Rita Nsereko donated a kidney to her husband

Mr and Mrs Nsereko with their daughter Josephine Nansereko at home. PHOTO BY ALEX ESAGALA

What you need to know:

  • For you I will. Dr Nsereko Mukasa and his wife Rita Nakimbugwe Nsereko of Kyanja, a Kampala suburb, live to their wedding vows, in sickness and in health.
  • Rita donated one of her kidneys to her husband. They told DERRICK WANDERA about their walk from day one.

Walking the stairs of the department of Microbiology and sometimes the department of pathology, at the School of Medicine Makerere University, Dr Nsereko Mukasa and Rita cast the first glances at themselves decades ago.

Rita then a laboratory attendant, and Nsereko, a doctor at pathology department Makerere University fell in love. It is evident during the interview at their Kyanja home that their love was brewed for better for worse. They have four duaghters.

After dating for four years, they moved in. It was five years before they decided to exchange their marriage vows before Bishop Paul Semwogerere at Christ the King Church, Kampala in 1991. Much as her idea was to have a family regardless of whether she was married or not, Rita intimates that she could not resist the temptation of living with her boyfriend.

An Anglican, she did not even mind sticking by her devout Catholic sweetheart for love’s sake. “I was 23 , I just wanted to have children and a family. But I do not know whether I could resist staying with him,” she says as she casts a playful glance at Nsereko on the other side of their sofa who reciprocates with grin before they start a light argument.
“Much as my girlfriend says she did not have the aspect of wedding in mind, there were tell-tell signs. Do you remember the questions you asked me after a wedding party of our friend ?” he asks Rita, adding ‘…honey did you see that bride and how she was dressed…?’ I knew what you meant.” Dr Nsereko, 62, and his wife, 55, still hold conversations with friendly smiles and light arguments, they can still realise there was more to their living together than the impending need to fulfill the cultural and religious marriage traditions.
Trying times begin
Early 2009, Dr Nsereko started unnecessarily feeling tired and had persistent joint pains, he did not take this as a serious case.

“I thought this was because of the errands I had to run around town as I juggled three jobs to make an extra buck. Through all these, I walked.” However, when pain persisted, he quickly opted for painkillers which he admits worked but were weak to contain the pain for more than an hour.

“I used Diclofenac tablets which I admit was my mistake and would never advise anyone to use it . Much as it is a strong painkiller, it did not work for long. After an hour or so the pain was back,” notes the former consultant pathologist at ministry of Health.

Despite the wife’s persuasion to go for a medical checkup at the hospital, the medical doctor, was up to the strong-man play.
“I on several occasions urged him that we go to the hospital for a proper diagnosis but he always replied, “…njakuba bulungi (loosely translated, I will be fine),” Rita recalls.

Going to hospital
Even when he had been overpowered by the ailment in 2011, Dr Nsereko did not agree to the idea of going to hospital and he continued taking refuge in the painkillers as he stuck to his “I will be fine soon”.

“I told him to give me the number of one of his ‘sons’ (a mentee), he gave me Dr Samuel Kalungi’s number, a pathologist at Mulago Hospital based at KCCA Mortuary and I called him,” narrates the mother of four.

Upon his arrival, Dr Kalungi carried out a free checks and confirmed that Dr Nsereko was to be admitted. The latter finally gave in. “However, even when he later accepted to be taken to hospital, he did not buy the idea of being admitted.” Rita reminisces amid laughter and adds.

“We should go but when are we coming back home?” He asked
“Today by 8pm,” replied Dr Kalungi.

“We have to come back today,” my husband emphasised.
Even as this conversation was going, Dr Kalungi had tipped Rita of her husband’s condition and directed her to pack bags because there would be no way they could take him home without admission.

Upon the doctor’s examination, it was discovered that Dr Nsereko was battling renal failure, commonly known as kidney disease.

“Dr Nsereko had been battling renal failure and it was at the fourth stage, this had gone too far and the best was to do an immediate transplant,” reveals Dr Simon Peter Eyoku, a nephrologist at Mulago Hospital. It was the chronic kind of renal failure which needed immediate attention.

Treatment at Mulago hospital
For 10 days, Nsereko was hospitalised in Mulago hospital with a series of dialysis being administered. Dr Kalungi says due to the nature of his disease it needed the critical eye of the doctor as the signs and symptoms were hidden.

“After we discovered what the disease was, we started to take him through dialysis which went on for a while before we started sourcing for money to take him for the transplant,” says Dr Kalungi.

Dialysis is a medical procedure in which a person’s body is cleaned of impurities and toxins, a task which his or her kidneys would perform if they were still functional.

Nsereko had a fair share of physical and emotional pain while in the hospital. He reminisces the episode of an elderly man who could not afford dialysis for a year- he quotes him saying “… I can’t afford this money, take me back home and I meet my death there…,”said the elderly man wincing in pain.

