LINDA SOKO TEMBO writes
@SunZambian
In an agonising interview, a Lusaka man has revealed how he has suffered pain and embarrassment because of his permanently swollen testicles.
The testicles have been growing since last year and are now causing him great discomfort and pain.
For more than a year, 54-year-old Pearson Lupale of Kalundu, Lusaka West, has been in constant pain and socialising is difficult because his testicles are swollen.
Visits to hospitals have not helped him.
He is now so desperate that he is willing to show the Sun, and the rest of the world, his swollen testicles.
Through a hole in his trousers, Mr Lupale gingerly showed the Sun news crew his swollen essentials and only a single picture was taken.
The interview was uncomfortable for both himself and the Sun team.
Mr Lupale is appealing to well-wishers to help him overcome this problem.
He has suffered from this unknown illness for the last one year and no cure has been found at the health facilities he has visited so far.
To make matters worse he has no money to seek treatment in a major hospital.
Even the piece work he used to do, he now fails to do because of the pain in the lower part of the body.
When the team arrived for the interview, he was resting on a mat sunbathing.
He narrated to the Sun:
THE SUN: what is your name?
MR LUPALE: Ndine Pearson Lupale nili na zaka 54.
[My name is Pearson Lupale and I am 54 years old]
THE SUN: Are you married?
MR LUPALE: Nilibe bakanzi nabana.
[No, I am not married and do not have any children.]
THE SUN: When did your problem start?
MR LUPALE: Ku secret part kumavimba vuto inayamba last year. Koma this year cacilamo. Kabili nifuna bamene bangandithandizile pali vuto iyi.
Nayesa kuyenda ku clinic cakanga. Nayenda ku Kanyama na ku Makeni Clinic but ku UTH ni kalibe ku yendako.
Ku cipatala banakamba ati first nizimwa munkhwala. Ngati kulibe change bazatenga solution inango; manje improvement kulibe.
[My private part swell. I started having this problem last year but I have noticed that this year the situation has worsened. The testicles are really swelling. I do not understand why.]
I have been going to Kanyama Level One Hospital and Makeni Clinic. All they give me is medicine. The situation is not improving but is getting worse.
THE SUN: How did the problem start?
Problem ina yamba yeka. Nifunako thandizo cibaba cintu ichi. Cimene ici cinipasa mphepo na fever, nakusabayila.
[I have no idea. It just started on its own and the health personnel have no idea what caused the testicles to start growing.]
[I really need help. Right now I am in pain and all the medication that I have been taking are not helping. I have not been to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) because I have not been given a referral letter and I do not have money to go there.
[Because of the swelling I feel sick and have a fever. Sometimes when it gets worse I hallucinate. I am unable to walk long distances because of the pain. I cannot even do piece work now.]
THE SUN: Are you sexually active?
MR LUPALE: Sininga yese ku gona namkazi. Cibaba cintu ici.
[No, I cannot even attempt to have sex with a woman because it is painful. All l need right now is help from well-wishers who know the cure for this illness.]
Mr Lupale’s brother, Katenga Lupale, appealed to members of the public to help his brother.
Katenga said he was unable to help his brother because he was also not well as he suffered from high blood pressure. He was in and out of the hospital, and that every time his blood pressure (BP) was high.
He couldn’t even see properly.
“If we can find people to help my brother I can be very happy because this will help us as a family to realise that there are people who still help in this world.
“I do not sleep at night. I keep thinking about my brother’s sickness and I am also sick and have financial challenges. I am failing to think straight,” he said.
