#Ebola: She came, she saw, she conquered | 7 lessons we learnt from Dr. Ada Igonoh’s survival story

Earlier this week, the inspiring testimony of Dr Ada Igonoh and how she miraculously survived the Ebola virus flooded the internet.
Dr. Ada Igonoh was one of the Doctors at First Consultants Hospital, where the index Ebola case in Nigeria Patrick Sawyer was treated and died.
She treated Sawyer, found him dead and not surprisingly contracted the deadly Ebola virus from him…but her story is different because she survived.
She was one of the survivors hosted by Governor Fashola on Friday.

We now bring you seven lessons we learnt from her survival story!

• Information is powerful, being rightly informed saves lives. While on her bed at the Isolation ward,  she engaged her iPad for the right reasons. Rather than play games on the iPad or upload photos of the ‘sorry’ state of the quarantine ward on social media”, like some fellas would do, she rightly engaged it to stay informed and alive!

Hear her”
“My Pastor asked me to do my research on Ebola since I had my iPad with me and told me that he
was also doing his study. He wanted us to use all relevant information on Ebola to our advantage. So I researched and found out all I could about the strange disease that has been in existence for 38 years. My research, my faith, my positive view of life, the extended times of prayer, study and listening to encouraging messages boosted my belief that I would survive the Ebola scourge.
There are five strains of the virus and the deadliest of them is the Zaire strain, which was what I had. But that did not matter. I believed I would overcome even the deadliest of strains. Infected patients who succumb to the disease usually die between 6 to 16 days after the onset of the disease from multiple organ failure and shock caused by dehydration. I was counting the days and keeping myself well hydrated. I didn’t intend to die in that ward.
My research gave me ammunition. I read that as soon as the virus gets into the body, it begins to replicate really fast. It enters the blood cells, destroys them and uses those same blood cells to aggressively invade other organs where they further multiply. Ideally, the body’s immune system should immediately mount up a response by producing antibodies to fight the virus. If the person is strong enough, and that strength is sustained long enough for the immune system to kill off the viruses, the patient is likely to survive. If the virus replicates faster than the antibodies can handle however, further damage is done to the organs. Ebola can be likened to a multi-level, multi-organ attack but I had no intention of letting the deadly virus destroy my system. I drank more ORS. I remember saying to myself repeatedly, “I am a survivor, I am a survivor.”
I also found out that a patient with Ebola cannot be re-infected and they cannot relapse back into the disease as there is some immunity conferred on survivors.”

• Faith. Winning (or losing) starts from the mind. When she was told she had Ebola, yes she was completely disoriented at first, it felt like she had been given a death sentence but she believed she would survive.

“He said to me, “I have to inform you that your blood tested positive for Ebola. I am sorry.” I had no reaction. I think I must have been in shock. He then told me to open my mouth and he looked at my tongue.
He said it was the typical Ebola tongue. I took out my mirror from my bag and took a look and I was shocked at what I saw. My whole tongue had a white coating, looked furry and had a long, deep ridge right in the middle. I then started to look at my whole body, searching for Ebola rashes and other signs as we had been recently instructed.
 I called my mother immediately and said, “Mummy, they said I have Ebola, but don’t worry, I will survive it.”  What she told her mum on phone while she was wheeled to the isolation center showed a person that had greater chances of surviving.
Also, “None of us in the isolation ward was given any experimental drugs or so-called immune boosters. I believed that even if the mortality rate was 99%, I would be part of the 1% who survive.”

• She surrounded herself with the right people: The people around Dr. Igonoh were awesome! Her Pastor, mother, husband, Friends kept praying and keeping in touch. etc.  They encouraged her all the way through.

“My pastor, who also happens to be a medical doctor, encouraged me to monitor how many times I had stooled and vomited each day and how many bottles of ORS I had consumed. We would then discuss the disease and pray together…I knew countless numbers of people were praying for me. Prayer meetings were being held on my behalf. My family was praying day and night. Text messages of prayers flooded my phones from family members and friends. I was encouraged to press on. With the encouragement I was receiving I began to encourage the others in the ward. We decided to speak life and focus on the positive.”

• Maintaining a Balance in Life, she balanced prayer and medication. She didn’t focus more on one aspect to the detriment of the other.

“I drank the ORS fluid like my life depended on it…and I continued listening to my healing messages. They gave me life. I literarily played them hours on end. This was a battle for my life but I was determined I would not die. Every morning, I began the day with reading and meditating on Psalm 91. My research, my faith, my positive view of life, the extended times of prayer, study and listening to encouraging messages boosted my belief that I would survive the Ebola scourge. I was full of faith yet pragmatic enough to consume as much ORS as I could even when I wanted to give up and throw the bottles away.

• Staying independent: Learn to survive on your own even when everyone else stays away.

“The sanitary condition in the ward left much to be desired. The whole Ebola thing had caught everyone by surprise. Lagos State Ministry of Health was doing its best to contain the situation but competent hands were few.
 The sheets were not changed for days. The floor was stained with greenish vomitus and excrement. Dr. David would come in once or twice a day and help clean up the ward after chatting with us. He was the only doctor who attended to us. There was no one else at that time. The matrons would leave our food outside the door; we had to go get the food ourselves. They hardly entered in the initial days. Everyone was being careful. This was all so new.
I could understand, was this not how we ourselves had contracted the disease? Mosquitoes were our roommates until they brought us mosquito nets.” But she survived!

• Gratitude. She is still grateful heart to the government: Despite the sorry state of the first isolation ward, she still had the heart to forgive and be grateful to the state government, rather than criticize like several others would.

“I especially thank the volunteer Nigerian doctors, matrons and cleaners who risked their lives to take care of us. I must also commend the Lagos State government, and the state and federal ministries of health for their swift efforts to contain the virus.

• God is supreme: No one can question God on why lets some people die while others live.

“I don’t claim to have all the answers to the nagging questions of life. Why do some die and some survive? Why do bad things happen to good people? Where is God in the midst of pain and suffering? Where does science end and God begin? These are issues we may never fully comprehend on this side of eternity. All I know is that I walked through the valley of the shadow of death and came out unscathed.”
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Some may say her survival story is pure luck or coincidence; others may call it a miracle. Whatever the case may be, it’s nothing short of inspiring.
 

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