Leah is a middle-aged woman from Kenya. She is married with two daughters and a son. Leah and her husband work whenever they can get small jobs and live together with their children in a two-roomed house that was constructed by the county government for rental at a subsidized price.
Their firstborn dropped out of school because of financial issues, and currently works with them on farms to earn a living. The other two children are in secondary and primary school respectively. Leah has no medical coverage or money to cover her medical expenses and is seeking support to help her undergo surgery.
Four years ago, Leah began to experience troubling symptoms, including a neck swelling, an increased heart rate, shortness of breath, sleep disturbances, difficulty swallowing and easy fatiguability. She was diagnosed with a toxic multinodular goiter, an abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland. She has been to several hospitals without much improvement. Last month, she attended a surgical screening camp organized by Kapsowar Hospital near her home area, from where she was referred to the main hospital for surgery. She needs surgery to prevent her symptoms from getting worse.
Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is helping Leah receive treatment. She is scheduled to undergo a thyroidectomy on November 25th at our medical partner’s care center. Surgeons will remove all or part of her thyroid gland. This procedure will cost $936, and she and her family need help raising money.
Leah says, “I am really disturbed seeing my family working hard without my help. I really look forward to getting well so that I may join them in working hard and so that we may have our own piece of land and house in the near future. Kindly help me so that I may continue working and being there for my family.”