{"id":87,"date":"2017-01-14T21:50:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-14T21:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.ugandacancer.org.uk\/?p=87"},"modified":"2020-02-08T21:52:13","modified_gmt":"2020-02-08T21:52:13","slug":"stories-from-makerere-palliative-care-unit-bobs-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ugandacancer.org.uk\/?p=87","title":{"rendered":"Stories from Makerere Palliative Care Unit: Bob\u2019s story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201c\u2026In all Things, give thanks\u2026\u201d <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob is 19 and has had a lot of hardships in his young life. He lost \nhis father when he was about five and his mother has struggled to raise \nhim and his siblings. He currently has a melanoma of the eye and had \njust been referred to the palliative care team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bob,<\/a>
Bob, 19, is being treated for melanoma of the eye<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Makerere Palliative Care Unit (MPCU) volunteers visited him one afternoon and they were able to take some pictures with him. The next day when I went in, he had a big smile on his face, asking me \u201cwhere are my friends?\u201d, meaning the volunteers, who had spent the previous afternoon with him. He also asked for copies of the photos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bob<\/a>
Bob meeting the MPCU volunteers<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One of his biggest frustrations is the slow process with regard to his treatment. \u201cI don\u2019t know what is happening, the doctors are not telling me much and I have not yet got treatment\u201d<\/em>. On Monday we went to see him together with the medical team who were discussing his management plan with the team on the ward. However he looked very sad and wasn\u2019t in the mood to talk. I gave him the printed pictures and he smiled momentarily on seeing them, but I sensed the sadness. I promised I would see him after the clinical rounds later in the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was sad that the sickness has confined him to hospital and he is \nnot able to go to school. Since he lost his father, going to school has\n been a struggle and sometimes he has to do manual jobs to raise the \nmoney for his fees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have struggled; even working as a porter so that I can go to school, but now this disease has put me down.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year he should have been sitting his final exams which would \nallow him to go to University and fulfil his ambitions of becoming an \naccountant so that he can take care of his mother and siblings. But he \nhad to drop out of school last year when he became sick. Still he hasn\u2019t\n given up hope of going back to school, and he hopes he can receive his \ntreatment as soon as possible and get a discharge to go home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What gives this bright young man hope and strength amidst the \nsickness, pain and frustration he is going through? Bob has a big blue \nbible by the side of his bed, which he reads a lot. Recently when one of\n the volunteers was spending time with him he opened a scripture in 1st \nThessalonians. \u201cPray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God\u2019s will for you in Christ Jesus.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bob<\/a>
Bob with one of the volunteers<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes he gets frustrated when things don\u2019t seem to be moving with\n regard to his management and treatment but he always finds comfort in \nreading his bible. He sleeps by the window so he has a good view of the \nroadside. \u201cWhen I get bored, I look out the window at the cars moving on the road until you people (volunteers) come.\u201d<\/em> He appreciates the visits, love and care from the palliative care team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a young man who is in pain sometimes with a dangerous disease but can still afford to smile and hope\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivan Onapito (Volunteer and Pastoral Support Coordinator, MPCU)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201c\u2026In all Things, give thanks\u2026\u201d Bob is 19 and has had a lot of hardships in his young life. He…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ugandacancer.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ugandacancer.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ugandacancer.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ugandacancer.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ugandacancer.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=87"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ugandacancer.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88,"href":"https:\/\/ugandacancer.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87\/revisions\/88"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ugandacancer.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=87"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ugandacancer.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=87"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ugandacancer.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=87"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}