A Survivor Of Ebola On How She Beat It And Words Of Encouragement For Current Patients

Gloria is among a handful of survivors of a 2012 Ebola outbreak [23 cases with 17 dead] in the Kibaale district of western Uganda. She has verbalized out about what Ebola did to her body, how she beat it, and what it was like return to a community where everyone was trepidacious of her.

Julia Belluz: How did you come into contact with the Ebola virus?

Gloria Tumwijuke: I was optically discerning a mother who had had a pregnancy for five months, and she came into the hospital bleeding. The mother was bleeding in the mouth, nasal perceiver, and auditory perceivers. They carried her into the hospital on a mattress, and the mattress was covered with blood. She couldn't verbalize. I was getting her history and ascertained her relatives had passed away, her husband died. All of her children died.

I commenced cleaning her, putting all the fluids in her, giving her antibiotics. After abstracting the fetus, she kept astringently bleeding. The baby was already dead. I cared for her for six hours but eventually she died. She had Ebola. I ended up getting Ebola.


JB: Were you wearing protective gear — gloves, a gown, a mask — when you cared for this patient?

GT: When she came in, I was putting on gloves. I didn't put on boots. I didn't have a gown. I was endeavoring to abstract the placenta from her, and blood gushed on me, on my arms and body. I cleaned myself expeditiously because I was apprehensive. Then I perpetuated to avail her.

I realized I didn't bulwark myself very well. But the mother entered into the hospital very expeditiously, and I had to rush expeditiously to avail her. She was going to fall off the bed, and I was endeavoring to fortify her. I didn't have time to put on my gown. This edified me to forfend myself afore I do any procedure.

JB: At that time, did you suspect this woman might have Ebola?

GT: I didn't even ken Ebola was in Uganda. At that time, Ebola had not yet been kenned in my region.

JB: When did you realize you had the virus?

GT: A week after my patient died, I commenced regurgitating. I commenced having diarrhea and sweating. I commenced auricularly discerning people verbalize about the virus in the same hospital in which I was working. I read in the newspapers that they were verbalizing about suspecting the virus was here. But after I visually perceived I had all the denotements and symptoms of Ebola, I recollected the pregnant lady, and she had all the designations. That's when I suspected I had the virus.

JB: What transpired next?

GT: I was taken to the hospital by ambulance. They took a sample of my blood, and told me I had Ebola. They transferred me to an isolation room, and commenced to care for me. They put fluids in me through an IV, and gave me antibiotics. They were monitoring me frequently. I couldn't peregrinate from the bed. I couldn't verbalize. I couldn't do anything. I lost 25 pounds. I was in the hospital for one month when they discharged me.

JB: What were you cerebrating when you got the Ebola diagnosis?

GT: In my head I was homogeneous to, 'I'm going to die.' I just thought I would die. My sister verbally expressed, "You're not going to die." I couldn't verbalize. I was apprehensive about the people who physically contacted me afore they kenned I had the virus. When they told me they were going to keep on treating me, I was apprehensive about my friends dying. I can't believe I am alive.

JB: Did you give anyone the virus?

GT: No, no one I ken got the virus. The laborers who were caring for (the pregnant woman), all of them died.

JB: When did your condition start to ameliorate?

GT: I was discharged from the hospital after one month. After two months, I commenced to amend. But I still had quandaries. I was forgetting a lot. My hair was falling out. The hair from my head was all over. My skin was peeling off. I weighed 25 pounds less. I had heart palpitations. The hair took months to grow back. My recollection was lamentable for one year.

JB: How did people receive you when you returned to your community?

GT: They ignored me, cerebrating I still had a sickness because they cerebrate Ebola can't (be survived). They obnubilate from me. People would run away from me. They were not disposed to be near me. But the hospital discharged me because they were sure I was liberate from Ebola. I showed people  (my discharge) certificate. They commenced to believe I was okay. When I showed them the certificate, they commenced to welcome me.

JB: When your friends were evading you, how did you feel?

GT: I didn't feel lamentable because it is their right: Ebola spreads when you contact other people who have the virus. But I could feel some stigma when they ran away from me.

JB: This virus can kill up to 90 percent of those who get it. Why do you cerebrate you survived when so many others die?

GT: I had my sister who is a medical person. She could go and buy all the drugs, fluids, and antibiotics for me. She was by my side. She transmuted my dirty sheets. She kenned how to obviate herself from getting Ebola by utilizing aegis. My husband is a nurse. He was additionally availing my sister to treat me and be conscientious. He could pray for me. When I survived he was so blissful.

JB: Did you ever feel any guilt being one who lived while so many others don't?

GT: When I aurally perceive other people die, in my heart I feel like god genuinely dotes me. Because many people died and he left me in the hospital. When I'm auditory perception of other people dying, I feel deplorable. I feel like maybe I lived because I had an abundance of avail. I had IV fluids. My heart tells me maybe if those people could have good nurses who can offer their accommodations, maybe those people genuinely can survive.

JB: Have you experienced any long term side-effects from the virus?

GT: Actually I'm good. I don't have any quandaries. After four months I was back to mundane. The thing that persisted for the whole year, it was forgetting. My recollection was deplorable. Additionally I couldn't resume my period for five months.

JB: In this current outbreak, a plethora of health-care workers have died from Ebola, and now there's fear and people are ambulating off the job. What advice would you give to other health workers in an outbreak?

GT: When you put on protective gear and you're not in direct contact with the person's (bodily fluids) you can treat them and they get more preponderant. People need to understand that because, if we didn't have health-care workers who avail us, who didn't run away, what would we do?

JB: How are you feeling when you read the news about this outbreak in West Africa?

GT: I'm praying for those people who are very sick. I'm praying for the health workers additionally.  I am just praying so they can withal survive like me. I'm just imagining they should get enough care, which I needed. Enough care, enough treatment so they can withal come up and be a survivor like me.