Caucasian businessman standing on wrist watch

You Only Live Twice

By day, Nandipha Sekeleni, 26, is a medical intern at Edenvale General Hospital in Johannesburg, negotiating the hospital’s grim corridors in her jaded scrubs.
By evening, she slips out of her bloody hospital clothes to don a new role – that of her more famous alter ego.
Sekelani has 26,ooo followers on Instagram, not for her medical accolades – not yet – but for her fashion blog.
She started by posting pictures of herself in her self-styled outfits, expressing her moods through fashion. This won her followers, who were interested in her dual life.
Style however is not just about fashion and what one does, but about how one approaches life. Sekeleni is a true reflection of this mantra; she describes herself as nothing more than a woman who cared enough to try.
She is also a wife and mother, takes emergency calls 24/7, and works alternate weekends, which probably explains why she dedicates her Instagram page to young women who want to do it all.
Pictures of her chic outfits online are accompanied by messages of hope and inspiring texts on women’s empowerment.
“A woman can take on any job as long as it’s done well. As long as I do my best, I know I can compete with anyone in my industry. Any woman has the power to be whatever they want to be,” she says.
Sekeleni is lucky she has a support system at home, which she is grateful for.
Her inspirations? Victoria Beckham and Noni Gasa. Her advice to women wanting to unlock their true style potential? Shop, shop, shop until you have variety in your closet – and in life.
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Behind Every Woman Is An Alter Ego

Dr. Ben Sarkodie is a medical maverick in Ghana. His use of interventional radiology is unorthodox in the country. Interventional radiology is relatively new in the medical world, allowing doctors to treat and diagnose diseases without using invasive procedures.
Sarkodie came across this specialist field in a chance encounter during an exchange program in the United States (US). However, his passion to see the practice become a vital method of medical diagnosis was borne out of one tragic event.
Five years ago, a good friend of Sarkodie sought treatment from him for an ongoing heart condition. The patient had already undergone several surgeries to help solve the heart problem. She arrived at Sarkodie’s office for a routine check-up. It was far from routine.
“Before we could start our procedure, she had a sudden cardiac arrest and dropped to the floor,” says Sarkodie.
Responsible for more than 400,000 deaths a year, sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a condition that causes the heart’s normal rhythm to become chaotic and stop pumping blood effectively, leading to the victim’s collapse with no detectable pulse. SCA can strike anyone at any time.
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“My biggest pain was that we couldn’t do that much to help save the life of this good friend,” says Sarkodie.
There are many challenges involved in practicing medicine in this part of the world. Basic lifesaving equipment needed for emergency situations like this are not available in many hospitals. A common response to SCA is the use of a defibrillator, which provides a lifesaving electric shock that restores the heart’s rhythm.
“We should be able to resuscitate someone who has just got a cardiac arrest, you want to be able to give the patients some lifesaving shocks, and if you do not even have a defibrillator, how do you do that?” asks Sarkodie.
He had to watch his friend die because he did not have the necessary equipment. It was difficult for Sarkodie to accept.
“For the next three days, I locked myself in my house. I didn’t want to be a doctor again, I didn’t think I could continue. The biggest shock was to see a fellow human being passing away and I was absolutely helpless. We did all we could but we were very limited with the resources we had,” he says.
Sarkodie knew he wanted to be a doctor from early childhood. His uncle was a doctor and Sarkodie would follow him to theater while he was in secondary school. It was all the inspiration the schoolboy needed.
Sarkodie attended medical school at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. He started out enthusiastically but Sarkodie’s interest waned after three years.
“I am more like a maverick, I like to be challenged and I like to do new things, so after studying theory for three years, I completely lost interest,” says Sarkodie.
Things changed when Sarkodie was part of a medical exchange program at the Thomas Jefferson University in the US. This was his first exposure to interventional radiology.
“I said to myself this is so cool and I would love to do something like this,” says Sarkodie.
The exchange program was eye-opening. Sarkodie took part in radiological investigations. He used imaging techniques and some interventional procedures, like putting tubes into kidneys to alleviate blockages. The program lasted only two months but Sarkodie’s bond with interventional radiology would stay with him for life. Upon his return to Ghana, he realized how niche the subject was. The medical school in Ghana did not have a radiologist; they had to hire an expert from Britain to come down every four weeks to teach the subject.
After more than 10 years of studying, Sarkodie finally qualified as a senior consultant in radiology.
“Every doctor needs a radiologist because if we do not diagnose the condition, how do you manage it?” says Sarkodie.
He further honed his skills in interventional radiology by practicing in Singapore before his return to Ghana. Interventional radiology is used to treat conditions without traditional surgery, X-rays, and MRI scans.
“We are able to help in every discipline, including fibroids, which traditionally will be treated by a gynaecologist for example. In terms of surgery, instead of amputation, we are able to insert catheters and solve the problem locally,” says Sarkodie.
Following the death of his friend, the practice has gained even more prominence for Sarkodie.
“Cardiac intervention for patients like her now exists, which would have easily saved her life,” says Sarkodie.
The tragedy still haunts him to this day.
“I told myself ‘we can’t save everybody unfortunately. We would love to, but we can’t.’ I started looking at all the people I had helped to get back on their feet, people who keep sending me messages to say thank you, people who still call me today and send cards and gifts to say ‘thank you for what you did for me, and because of what you did, I am still here.’ That put me back on track.”
There are still many problems in the medical world, and if lives are going to be saved in the future, Sarkodie, with the help of interventional radiology, will lead the way.

