Hospital Misdiagnosis Nearly Cost Me My Life, Abuja Resident Narrates Ordeal

In a heart-wrenching post of near-death experience, an Abuja resident has narrated how misdiagnosis in some top hospitals in the city nearly cost him his life.

Mr Young Ozogwu, who’s the Chairman/CEO of Derasoft Consulting in Abuja penned his experience in a Facebook post of how the deplorable Nigerian hospitals with decrepit equipment almost sent him to his early grave if not for kind-hearted Nigerians including a distinguished doctor who saved his life.

He said his ordeal began in 2018 when he checked into a hospital after observing “a peculiar difficulty in climbing the staircase at my office,” something he said he used to enjoy doing.

He stated that to his surprise, he needed some minutes to catch his breath and assumed that he should deepen fitness exercise, which forced him “to hit the gym harder.”

Unfortunately, he said he noticed that a minor physical activity left him exhausted and palpitating for hours, leaving him confused.

The struggle to regain his full health continued in 2019, ultimately worsening at this time with irregular heartbeats, he said.

Realising the situation, he said he checked into “Alliance Hospital in Garki, Abuja, where I have visited occasionally for malaria treatment, little did I know that my troubles” had just begun.

Alliance Hospital he said conducted several tests: “urine, blood, ECG, heart scans, Stress ECG.”

Based on the results, he said he was referred “to their resident Consultant Cardiologist,” who told him that he had developed high blood pressure (HBP) or hypertension, and “was placed on medication to manage it” with a tension headache.

Ozogwu said that after four months on the BP medication, his condition worsened and he returned to Alliance, where he was referred “to CardioCare Hospital, also in Garki.”

The circus continued with no positive result as he had to undergo another round of tests following the increasing heart-fluttering, creating more confusion.

The doctors were left baffled, forcing them to request more lab tests in case some steps had been missed, he wrote.

“Again, the results came back with nothing significant. I was devastated. How could the tests say nothing was wrong when I felt like I was slowly dying? Confusion set in,” he further said.

Unfortunately, Ozogwu said COVID-19 set in and Nigeria had recorded its first few cases at the time his health was deteriorating while he was uncertain about his immune system.

He said he resigned from his job which, according to him, was not due to the pandemic but that he was “no longer functioning optimally at work. I had lost 15 kilograms of my body weight, and my concentration was shot. Physically and mentally, I was drained,” he said.

He explained that he “decided to try Garki Hospital next. The first doctor I saw ordered more lab tests, which revealed I had H. Pylori (Helicobacter pylori, bacteria that infects the stomach), with a suggestion that he had an ulcer.

An argument ensued he said as he tried to explain that he had no family history with ulcers but acquiesced when the doctor pointed to the lab results. He was then “placed on ulcer medication for three months” in the first instance.

After a few months, he was again referred to a Consultant Cardiologist, who had reviewed his previous test results from Alliance and CardioCare.

His heart dropped, he said when the cardiologist concluded that he “might have heart disease” and was placed on medication again.

However, a few weeks later, “my wife had to drive me back to the hospital as my condition deteriorated even further. I could no longer, for instance, drive myself or walk from the car park to the reception without her help.

“My symptoms now included body tremors, internal heat, and bowel movement immediately after meals. The Cardiologist, he said, stated that it was likely he had “muscle/tissue trauma, then referred me to a Rheumatologist.”

He explained that “the Rheumatologist, after his examination, concluded that I was suffering from Chronic Anxiety Disorder.”

He said he began to undergo treatment and saw “some improvement in the first three weeks before things stalled and regressed once again.”

He said he could not travel to Enugu to “see my family and share what I was going through, but interstate lockdowns had grounded all movement.

“I was jobless, broke, emotionally drained, and physically worn out. It was the darkest period of my life. But as they say, ‘the darkest time of the night often births a new dawn’.

He said the turning point came in June 2020, when his “sister-in-law, Dr. Uche Onaga Ijoma, called to check on us during the lockdown” and “immediately suggested I see an Endocrinologist.”

He said he “returned to Garki General Hospital and requested to see an Endocrinologist” and “met Dr. Olusegun Ajuwon, one of the kindest doctors I have ever encountered.

“After running more tests, he diagnosed me with hyperthyroidism (or overactive thyroid, a condition when the thyroid gland produces excess thyroid hormone, speeding up the body’s metabolism and leading to weight loss, hand tremors, and rapid or irregular heartbeat).

It was the respite he needed, saying, “For the first time in nearly two years, I could sleep peacefully. Within six months, I regained my weight and strength, and my symptoms vanished,” he said.

Ozogwu expressed gratitude to his wife Ifeoma, for her “love and care” which “brought me back to life,” and Dr. Uche Onaga Ijoma, for the “intervention” that “saved my life.”

He hailed a philanthropist, Chief James Ume, whom he declared as “my brother for life”, and who “ensured that I had everything I needed to survive, even when I had no job. Ojukwu will never forget what you have done for Ndi Igbo!”

Medical errors and wilful negligence is a regular occurrence in Nigeria. In 2019, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria revealed that it was investigating 120 Nigerian doctors for different counts of professional misconduct, while half of that number were awaiting trial at the tribunal.

Despite boasting of large numbers of trained medical practitioners, Nigeria’s annual budget stands at 0.5 per cent of the gross domestic products, making it one of the least in the world according to the World Bank, in its 2024 report.