Tumusiime is a 49-year-old teacher who lives alone in her small rental home in Uganda. She came to our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), seeking treatment for multiple uterine fibroids.
Fibroids are tumors that grow within the muscle tissue of the uterus. An estimated 80 percent of women have them in their lifetime. 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.
Some women who have fibroids have no symptoms, but others experience heavy periods, abdominal pain, or constipation. AMHF tells us, “Tumusiime has continuous bleeding and severe abdominal pain.”
Doctors recommended that Tumusiime undergo surgery—a total abdominal hysterectomy—to remove her uterus and cervix. Tumusiime does not earn enough money as a teacher to pay for the surgery that she needs.
$165 pays for Tumusiime’s surgery, medicine, and a four-day hospital stay. AMHF says, “We expect that after the surgery, Tumusiime’s pain and the bleeding will stop.”
“I can’t wait to be free from this severe pain and be happy,” says Tumusiime.