Page 14 - TB: The Ticking Time Bomb
P. 14
“
I was 13 when I was diagnosed with TB in my lungs. Medicines were started
immediately, but it was after taking the CAT I and CAT II medication that doctors
understood that I had MDR TB in lungs. During the course of CAT I and CAT II, I
missed my schooling, mainly because the medicines were provided alternate days at
a time (9 am - 2 pm) at which I was supposed to be at school. So I had no option
other than missing my school.
CAT I treatment went on for 6 months and then the CAT II medication was for 9
months. After both these medications, TB relapsed again. This time I was put into
the MDR drug medication which was way more toxic than the earlier ones and also
costly.
This medication went on for 2 long years, and these were the most depressing years
of my life, mainly because of the stigma I had to face and also because I couldn’t
attend my school and also there was a chance that I would be not able to write my
board exams. It’s been 10 years now, from the time I started treatment for TB, but
the amount of medicines I ate for so long has affected all my body parts.
I have put on so much weight which I am not able to reduce since I am weak. My
bones are so weak and even in this young age I have got the problem of disc issues in
spine which normally people have in older age. I can’t breathe easily without using
asthma medicines.
I really wish our country would follow the international standards of healthcare soon
rather than making the patient go through a hell of tortures. Hoping for TB free
India!
” - Ann
“
I am a TB patient and I am taking my medicine through DOTS. I was
diagnosed with TB in May 2014. I don’t know where I made a mistake because in the
5th month of treatment, I had severe pain in my lungs in spite of me being an extra-
pulmonary TB patient. I am really upset with things around me because now in the
6th month, doctors are asking me to get an operation done on my lungs.
- Navin ”
12
I was 13 when I was diagnosed with TB in my lungs. Medicines were started
immediately, but it was after taking the CAT I and CAT II medication that doctors
understood that I had MDR TB in lungs. During the course of CAT I and CAT II, I
missed my schooling, mainly because the medicines were provided alternate days at
a time (9 am - 2 pm) at which I was supposed to be at school. So I had no option
other than missing my school.
CAT I treatment went on for 6 months and then the CAT II medication was for 9
months. After both these medications, TB relapsed again. This time I was put into
the MDR drug medication which was way more toxic than the earlier ones and also
costly.
This medication went on for 2 long years, and these were the most depressing years
of my life, mainly because of the stigma I had to face and also because I couldn’t
attend my school and also there was a chance that I would be not able to write my
board exams. It’s been 10 years now, from the time I started treatment for TB, but
the amount of medicines I ate for so long has affected all my body parts.
I have put on so much weight which I am not able to reduce since I am weak. My
bones are so weak and even in this young age I have got the problem of disc issues in
spine which normally people have in older age. I can’t breathe easily without using
asthma medicines.
I really wish our country would follow the international standards of healthcare soon
rather than making the patient go through a hell of tortures. Hoping for TB free
India!
” - Ann
“
I am a TB patient and I am taking my medicine through DOTS. I was
diagnosed with TB in May 2014. I don’t know where I made a mistake because in the
5th month of treatment, I had severe pain in my lungs in spite of me being an extra-
pulmonary TB patient. I am really upset with things around me because now in the
6th month, doctors are asking me to get an operation done on my lungs.
- Navin ”
12
