The Pain of Recalling
There is no picture of Lillian Chibaka. The pain of recalling the story can be seen in his face as Doctor
Smith Chibaka recalls the events surrounding the last months of the life of his little baby cousin.
Lillian was born in 1999, and was on the way to becoming a fine young girl with a promising future. Then she started to experience headaches. "Malaria", was the immediate response from medical professionals who had none of the technology and equipment that is available in the simplest community clinic in the west. The prognosis seemed to make sense since malaria is such a threat to the health of this small southeastern nation in sub-Sahara Africa.
Headaches are Back
Before long the headaches were back and Lillian was taken to the hospital again. "Malaria" was the response from medical sources that still had little in the way of test equipment. But then, malaria was so common that its immediate diagnosis was a daily occurrence for thousands and thousands of people. A curative dose of medicine was given and Lillian was again sent back home.
Again and again the headaches were back, and the same diagnosis was given. In a part of the nation, where it is unfortunate for a sick child to face a health crisis, little Lillian continued with the headaches.
Diagnosis From Blantyre
Finally after long months and no relief she was sent to Blantyre where more modern equipment was available for the few who could afford it. Diagnosis? A tumor on the brain that was now too far along for surgery to be accomplished. Had this conclusion been reached earlier a simple surgery would have saved her life.
At the age of 7, little Lillian, the little cousin of a doctor, died in 2006. All of his training in another country could not help Doctor Chibaka to diagnose a fatal disease in his cousin, because of the lack of technology that is available to nearly every child in the developed nations of the world.