My four years in KNH and why I can’t leave just yet

Monica Kerubo at Kenyatta National Hospital. Her lungs have failed. [Nasibo Kabale]

For the last four years, Monica Kerubo has been at Kenyatta National Hospital, where she is admitted with a lung condition.

Ms Kerubo has accumulated a bill of Sh5 million, and even if the hospital were to discharge her, the 42-year-old mother of one would need about Sh70,000 each month to stay alive - her lungs are no longer functional and she relies on oxygen cylinders.

Kerubo, who was a vegetable vendor before she fell ill, said she could not afford the cost. 

The other reason she cannot leave is she does not have a home to go to. She has no family to turn to save for her 18-year-old Form Three drop-out and jobless son, who is also struggling to survive.

She said her parents died when she was young and she was brought to Nairobi by a friend. She worked as a domestic worker before she started selling vegetables.

“I had two sisters but they died in a road accident. I only have my son. His father left us,” Kerubo told The Standard from her bed on the seventh floor of KNH.

All her earthly possessions are contained in a small box under the bed.

The last time she saw her son, Isaac Marwanga, was a month ago when he came to deliver a letter from the landlord demanding rent arrears.

Mr Marwanga cannot visit his mother often because of financial challenges. He is unable to raise bus fare from Ongata Rongai where he lives with a well-wisher.

“My son has no place to stay. He is currently living with a woman only known to me as Njeri. The landlord gave him this handwritten note asking me to pay Sh100,000 in outstanding arrears before he can be allowed to go back to the house where he was living,” Kerubo said.

She vaguely remembers her home in Ongata Rongai, where she lived with her son before she went to hospital.

“The only person I know is my son, who dropped out of school due to lack of fees. I would not know where to go if I left hospital today because my house was closed and I have no money to rent another one,” she said.

“A friend who was in the next bed died recently and that has depressed me a lot."

The hospital is willing to release her once they agree how she will clear her medical bill. But Kerubo said she was better off at the hospital.

“My son was in Standard Eight when I was admitted here and now he is a young man. He borrows a phone to call me. He cannot afford the fare to visit me as often as he would wish,” she said.

Her stay at KNH began on September 8, 2014, when a neighbour took her to the hospital when she fell ill. 

She had difficulty breathing before doctors diagnosed her with a disease that had destroyed her lungs.

“Kerubo couldn’t get oxygen into her system on her own and needed oxygen from another source. She will need a supply of oxygen for the rest of her life,” said Judy K’opiyo, a doctor at the hospital.

Oxygen concentrator

Dr K’opiyo said despite the fact that Kerubo was ready to be discharged, she could not leave because she needed an oxygen concentrator at home.

“A cylinder is the cheaper option but she will need to refill it every two days at a cost of Sh3,000. The oxygen concentrator costs about Sh100,000 and consumes power of about Sh4,000 a month,” she added.

Kerubo is also on 10 different lifelong drugs that will cost about Sh20,000 a month.

Eveline Bosibori, a social worker at the hospital, said they had investigated to find out if there was anyone who could help the patient but found none.

“She does not get visitors, although there was a nurse who knew her from Rongai and who visited her from time to time,” said Ms Bosibori.

The National Hospital Insurance Fund is expected to pay for 185 days for each year she has been in hospital.

[email protected]