Yvonne Okwara underwent a lifesaving surgery in 2020 after two years of battling spine disorder.
The Citizen TV battled a spine disorder called herniated disc (also called bulged, slipped, or ruptured).
A herniated disk is a condition that refers to a problem with a rubbery disc between the spinal bones.
The condition occurs when the soft center of a spinal disc pushes through a crack in the tougher exterior casing. Some herniated discs cause no symptoms. Others can irritate nearby nerves and result in pain, numbness or weakness in an arm or leg.
Not every disc needs intervention. When required, treatment includes medication, physiotherapy and possibly surgery. [sic]
Yvonne Okwara battled herniated disk in her lower spine for two solid years now, that have not only caused her excruciating pain but a persistent one.
The Citizen TV anchor went under the knife sometimes in May 2020 after the pain became too much to bear.
She tried to hold it together, to bear the pain, to wait just a little longer with hope that it would soon be gone, but even drugs proved weak, physiotherapy was not working at all and she decided it was time she had that spinal surgery done.
“Putting on a brave face at work, with friends and how it changes your life, the mind and how exhausting and limiting it is. Always lurking in the background as you try to go about with your life. One day I’ll write about what it’s like living with chronic pain. Every day,” Okwara said after the surgery.
Fast forward to May 2022, the Citizen TV anchor reflected on her condition. She said that she experienced pain for two years and was on constant medication that left her drowsy all the time.
“I had tried physiotherapy, at some point going to the hospital twice a week. I was losing sensation in my right leg as my nerves were being pressed on. Walking was excruciating. I could barely sit for long and was admitted in hospital time and again to manage the pain,” Yvonne Okwara said.
“This photo was taken a few months after that surgery, after being pain-free for the first time in 2 years,” she added.
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