Adrine is a 47-year-old woman who resides in a village in southwestern Uganda, where she earns her livelihood as a farmer. A dedicated mother, Adrine raised four children: two daughters and two sons. Her elder son is a policeman, while the other is engaged in business ventures. Both of her daughters are married and work as farmers too.
Despite her determination, Adrine faced insurmountable barriers in her education. Due to financial constraints, she could only complete the 7th grade. Her primary source of income is now derived from farming, and her husband supports the family working as a laborer, helping on other people’s farms to make ends meet.
Five years ago, Adrine began to experience troubling symptoms, including a persistent neck swelling. This condition has significantly impacted her daily life, causing shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing, pain while swallowing, and hoarseness of voice during speech. Although Adrine did not visit a doctor when the symptoms were mild, they worsened over time, prompting her to seek medical help. She was diagnosed with bilateral goiter–an enlargement of both lobes of the thyroid gland. Adrine needs surgery to relieve her symptoms and prevent them from getting worse.
Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is helping Adrine receive treatment. She is scheduled to undergo a thyroidectomy on October 10th 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.
Adrine says, “I am looking forward to being relieved from pain, all the symptoms it had always brought to me, and to having a good recovery after surgery.”