“I felt pity for the people who could not afford the process of dialysis much as I was in pain,” recalls Dr Nsereko.

It cost Shs273, 000 every day for every dialysis which was supposed to take place twice a week before reducing it to Shs230, 000 and then to Shs197, 000. This amount was to be deposited to the hospital within the range of thrice every fortnight. That was not a curative measure as he urgently needed a kidney transplant.

Going for a transplant
After two months of investigation, Dr Nsereko’s nephew Martin Lugwanguki, 24, passed as the proposed donor for the kidney transplant. Their DNA matched perfectly. All arrangements went as planned until the time the doctors in India rejected Lugwanguki as a donor.

“Doctors thought he was compromising and he had not consented to be a donor, so they rejected him plus other flimsy excuses,” Dr Nsereko recalls.

Rita notes that Lugwanjuki had to be flown back to Uganda leaving the couple at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi, India. This meant that they had to find another donor so they probably had to fly back to Uganda to search for another donor.

“I was both upset and worried. My worry was about going back on dialysis which was costly and laborious. I never wanted to come back to Uganda without a solution. Other than. I’m a strong African woman who looks for solutions. It then crossed my mind that I could actually donate a kidney to my husband,” she notes. Rita suggested this to her husband but he quickly refuted it.

“I just could not imagine two sick ‘dogs’ in the hospital. Who could take care of the other?” Dr Nsereko interjects.
Through the back door, Rita asked the doctors to carry out the necessary tests on her to see if she could fit the donor role. After satisfactory evidence that these two were a couple, she announced to her husband how he would be living with part of her forever.

“Most of the people in the hospital were surprised to hear that I had offered my kidney to my husband. They said it was an unheard of,” says Rita. She had indeed lived to her vows, ‘in sickness and in health, for better, for worse’.
“I saw that he was my responsibility after the vows we said in church, I will stand to it forever… but for love, I was ready to do anything in my life,” she notes.

Recovery
The couple took about three weeks to get back on their feet. The recovery process takes about six months before a review to see if the donor is recovering well and whether the recipient has accepted the kidney.

“The doctors however warned me that I would be stressed because the rushed decision to donate does not correspond to the body which needed emotional preparation. We spent four days in the intensive care unit under the maximum supervision of the nurses who took blood tests after every two hours,” narrates Rita.

Dr Nsereko however took a little longer as he suffered internal bleeding due to lack of enough platelets which are the blood cells that help blood clot. However, all went well but his arm got swollen and has to keep bandaged to control the blood effects.
Rita now faces challenges with dizziness and occasional pain in the legs. She says she also gets tired easily. However the two have kept their hospital routine. “I have greatly improved, I feel lively but heavier than before,” Dr Nsereko explains.

On marriage
The couple 25 years in marriage despite the fact that they had lived together for about 30 years.
“I know we made a mistake to get a child before an official wedding. I remember even the priest told the church on our wedding day that these two people have today become wife and husband but they should repent because they have been together already,” confessed Dr Nsereko sheepishly. He is quick to say, “I’ve learned the importance of a loving and caring woman. I hope all women can be as caring and aggressive as my very own.”

RECOMMENDED DIET
“For the first two weeks, we were supposed to only take fluids. We were not allowed to eat hard foods because we were feeeding through tubes for more than a week to ensure food goes directly to the tissues and blood.

The doctors said proper intake of water should be 24 hours for constant urination, oedema and elevated blood pressure,” says Rita. Afterwards, we started eating rice and those soft foods.We were asked to eat food rich in iron. When I returned, I had missed matooke and it is what I ate first.”

Stay away from
Phosphorus: Do not have too much high-phosphorus foods such as dairy products, whole grain bread, and animal offals if you begin to have itching skin and bone problems.
Potassium: High blood potassium can cause severe arrhythmia and even lead to death, therefore limit foods such as spinach, banana, coffee, and strong tea.

CHILDREN SAY…
“I had the most mixed emotions towards it because my elder sisters seemed to be strong. I wondered how they could take care of themselves when they had to go through the blade. I learned a lot because I had to take care of the home as my elder sisters had to go to work.” Josephine Nansereko, 21.

“This was a trying moment for the family but I thank God who took us through it successfully. They inspired me a lot and I hope all the marrieds can take this up. They stood for each other and that what an ideal relationship ought to be. I think this gives me a route to follow even in my family as well.” Judith Nansereko

Possible symptoms of renal failure
• Reduced amount of urine.
• Swelling of your legs, ankles, and feet from retention of fluids caused by the failure of your kidneys to eliminate water waste.
• Unexplained shortness of breath.
• Excessive drowsiness or fatigue.
• Persistent nausea.
• Confusion.
• Pain or pressure in your chest.
• Seizures.