Sid's Raw Perspectives

Clear Ambiguity - Ambiguous Clarity So I’m sitting in a room in the American Embassy being interviewed by 4 women and I can’t hear much of what is going on. Lets backtrack a little bit. 1 month prior I had just landed a really good job with an amazing tech startup. Had been through an amazing induction program. 2 weeks in, on a Saturday evening I felt an unbearable amount of pressure in my right ear. The pain was intense but it eventually subsided to semi-comfortable levels. I just happened to be in a hospital visiting a family member so I  went into the triage unit for assistance. First of all let me explain that at this point I could barely hear. I had to keep asking the hospital staff to repeat themselves and it was (to my understanding) quite irritating for them. My hearing was not completely gone but it was nowhere near sufficient. To put this into context, at the age of 6 or 7, I suffered from mumps. As is very  common in Kenya, I was trea...

Survivorship Hello everybody. Thank you for giving me a chance to speak from my heart. Cancer is a very special cause to me. I am a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with cancer of the post nasal space (that space where your ear, nose and throat meet) in 2004. I underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy and one of the things that bothered me is the mental nature of the disease.  I could stand here and talk to you all about the process, the battle, the diagnosis and side effects but I’m sure that most of you have heard the story over and over again. But today I want to talk to you about a side of the struggle that is rarely mentioned. I am a husband, a son, a brother, a friend, a cousin, a nephew, a colleague a patient, an acquaintance and so many other things to so many different people. But sadly enough the cancer journey is a lonely one. It is a journey that your parents will not understand, your friends will not understand, your sisters will not understand ...

I am first and foremost a child of the Most High God. My favourite of all His names being El Shaddai - God Almighty.  Secondly a husband to the most beautiful (both inside and out) person in the world and father to the yummiest daughter one could ask for. I am the last born son in a family of 6 children, five of whom are girls.  Born and raised by two of the most awe inspiring parents one could ever ask for. My road has not been the easiest but I will attempt to give you a sneak peek into my life. I can remember being about 7 years old on our habitual August Mombasa trip. For some reason I fell really ill and the hotel doctor could not contain the pain and fever and vomiting. I remember lying on my mother’s lap while everyone went out to enjoy themselves. The fever got so bad I had to be rushed to a doctor and upon diagnosing me with malaria, I was put on medication. I kept getting worse and worse and reacting negatively to the drugs. Somehow they found out that I h...