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Living with a chronic illness often presents unique challenges, but for those on dialysis, the struggle is compounded by external factors beyond their control. One patient’s account sheds light on the critical issues faced by individuals reliant on dialysis in the face of the unpredictable ZESCO power outages. This story highlights not only the physical and emotional toll of dialysis but also the urgent need for stable and reliable infrastructure to support life-saving medical treatments.
By Albert Khondowe
I woke up one day,felt my face so heavy such that I couldn’t even move my head sideways .
I made a post about how these powercuts have really affected us,those on dialysis a few days if not a wedk ago. In that post i tagged Hakainde Hichilema and Zesco Limited which got alot of mixed emotions.
My complaint was basically that these power outages are too long and theres no specific time table that is being followed as at now,powercut times change almost everyday,for example yesterday power cut from 16hrs to 7hrs today,is that reasonable??
So here is the thing and why ill keep on complaining, am supposed to start my dialysis on the machine around 19hrs untill the next day for about 9 to 14 hours whilst am a sleep,but how does that happen when I do not know what time exactly power will cut or what time it will be restored? Worse enough if it cuts in the middle of my session it means I have wasted my consumables of which are usually out of stock,which puts me at another disadvantage.
Attached here are pictures of what I have to go through because of insufficient dialysis and this is not only me but alot of us that have been affected by these long hour and unstable powercuts.
Because of too much fluids in the body due to insufficient dialysis,I will either wake up with a swollen body which goes away after sometime, but the worst I have had to endure are those sore on my ankles,my feet were swollen and eventually those sore came about,extremely painful and very stubborn. I have spent months of pain ,antibiotics and taking very strong painkiller just so i could get relief. Many of us dont even remember the last time we put on shoes due to our medical conditions but thats okay, what is definitely not okay is that fact that these powercuts cant be regulated at all.
Some people went as far as asking me if I wanted the President to go and increase the water levels in Kariba,which for me was a clear indication that people did not understand that we have accepted the loadshedding but with hope that it can be done better by giving us a fixed timetable as well as reducing the number of hours. This I personally believe can be done!!
They say mavuto yasiyana which is very true but i think for us that rely on this power to stay alive,something must really be done better.
I speak on behalf of myself and all my friends who need this power to stay alive and not just for charging phones and lighting.
May God heal you brother.
You couldn’t even make it to barbershop because loadshedding shedding?
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