A Tragedy That Led To Many Lives Saved

Having suffered panic attacks for 10 years, Zane Wilson could have easily thrown her hands in despair. Instead, pain led to creativity. She formed a support group to help others face their deepest fears, and is today free of the painful episodes that traumatized her life.
Today, this support group, which started in the hallowed halls of the Sandton library in Johannesburg initially attended by a group of 80 people 20 years ago, is the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), founded by Wilson, a South African businesswoman.
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“I started the group and soon had to get a second phone, which rang night and day. I have had calls from people all over Africa looking for help. I have never had an attack since.”
Wilson’s first experience of a panic attack was on the highway, on her way to a business meeting.
“I suddenly felt hot. My palms started sweating. I started shaking and my heart started beating fast. I was terrified, but couldn’t understand why. I thought I was losing my mind,” recalls Wilson.
The attacks got worse, at times going up to three or more episodes a day.
“I was the director of a very busy company and had more and more attacks. I became acutely suicidal.”
She sought medical help, which included blood tests, assessments, even a lumbar puncture, and attended counselling, but they were all in vain. It got to a point where she couldn’t lead a normal life.
“I couldn’t even go to a shopping mall or a grocery store without an attack starting. I was determined to keep working and my husband had to follow me to work and I’d come back with staff. It reached a point where I couldn’t even be at home on my own. I would have to be dropped off at a neighbor’s. Eventually I was sent to a professor of psychiatry and he told me that I was suffering from panic attacks,” says Wilson.
This is a route most victims are familiar with. According to SADAG, South Africans will, on average, visit 11 doctors and spend over R20,000 ($1,800) on medical investigations before arriving at the diagnosis.
Recent research points to strong genetic or hereditary factors that might predispose some to paralyzing panic. Attacks can be triggered by non-biological factors too. Stressful experiences, caffeine, cold and flu medications, Lariam (the anti-malarial drug), appetite suppressants and local anaesthetics containing adrenaline may cause attacks that last an average of four to six minutes.
Clinical psychologist Lee-Ann Hartman says of all the disorders within the spectrum of anxiety and depression, panic attacks are the most treatable. With the right therapy, she claims 90% of people recover greatly and the remaining 10% can experience significant recovery.
“It’s very important to seek help early on, as once it starts developing, the sufferer will associate the panic attack with a certain place, person or situation. Mental illness as a whole is greatly underestimated and grossly under-resourced. In South Africa, one in 10 people suffer from HIV/Aids – whereas one in three people will experience mental illness at some point in their lives.
“People suffer in silence and among high-achieving women, there is always the fear it will be seen as a weakness.”
Hartman says that a panic attack is a false alarm set off by our innate ‘fight or flight’ instinct where a slew of hormones are released.
“When the fight or flight response happens in an appropriate situation, you don’t think about your trembling, increased heart rate&#8230; But when it comes out of the blue for no reason, your cognitive interpretation is ‘what is happening to me, am I having a heart attack’?”
She recommends a full medical to determine the underlying physiological – and psychological – factors.

