Tumwebaze is a 34-year-old farmer who lives with her husband and 10-year-old daughter in Uganda. She hopes to start a business cooking and selling porridge to help support her family.
“Tumwebaze started feeling abdominal pain in 2009,” our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), tells us. “In 2011, the pain intensified, and she visited a hospital where she was diagnosed with uterine fibroids. Tumwebaze was advised to have surgery.”
“I went to various hospitals,” said Tumwebaze, “but I could not afford to pay for my surgery, and there was no help.”
Fibroids—benign tumors that grow within the muscle tissue of the uterus—are very common. They can be very small (invisible to the naked eye) or very large (melon-sized) and can present as a single mass or a cluster of several masses.
While some women who have fibroids have no symptoms, others experience heavy periods, abdominal pain, or constipation. “Tumwebaze presented with a mass in her lower abdomen and abdominal pain,” explains AMHF. “Due to the pain, she cannot lift heavy items and she is unable to dig. If not treated, Tumwebaze will live with chronic pain. She will be unable to dig or do any of her daily chores.”
For $250, Tumwebaze will undergo the recommended surgery—a total abdominal hysterectomy—to remove her uterus and cervix. Funding also covers the costs of a five-day hospital stay, blood tests, and medication.
The surgery “will relieve Tumwebaze’s symptoms, and she will have an improved quality of life,” says AMHF. “She will no longer be in pain, and she will be able to work on her farm and hopefully start her porridge project for income generation.”
“Thank you for bringing us help!” said Tumwebaze.