Medical checkups a must for people with chronic diseases

Heart disease, sickle cells, cancer, diabetes, kidney disease, and HIV are some of the chronic diseases that need constant checkup because they attract different infections that could cause serious complications. Eric Lwigale Tumwesige a general practitioner at Queens Health Services notes that a patient with chronic illness should visit a doctor at least once every month and whenever they feel unwell.
Aidah Kababiito*, a diabetic patient lost her eye sight after suffering severe headache for two weeks. Her doctor said this was due to increased blood sugar levels which could have been regulated had she reported the case early enough.

Why is it necessary
To get proper medical care. Lwigale notes that a patient will get proper medical care as their health will be monitored by an expert. With constant monitoring, the doctor can also change medication in case it is failing, replacing it with something else. However, when one does not go for checkups, they miss out.

Prevent complications
He adds that chronic diseases come with several complications like loss of breath, severe pains, loss of sight, getting paralysed, severe headaches which may be prevented if there is constant treatment and checkups. These conditions could worsen the disease if not treated in time.

Get counselling
Gorret Betty Mbabazi, a nurse and medical consultant, notes that some diseases bring stress to patients, especially those with HIV and cancer as they think it is the end of the world. This could cause hate of one self hence not taking medication, loss of hope, committing suicide ,among others.
“Regular hospital visits would restore your hope as you get regular counselling from experts and see other people with the same problems yet living positively. That will give you another perspective to life, as well” she says.

Learn to eat healthy
You will also get advice on how you should eat for the betterment of your life. Mbabazi adds that regular medical checkups help promote good eating habits

Current condition
Lwigale adds that regular body checks will help you monitor progress in your sickness, whether one is getting better or not.

Save money
Going to hospital for regular checkups takes less than going with a severe complication that needs strong medication and admission to the hospital, Julius Kusemererwa a medical doctor, explains. He, therefore, says it is better to spend less now than drain yourself when things get worse.

Deal with issues in a timely manner
Kusemererwa notes that in most cases, these diseases make the body weak which subjects it to easy attacks from various diseases and infections. He adds that a patient with a chronic disease is delicate and should not take any form of illness for granted because it could cost them their life. They need to report any kind of sickness to the hospital, however small.

Learn more
It is important to keep learning about your illness and this can only be done through visiting the hospital.
“There is a time I misinterpreted the prescription and took an overdoze. I got severe stomach pain and was corrected the time I re-visited the hospital. If I had not gone back, I think I would be dead by now,” Sharifah Kakyo, a sickler says.

When you do not checkup
Complications that are hard to monitor
According to Lwigale, not visiting the hospital frequently means grooming complications that will put you down any time. He notes that the patient may reach the hospital when it is too late, for example sicklers may get anemia, which is very hard to control.

Severe pain
When an illness gets out of control, the patient will experience a lot of pain, causing the doctors to use strong medicines that will make one so weak and subsequently difficult to stabilise

Death
“We have seen patients dying before they reached the hospital due to heart failures, asphyxiation, and blood clotting which could have been prevented,” Kusemererwa says.