Help Trushan’s Mother Pay Off Debt & Continue His Treatment

Hi my name is Jade and I am trying to help a wonderful boy named Trushan and his lovely mother, they been struggling financially and live in Zimbabwe. I have had the pleasure of working at a Special Needs Centre with Trushan for many years. Any contribution to their cause would be greatly appreciated, here is their story -

TRUSHAN (known as Spiderman) is a 22 year old boy, who was diagnosed with developmental delays when he was around 4 years old, we believe it was due to fetal distress at birth.

During his school years the GP suspected absent seizures so put him on medication, we never knew if any further brain damage had ever occurred as it required specialists, which I couldn't afford.

I continued to work with the GP and researched on the Internet for all sorts of solutions, but I was limited financially, so stuck with what I could afford.

Later in his teen years he begun getting agitated and had many "melt downs" which we believed at the time may have been frustration from not been able to express his needs, he also had to deal with the fact that his dad and I had divorced and his dad had remarried.

I tried to give him the best I could with the little I had. I continued up and down to doctors to try and control his mental issues, but he got worse by the day, where he was now delusional, hallucinating, having crying outbursts and started breaking things, to the point where I had no option but to engage a psychiatrist.

I looked for the most affordable one I could find, as specialists are very expensive for the average working person like myself but I still had co-payments to make and visits became frequent.

Eventually after engaging 3 different psychiatrists and a neurologist, he was diagnosed with schitzoaffective bipolar type disorder with an Intellectual Disability and the possibility of temporal lobe seizures. I say possibly because no tests have been done yet. He was also now considered a treatment resistant medication patient, which complicated the situation.

The Psychiatrist then said, we had to change the medication completely, as well as admit him into a "psychiatric hospital" as the psychosis and aggression was worsening.

The option of admitting him into a government hospital was not suitable for many reasons including the fact that they had an overflow of patients.

I also could not afford a 24hr nurse, and neither could I be home during the day as I am a full time working single mom.

I eventually found a halfway house which is usually for other cases but due to Trushan needing blood monitoring they were willing to take him on.

His medical aid could only cover a short period, so we admitted him in for that time, then took him out as soon as the cover was over.

Within a few days the psychotic behaviour became unbearable, so I had no option but to admit him back in again.

This time I had to pay cash upfront, as well as pay cash to the psychiatrist for every visit he made, which was everyday for the first 2 weeks.

We had also exhausted his psychiatric cover for the year, so I was forced to take out a large loan which was not exactly feasible as a loan deduction off my salary every month was making my financial situation worse, nevertheless I did what I had to do out of desperation!

I also had to engage a full time carer for Trushan to be there when he came home while I was at work.

In between this I too had a medical issue where I was admitted into hospital for an operation, fortunately Trushan was still at the halfway house when this happened.

Eventually after many weeks in and out of the halfway house and adjusting his medication, the psychiatrist managed to stabilize him, but he still had to go for monthly visits to the psychiatrist for a jab which is part of his psychotic treatment, and of course again every visit to the specialist incurred a shortfall, putting more of a financial strain on me.

After many weeks of managing to control Trushans psychosis he then developed oculogyric dystonia and akathesia which is a side effect from the medication.

Visits to the psychiatrist again have become more frequent. We have a new issue on hand and we are working on treating the side effects without affecting the medication that is treating the psychosis. It has been challenging, but with tears, frustration and a little bit of hope I continue to persevere in getting Trushan well!

The psychiatrist has recently suggested an MRI and an EEG, which again I understand will have shortfalls.

In the interim I have outstanding loans, repairs at our rented home that Trushan had smashed and broken during his psychotic episodes, being doors, windows, cupboards, draws, light switches, etc. I can't afford to repair it right now as my focus is on getting Trushan well.

In between all this Trushan attends a private vocational centre where there are fees and bus costs. Trushan does not get any specialised therapy as I can't afford it, so this Centre I find is good for his social skills and it is the only facility we have of this type in our country.

Trushan generally is a lovely boy, who can be fun and loving if it weren't for this mental condition that has crept up on him over the years.

We still have a while to go before we get our Trushan back to the boy he was, and even if we can't, we hope at least to get him stable and comfortable.

I do believe with more medical intervention and therapy we can at least try, but unfortunetly limited finances and debt incurred from previous medical bills and all sorts of living expenses has not made it easy.

I don't know what will become of Trushans future, but I do know that he is not a quitter, and I am not giving up!