Dear Aunt Silvia, I am a middle aged widow and was left with only one daughter after the genocide. Now my only daughter and child passed away three weeks ago and until now I do not understand what really went wrong. My daughter for a long time complained of stomach problems, but even when we were seeking treatment all the doctors said was that she had peptic ulcers. Now this girl of mine fell sick and died three days later. Is there a way for me to find out what exactly it is that killed my girl and how? And is this peptic ulcer fatal? And if it is how come we were not forewarned?Mama M. Dear Mama M, At this time of grief we are with you all the way with the pain of losing your only child. Sometimes there can be a misdiagnosis with the disease that your daughter was suffering from, but I do not want to believe that the misdiagnosis can be done by different doctors, if at all you sought a second opinion. Peptic ulcer is a hole in the lining of the stomach, duodenum, or esophagus. An ulcer is a sore or erosion that forms when the lining of the digestive system is corroded by acidic digestive juices. It is estimated that between 5% and 10% of adults globally are affected by peptic ulcers at least once in their lifetimes. The first symptom of peptic ulcer is usually stomach pain - caused by the ulcer and intensified by stomach acid coming in contact with it. However, it is not uncommon for people to have a peptic ulcer and no symptoms at all. Even though stomach-ache is the first symptom, most stomach-aches are not serious and do not mean the individual is ill. However, untreated peptic ulcers can lead to massive bleeding in the stomach, so early diagnosis is critical in order to have a good chance of survival. I don’t know why the doctors did not see any problem with your daughter’s ulcer condition to be fatal, unless there was another hidden ailment that they did not inform you about. Usually when a person dies and the family members are not sure of what really killed them they ask for a post-mortem on the dead body, where the pathologist will determine the cause of the death in the death certificate. In this case now that you have already buried her, it is difficult to just follow the case up without involving the authorities for further investigations. But, my advice to you is that you can start with her medical records by going to the same doctors who treated her when she was ill so as to know whether there is something more than meets the eye, so that you too can have a peace of mind. Sometimes we have to let go because whatever happens to us is always the will of God, from ash we came to ash we will return. We shall continue praying for you. Ends
