"Please, help me hear and walk again"

At the age of 30, Bathusi Sesuma had wanted to be a civil engineer. Now his dream is shattered due to Tuberculous meningitis, a condition that has left him crippled and deaf.

It was in 2011 when the signs started showing. Sesuma can speak but he cannot hear. To communicate with him, his family members write him phone messages. The Midweek Sun team visited him in Jwaneng where he stays in a one room rented house with his siblings and their children.

He told The Midweek Sun that he started feeling severe headaches in 2011 when he was studying for Building Construction at Jwaneng Technical College. He had just passed foundation classes and was ready to enroll for a certificate level. His left ear lost hearing sense.

“I went to various clinics for checkups and x-rays but they could not help me. My left eye also went blind,” he said. Shortly after, he was diagnosed with Tuberculous meningitis and went on a year treatment.

A specialist from Princess Marina, Dr Chawanga Mudongo, says Tuberculous meningitis is an infection of the tissues covering the brain and spinal cord (meninges). Tuberculous meningitis is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes tuberculosis. The bacteria spread to the brain and spine from another site in the body.

A specialist from Princess Marina Hospital Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Dr Difela stated last year that Sesuma needs cochlear implant. “In my opinion, his hearing cannot be rehabilitated with conventional hearing aid and will probably only benefit from cochlear implant.

Of note, implant service is not available in Botswana,” he said. He cannot walk and has no wheelchair, so he depends on his sisters to help him move around in the house. He also has epileptic attacks.

According to his sister Tomeletso Sesuma, doctors suspect it is a different condition because TB meningitis is curable. “They tell us his brain is swollen and there’s likelihood for surgery in South Africa,” she said. He was scheduled for a biopsy in Gaborone today (Wednesday) but his sister said they do not have transport money from Jwaneng. The last born in a family of six is in need of food, toiletry and a specialist who will explain his condition well to his family. As it stands, none of them understands this type of TB.

“We don’t protect ourselves from further infections as he doesn’t cough. But again, we don’t know whether it is contagious or not,” she states. But for the resilient Bathusi Sesuma, all he needs is his health back. “I only need my hearing sense and my ability to walk again. The rest I will do for myself. I’m a man,” he said.

Princess Marina hospital registered 56 TB meningitis cases between 2000 and 2014.The reality of TB meningitis

According to Dr Mudongo, symptoms usually begin gradually, and may include fever and chills, nausea and vomiting, sensitivity to light, severe headache and stiff neck (meningismus).

A lumbar puncture (spinal tap) is an important test in diagnosing meningitis. This test is done to collect a sample of spinal fluid for examination. More than one sample may be needed to make the diagnosis.

Dr Mudongo says Tuberculous meningitis is life threatening if untreated and that it can be curable if detected early.