WHEN people meet Busisiwe Mlungwana for the first time, they assume she’s heavily pregnant.
But the 46-year-old from Alexandra, Joburg has a condition that makes her stomach fill with water!
When her stomach gets too big, she goes to the hospital to have the water drained.
Busisiwe told the People’s Paper her problem started in 2011 when her stomach felt heavy and painful.
“I thought I had eaten something that had passed its expiry date but my stomach just kept getting bigger until my clothes didn’t fit any more,” she said.
“The problem gets worse when I eat. I can’t finish a meal without feeling heavy and weak.” Busisiwe said she had visited many doctors and specialists with no success and sometimes she had to stay in bed for weeks.
“I live with my brother, who is always at work. I struggle to make myself something to eat or to clean the house. Since the beginning of this year, the problem has been getting worse,” she said.
Busisiwe recently went to Charlotte Maxeke Hospital and was told her liver was failing and that she would need an operation costing about R500 000. The doctors said many people were waiting for the operation and it would take years before she could have it. “I’m glad they found the problem but I don’t have money to get the help I need,” she said.
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