It was a cold, rainy evening when I visited my friend Cindy at the hospital. Her room was dark with a tiny strip of light coming in from the slightly open door. Her head was down and when she raised it, I gasped in shock because her eyes were swollen and could barely open, the skin on her face was very dark, her lips were swollen, her tongue hanging out. Then, l looked at her skin and noticed thick layers falling off. Oh my God! It was a sad sight. I started crying and stepped out of the room.
Cindy died 2 days later. Everyone in the community had something to say about it; some said her father sold her to a cult to become rich, while others said it must be witchcraft, they had never seen or heard of anything like that before. What really happened to Cindy?
I come from a town called Bamenda in Cameroon, a country in West Africa. My four siblings and I lived a modest life, with both of our parents being elementary school teachers. Even though my parents did not have a lot of money, they made sacrifices to send us to the best and most prestigious boarding schools in my town, where I had met Cindy. When I graduated from high school, very few career options were available: physician, engineer, or teacher. Getting into medical school, which was my passion, was hard and expensive, so I decided to become a biology teacher. Then I met my future husband, Atim. He had family in America I and always dreamed of living there one day—he made me think of the possibility.
A few weeks before Cindy passed away, she was given a medication called Fansidar (sulfadoxine and pyrimethamine) as prophylaxis for malaria, and Bactrim (sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim) for a cold a few days later. She was also taking several OTC medications for headaches, abdominal cramps, etc. Despite what was said when she died, I always suspected her death had something to do with all the medications. I was curious, but with limited resources, I couldn't find any answers. When l was researching an American career, I learned about the medication experts—pharmacists—and this reawakened my curiosity and influenced my choice.
Persevering through tough adjustments
Atim had been denied a U.S. Visa five times, and then I came along with my lucky charm, and we got it on his sixth try. How exciting! l started having dreams of an amazing life in the land of opportunity.
We landed at Dulles International Airport 7 years ago and had our first baby 3 months later. It was very hard to integrate but I was determined to explore the opportunity I had been blessed with, coming to the dreamland of America. While nursing the baby, I read all about being a pharmacy technician, and 6 months later, I took the PTCB board exams and passed. I started working as a full-time technician and doing my pharmacy school prerequisites full time. It wasn’t easy doing this with a baby, and I quickly realized I was barely spending time with her. I dropped her off at the sitter in the morning, attended school, worked a 3:00 pm to 11:30 pm shift, and only saw her again at midnight when I got back home. This went on for several weeks and I couldn’t handle it anymore. She was spending more time with strangers than with her own family, as my husband was working, too.
We finally decided to send her to Cameroon so that our parents could take care of her, which meant I wasn’t going to see her for at least a year or 2. The day she traveled was the worst day of my life. On that fateful day, I took her to the airport and handed her over to a stranger to travel with her for 14 hours until my family received her in Cameroon. My baby cried so much, and as they walked away toward the terminal, she stretched her hands towards me and screamed, “Mummy, Mummy, don’t let me go!” Looking at her begging me not to let her go broke my heart and I wept for 2 hours as I waited for her plane to take off. One year later, I had a second baby who went to stay with her older sister in Cameroon while I finished my prerequisites and gained admission into the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.
The land of opportunities
l had three goals when I started pharmacy school: learn all about medications, achieve professional growth, and develop my personal growth. With my children away, I was able to get involved in school, exploring most of the opportunities that came my way. APhA–ASP completely transformed my life, exposing me to a lot of new experiences. My involvement brought out the extrovert in me, allowing me to meet and interact with thousands of student pharmacists from across the country.
I was elected the 2017–18 Region 2 APhA–ASP Midyear Regional Meeting Coordinator and even ran for a national position, where I addressed thousands of students at APhA2019 in Seattle. I set out to build myself up because I knew that America had a different culture and the only way I could learn about it was by being involved and interacting with Americans. I also believe that my experiences and knowledge of the culture will help me understand my patients better and provide them with the best health care.
I will pay it forward
As you might have figured out by now, Cindy died from Steven Johnson syndrome, a severe sulfa allergy. It was not from witchcraft or occultism, and pharmacy school helped me figure that out. Currently, I am completing my fourth year in the PharmD program while doing a Master of Science degree in palliative care. I hope to be a part of the team that provides comfort to patients suffering from life-limiting diseases.
With the experience I have acquired in organizing big events and being a part of several patient outreach visits in my new home, I plan to visit my original home of Cameroon as many times as possible to organize health fairs, health education seminars, and provide resources to help my people know about their health and how to take care of themselves.
Elodie Tendoh is a final-year PharmD candidate at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.