Being diagnosed with a communicable disease like TB is not fun. There are a lot of communicable diseases out there and each one different in the way it is handled. TB is very different from the other diseases…

The breaking of the news to me was not something I was anticipating. It was so devastating to me. I did not have any symptoms of the disease what so ever. This is where I appreciate the help of the nurses that were with me through this journey. Your job is a God given calling, believe me, whether you are in it for a pay check or for other reasons, you are in a noble cause.

With this news, I was so much disturbed (for lack of a better term). I had as a result of this, a lot of different other reactions in my body. The nurses visiting with me were so helpful, as I found a shoulder to lean on, a shoulder to cry on.

They did not just look at me as a patient, but they looked at me as a sister, a friend, a daughter or anything that I could be on each and every day of my journey.

The road was rough, very rough I would say. It was on days when things were rough, that I would wait for my nurses to come, someone to encourage me, and help me count the days and help me to make the journey look short.

Your work in the daily observation treatment is so very vital. What you should know is that the first day you will go to the patient's home, you will be a stranger. At the end of the treatment, you will develop bonds, a relationship between you and the patient.

Your visits do not just look like your routine work where you are paid for doing it. They are treasured in all ways. The nurses visits were so encouraging to me personally, because those medications are so many to take, you need a cheer person to support you.

You need someone nearby to talk to you as you are taking those meds. Family members may be there, but their support in terms of medication taking will be different from what will be coming from you as a professional person.

Remember I said earlier on that I had different reactions in my body. Family members would have told me to stop taking the medication, because obviously it is what was making me sick, and I would have stopped.

But this is where your visits come in so handy, because your reassurance to the patient will encourage them to continue taking the medication and not break the cycle of the treatment despite of the different reactions. Your professional advice will be handy in such a situation.

The disease itself is bad, and so are the meds for this disease, believe me. The treatment is long; I cannot imagine myself going through it alone. There is a lot of discouragement, but when you have cheerleaders cheering, you, it becomes fun, as you look ahead to the finishing line.

The discouragement turns into a ray of hope, and in the end you start cheering yourself, saying I CAN DO IT.