•Patient eats 20-30 eggs daily
A fire victim, Kelechi Okoroji, has praised the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) management for his near-full recovery within three months.
Okoroji urged Nigerians to have confidence in the country’s doctors, saying they remain among the best and can compete with their counterparts abroad.
Okoroji spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on how LASUTH has been handling his case following a major fire accident.
NAN reports that Okoroji suffered skin injuries from the fire that occurred at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Zonal headquarters in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, last March 11.
He said he was referred to LASUTH for rehabilitation following initial treatments at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH).
“I was a 75 per cent degree burn patient, which many thought was a hopeless case before I was referred to the Burns and Trauma Section of LASUTH.
“There, I have been undergoing rehabilitation by a team of hardworking and committed medical personnel led by Dr Adedayo Buhari.”
NAN reports that Buhari, a burn and reconstructive surgeon, has been on the staff of LASUTH’s Burns and Trauma Centre for about two years
Okoroji said his condition after the incident was better imagined than experienced, adding that he is only lucky to be alive to narrate his story.
“I am happy to say that, our medical system condemned by many as being unprofessional, was able to restore me to life. We need to have a rethink about our medical services. My case had been previously regarded as hopeless by many which made me to have a thin hope of survival. But, here I am being treated in one of the best facilities in the country. However, the doctors and nurses that treated me never gave up hope on my survival; they kept on assuring and encouraging me that I was going to survive during treatment. Imagine if I had been flown abroad without trusting the capable hands we have here, would there have been any chance of survival over there?”
He praised the doctors and the nurses for their dedication to work.
Okoroji advised teaching hospitals to always admit those with passion for the job as students so that they can acquire requisite trainings to handle cases similar to his.
Okoroji also lauded the team for its encouragement during the treatment, saying: “During the treatment, I was advised not to cry or shout, so as not to lose more blood.”
Okoroji called for more specialist hospitals for burn victims in other parts of the country so as to help those who may not make it to Lagos.
“I think if we have about three of such institutions in the country and well equipped with medical personnel and equipment, we will be better for it. If Lagos State can build this state-of-the-art centre for us, other states should also emulate it and we will not need to travel abroad for burn surgery. God really helped the hospital to rescue me; I have only spent three months and some days between March and now when I was referred to LASUTH.”
He said the country could combat medical tourism abroad by building hospitals with modern facilities, as there are many professionals to man them.
“During my stay here in LASUTH, I have seen nationalities of other countries that came for treatment.
“I am with the highest degree of burns with blood infection, others were about 50 per cent; even the nurses in Calabar doubted my survival.
“In all, I give glory to God for my survival and equally thank the LASUTH management and staff for putting me back on my feet,’’ he said.
Dr Buhari, who led the team that handled Okoroji’s case, said the doctors never doubted his survival because of the available facilities and expertise at LASUTH.
“LASUTH was able to handle Okoroji’s case because we have the manpower and the facilities to handle such severe cases. Our admission rate in LASUTH is high with 5-burn patients on admission being handled by two burn-consultant surgeons and some well trained nurses. The ratio of doctor to burn patient in an ideal setting is 1 to 5, so we still need more to cope with the population of our patients,” he said
With adequate training, he said, Nigeria would get it right.
Buhari said his specialty was to cater for burn cases, either severe or mild, adding that the hospital has been handling such cases successfully in the past years.
“Okoroji’s case is one of the most difficult cases I have ever managed because of the severity of his burn which was 75 per cent with deep and severe sores. There were so many bacteria in his blood streams as well as suffering from jaundices and fever. So, we have to be treating all of them simultaneously which makes his case very complicated. We have to review our antibiotic in his later condition. He was placed on special diets because he had lost virtually the first layer of his skin. This requires more protein before it can get healed. We advised him to have high calories and protein with good wounds’ care and special antibiotic treatment,” he said.
Buhari, a graduate of the University of Jos, said the knowledge and prescription of the right nutrition helped in rehabilitating Okoroji.
This is because nutrition is an essential key to burn patient’s rehabilitation, he said.
“Adequate nutrition is the key to his rehabilitation; we also give him food supplement because protein is the key; he eats about 20 to 30 eggs in a day.
“We have also been counselling him on the importance of this nutrition which he himself has been struggling to abide with because it is not easy being on such diet.
“He also had to endure aggressive sore dressing because of the wounds,” he said.
Buhari, however, urged the three tiers of government to increase the capacity for the management of burn and reconstructive surgeries in the country.
“The number of those that can handle burns in the country is inadequate and there is the need for governments to sponsor more people for training within and outside the country.
“We need to be abreast of new methods of treating burns, most especially, as it concerns special nutritious for burns’ patients.
