Mbabazi is a 54-year-old nurse from Kanungu district in Southwestern Uganda. She had been married, but later separated and is now a single mother with a daughter studying in her final year of university. Mbabazi is a midwife by training, but was unable to get a job in her profession. She currently operates a small medicine shop, and does farming for additional income. She lives in a single-room rental house in Buyondo trading centre.
Two years ago, Mbabazi began to experience troubling symptoms, including neck swelling resulting in difficulty swallowing. She was diagnosed with a goiter, an abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland. Now she needs surgery to prevent her symptoms from getting worse.
Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is helping Mbabazi receive treatment. She is scheduled to undergo a thyroidectomy on November 29th at our medical partner’s care center. Surgeons will remove all or part of her thyroid gland. This procedure will cost $252, and she and her family need help raising money to pay for it.
Mbabazi says, “This swelling has really caused me a lot of pain, but I believe with your support, I will be able to attain my surgery and hope for the best.”