors and vice versa. He was then told that there
were no medicines even at the district level. His daughter-in-law went to the hospital
6 times to get medicines but she couldn’t get them even a single time. His sickness
increased. He stopped eating and no doctors or medical staff helped us. Finally, he
fell very ill and passed away.
” - Raman Asharam
Uttar Pradesh
“ I wanted to share my experience on this deadly disease due to which I lost my
three-year-old daughter who was suffering from TB-meningitis during the year
1982–83. Initially she got fever and when antibiotics didn’t work, we took her to a
child specialist. He prescribed another set of medicines that didn’t work.
We sought a second referral from a more eminent child specialist who said that it is
nothing to worry about. Basically, both the child specialists didn’t have the time for
diagnosis of such a serious disease. The delay in diagnosis and wrong medications
became fatal. Finally, we correctly diagnosed through another doctor whom we took
her to because she had unbearable back pain and was crying a lot. It was too late
though. She passed away in the next 2 months. We need to have better treatment
facilities for children with TB.
” - K. K. Sinha
Patna, Bihar
3
“ When I was 13, my 11-year-old sister Rupal got TB. We thought it was
normal fever and first put her on antibiotics. She kept coughing a lot and then the
doctors gave her cough medicine. After two months we realised that she has TB
but just a month or so after putting her on the TB medication, she passed away. It
was too late. She was one of the most charming and beautiful members of our
family but TB affected her physically and mentally. We were so happy when we
saw your show because it gave us hope that others who see this will not wait for
long before getting checked for TB.
” -
Saloni Singh
“ My uncle passed away of TB in May 2014. Government doctors told
him to buy drugs from private doctors and vice versa. He was then told that there
were no medicines even at the district level. His daughter-in-law went to the hospital
6 times to get medicines but she couldn’t get them even a single time. His sickness
increased. He stopped eating and no doctors or medical staff helped us. Finally, he
fell very ill and passed away.
” - Raman Asharam
Uttar Pradesh
“ I wanted to share my experience on this deadly disease due to which I lost my
three-year-old daughter who was suffering from TB-meningitis during the year
1982–83. Initially she got fever and when antibiotics didn’t work, we took her to a
child specialist. He prescribed another set of medicines that didn’t work.
We sought a second referral from a more eminent child specialist who said that it is
nothing to worry about. Basically, both the child specialists didn’t have the time for
diagnosis of such a serious disease. The delay in diagnosis and wrong medications
became fatal. Finally, we correctly diagnosed through another doctor whom we took
her to because she had unbearable back pain and was crying a lot. It was too late
though. She passed away in the next 2 months. We need to have better treatment
facilities for children with TB.
” - K. K. Sinha
Patna, Bihar
3
