I slowly adjusted to living with the new illness I was faced with. At the onset, it was rather difficult for me because of the sedatives which made me want to sleep for longer hours than usual. It was difficult getting up from bed and I seemed to had lost my coordination in the process because of the way my back ached when I stood, the constant twitching of my hands and sometimes of my lips.

Also I had to adjust to going for monthly check ups at the specialist hospital which I found to be rather unpleasant because of the long queues. I had noticed that they had the tendency to treat everyone the same way which I viewed as wrong, because some people I came across at the hospital, like me, had shown remarkable recovery from their illness and needed to be accorded as such, but again, it was just in my thinking because when the time was right, I was transferred to another section of the same hospital that attended to such kind of patients. It just required sometime for me to meet that doctor that would refer me to that section. So until that time in the future, unbeknownst to me, I had to bear. Anyhow, I did complain about the lack of coordination and was assured that it was as a result of the medication, so I was given some other medication to counteract the side effects I was experiencing.

Even the gifts I possessed seemed to have disappeared. I no longer sang, wrote or drew. Every time I tried to write it was as if I had a writer’s block. I truly did not understand it. But I still enjoyed listening to music

Much later I began to doubt that the situation I was going through was normal. Reason being that with time, I started to experience sensations especially on the right side of my body from my head downwards. It felt like little flies moving around in the right side of my body – from my head down to my toes. I couldn’t explain it, but the more I twitched, the stronger it felt. It got to a point that if I wasn’t talking to anyone I would be bending my head in a backward movement trying to ease the stinging of the flies in my head. But it was not until much later that the truth about all what I went through surfaced. Until that time, I had to bear and wait.

How then did I wait? First and foremost, I got employed in an accounts firm. If you recollect in my previous post, I mentioned how I refused to take Jamb at the next session because I felt defeated. Anyhow, a job opportunity opened up at an accounts firm for an accounts clerk and I was granted employment. This job toughened me up in all ramifications and pushed me out of my comfort zone which was sleeping.

Initially when I started working, it was more of an office setting, but my boss was an accountant and on several occasions was contracted by other organizations to take stock of their items. Due to my position in the firm, I was selected as one of those to take stock of these organizations. I remember vividly standing for hours in the first organization I was taken to, taking stock of the items. Initially it seemed very tiring and difficult, but over time, I mastered being on my feet and standing for hours no longer seemed difficult. Apart from this area, sometimes my boss would send me to these organizations to monitor the trends in their stock usage.

Did I fall ill? Not frequently, why? because I believe I was too occupied and happy. You see, being given such an opportunity and placed in such a vital role meant a lot to me, I felt very much accepted and hardly remembered that I had any limitation. In fact, my boss never got to know I had the SS genotype until I was on admission at a much later date and my folks broke the news to him. Of course he was taken aback because I was hardworking like any other staff he had, so it was a bit difficult for him to comprehend. On several occasions he would ask me to run errands and never once did I complain or come back looking all flushed and sickly until the day I had a crisis.

I know I have made this point before but I would like to make it again. I believe every person with the SS genotype should be given an opportunity to make a mark in this life. The reason I’m buttressing this point is because I remember once when I was denied a job because they felt I looked feeble and because of how soft spoken I was. I look back and laugh, because despite all attempts I made to convince them that I would be a dedicated staff, they did not listen.

I think employers out there should give warriors a chance and not be quick to ward them off simply because they are more limited than other staff. You can never tell because sometimes the feeble one may prove more dedicated than even the stronger one. I’m saying this because you can imagine if my first boss refused to give me an opportunity to work for him. Not only did the job help to toughen and make me cope will all the medication I was given, it also made me add to the output of that firm. But more importantly one cannot deny that it took my mind off the illness I was experiencing and made me channel my energy into something more useful and productive.

So my conclusion today is in three phases.
First of all, respective employers should give warriors a chance especially if they can easily deduce that they might be sickly.
Secondly, warriors should channel their energy into things that are useful and productive but not strenuous. It helps their morale, removes their mind from their limitation and goes a long way in toughening them up for the future.
Finally, caregivers should not stand in the way of their sickly offspring/relations but rather give them the necessary push they require to attain their goals in this life.

So until my next post, it’s goodbye from me.