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Don’t Hit The Panic Button,Yet

Ruth wanted to see ‘a bit of Africa’ in 10 days. “Drive around, see some countries,” she asked.
Aged 30, complicated, full of life, excitable, blonde, tall and beautiful, Ruth expects a lot. She’s Canadian and works in medical admin in Saudi Arabia.
So off we set, drove Johannesburg to Francistown, spent night one in Woodlands overnight camp. Rack of lamb expertly braaied by yours truly (thank you, thank you) over Mopani wood coals, a tame guinea fowl flock waking us early the next morning with screeches and clucks as squirrels danced across our chalet’s thatch, that special bushveld smell infusing our coffee and rusks.
“Excellent!” judged Ruth.
At the Chobe River we searched for our booking at ‘Ouma se Plekkie’, discovering it was called Kasane Self-Catering and was the home of a former Chairman of BirdLife Botswana. Heuglin’s Robin sang us to sleep after brilliantly braaied steak (thank you), salad and potatoes, readying us for our afternoon cruise on the river. (Yes, I do know its new name is a White-browed Robin-chat but they don’t sing as well.)
A small elephant herd on an island came to the boat, another herd walked alongside us, 50 hippos gave us the hairy eyeball, open-billed and yellow-billed storks vied with carmine bee-eaters, long-toed plovers and jacanas to entertain us.
“Splendid,” said Ruth.
And the morning and the evening were the second day. Behold, on the third day we did rise at dawn, enter a small craft and scurry up and down the Chobe River, seeing puku buck, impala, cheeky warthogs, a giraffe, 100 hippos and an impressive herd of 300 buffalo. White-fronted bee-eaters and red-billed oxpeckers waved us goodbye.
Africa’s bureaucratic irritation struck us for the first time as we crossed from Botswana’s clean border through the mess that is Zimbabwe’s border post. A 60-minute wait plus $75 for a stamp for Ruth, single entry only. If we walked across the bridge at Victoria Falls to Zambia it would be another $75 for her. Idiocy.
We stayed at the Victoria Falls Rest Camp ($40 a night for a chalet for two) on night one, then moved to the Victoria Falls Hotel after Ruth rafted the mighty Zambezi.
“Awesome,” said Ruth.
So was that lovely old colonial hotel, great room, splendid atmosphere, superb manager, cheerful and helpful staff.
“Fabulous,” said Ruth.
We watched a video of her trip at Shoestrings, the backpacker place. Loud music, cold beer, indifferent pizza but ultra-fiery chilli.
“Burnt my tongue,” bemoaned Ruth, as we breakfasted or rather feasted the next morning with the splendor of the Victoria Falls Hotel view before us.
What makes this hotel so special, owned as it is half by Zimbabwe’s railways and half by Zambia’s?
“It’s the staff, and the history, and it is iconic, indulgent even opulent,” says manager Giulio Togni.
He is being modest.
Cape Town-born, this hotelier plays a big part in making sure the hotel charms every guest. And it’s green, with a worm farm and its own large vegetable and herb garden which
feeds guests.
We have now been in Vic Falls for two-and-a-half days and three nights. Intrepid rafter Ruth has still not seen the falls.
“Tomorrow,” she says.
So we book into the luxurious Stanley and Livingstone, where Mike the Head Ranger gets us off the game vehicle to walk down to the river to confront a black rhino and her calf.
Calm until she smells us, the mother snorts, whirls around, half charges. Mike shouts at her, she backs off – and Ruth has backed away quite a significant distance.
“Awesome,” says Ruth. “My heartbeat raced!”
Excited she asks, “Were you nervous?”
“No,” I lie. (She needs to feel safe, is my justification.)
That evening we stalk buffalo on foot before sundowners of G&amp;Ts on a high rock.
“We were really close!” says Ruth, and Mike admits even he was worked up.
“Exciting,” says Ruth, “hey?”
Next is Hwange, two nights in Zimbabwe’s popular reserve. With ranger Mike we decide Ruth’s ‘tribal totem’ is a honey badger so it is uncanny that early the first morning we see two honey badgers at our braai place.
Top three sightings for us at Hwange are the badgers at our chalet at 5.30AM, a tawny eagle at the waterhole, and a dozen herds of elephant cavorting in mud, water and around our car.
“Better than sex,” says Ruth.
Welcome to Africa, my dear.

Tag: Medical

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

You Only Live Twice

Behind Every Woman Is An Alter Ego

A Tragedy That Led To Many Lives Saved

Don’t Hit The Panic Button,Yet

‘Better Than Sex’