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These images show the ulcers Evermore Dzenga has lived with since 2013. – Pictures: Munyaradzi Chamalimba

Leroy Dzenga Features Writer
When Evermore Dzenga of Unit M Chitungwiza (29), (not related to the writer), started having irritations on her head during her high school days, she dismissed them as ring worms common among children her age.

Homely remedies were applied and proved effective. But the irritations returned years later with an unexpected amount of viciousness.

What they had suspected to be ring worms returned as ulcers, with a wound like texture, presenting Dzenga`s health nightmare. “The ulcers started as intermittent ring worms around 2001 when I was in Form One,” said said. “We used to apply different methods of dealing with it and these worked.”

She had nearly forgotten about her struggle with skin infections until 2013 when the irritations reappeared. “In 2013, I started feeling an itch on my head and other parts of my body,” said Dzenga. “Within a few months, I had open wounds dripping pus.”

Her condition deteriorated within months and attempts to seek medical help did not yield any fruit, as all they got were assumptions. “I consulted a doctor who told me that he suspected a disease called CLS,” said Dzenga. “Tests were supposed to be done, but the costs were too high since my husband is not formally employed.”

According to Dzenga, the consultation fees for the specialists she was supposed to see were pegged at $200, a fee beyond their financial wherewithal.

Her predicament has left her depressed as she is unable to do anything on her own since the infection has spread all over her body. “It has been five years and the situation keeps getting worse,” said Dzenga. “I can no longer walk because I feel a piercing sensation every time I try to step on the floor.

“My hands also hurt in the same way. I am as good as crippled at the moment. I cannot even go to the toilet on my own and if it was not for my husband`s sister, I don’t know how I was going to manage.”

Dzenga has to be fed because her hands subject her to pain with every attempt to clutch on anything. “Sometimes I feel like there are bugs moving under my skin and when it’s too cold the wounds bleed,” she said.

To subside the pain, Dzenga has been surviving on pain killers. “Almost daily I drink Ibuprofen; it is difficult to sleep without drinking the pain killers because the condition is weather sensitive,” she said. “When it is hot, it hurts and it does the same when it`s cold.”

Dzenga understands the possibility of an overdose of the pain killers, but says she does not have an option.

Her monthly costs are around $100, a burdening figure for her and her husband. “Monthly, we have to buy Betadine, cotton swabs, Ibuprofen, gloves, among other things,” she said.

“I sometimes feel pity on my husband who has to look for the money monthly despite the low traffic of customers at his carpentry work.”

Dzenga used to supplement the family income before the illness, which has left her close to being incapacitated. “I used to be a vendor before I fell sick, but nowadays I am fully reliant on my husband,” she said. “It hurts me to see him struggle.”

Dzenga said she wanted to know what her problem actually was and hoped for a diagnosis to put her mind to rest. “If only I could get money to do the tests I would get them done so that my mind can be at rest,” she said.

Efforts have been made to try and find the root of the problem, but to no avail. “I got tested for HIV and the results were negative,” said Dzenga. “I also don’t think that it is cancer because I don’t think I would still be alive had it been cancer.”

Dzenga fears the infection may be deeper than what meets the eye. Misfortunes have plagued the couple’s attempts to have children. “On three occasions I have gotten pregnant, but sadly they all end up in miscarriages,” said Dzenga.

“I suspect that my condition might have affected my internal organs as well. “I have been having small ulcers in the mouth, which has made eating a mammoth task as well since it hurts.”

According to her, no one in her family has had a similar health challenge. Lately, Dzenga has experiencing high blood pressure and relatives suspect it may be a result of stress.

Her husband’s sister Lozwitta Ndemera says Dzenga was a self-reliant woman before he predicament caught on. “Her BP is a result of over thinking, sometimes you see that the person is travelling distances in her mind,” she said. “I would not blame her because she is in a difficult space.”

Ndemera believes that besides the visible skin condition, her sister-in-law is healthy. “If you look at her body, she is not slim like a sickly person, this means that her skin condition is the only health challenge she is facing at the moment,” said Ndemera.

The ordeal has not been easy on the whole family which cannot bear to watch their daughter-in-law in the condition she is in.

Recently, out of desperation, the family members created a WhatsApp flyer chronicling the condition Dzenga suffers from.

On the flyer, they were reaching out to anyone who could have resources to spare that could be of help.

Dzenga has not yet received any help, although there is hope that someone may come through for her and initiate the relief process. “She has been brave, holding on and maintaining high spirits, but sometimes you can see that she is in pain,” said Ndemera. “Her attempts to hide the pain are heart-breaking.

“She has had this condition for close to five years, my wish is that she gets treated and gets to live normally again.”

The delays in getting treatment are a cause for concern for Dzenga and her family. “Her wounds seem to be getting deeper and we fear that the Betadine we have been applying will eat into the wounds and maybe make them septic,” Ndemera said.

It remains to be seen whether or not Dzenga will get help after the family’s social media appeal.

She wishes to know if the doctor who suggested that she could have CLS was right or not.

According to www.rarediseases.org, CLS or Coffin-Lowry syndrome is a rare genetic disorder characterised by mental retardation; abnormalities of the head and facial (craniofacial) area; large, soft hands with short, thin (tapered) fingers; short stature; and various skeletal abnormalities.

Dzenga says she is tired of being helped to do virtually everything, she has not left her house in many years and would want a change of scenery, as well as a shift in medical prospects.

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