By Kevin Woo | Parkinson’s International

 

It’s probably a safe bet that most of us don’t look forward to visiting the dentist, unless, of course, you’re a kid who gets to raid the toy box. In 2015, Denitia Boshoff didn’t look forward to her annual dental exam nor did she grab some free toys. Instead what she got was an overdose of an anesthetic which destroyed her substantia nigra and the ability to produce dopamine.

 

Denitia was instructed to go directly to her doctor to get help. Yes, you read that correctly, she was told to take herself to the doctor. The doctor gave Denitia “some shots” to try and stop the the reaction but it was too late. She was admitted to the hospital for tests but her husband made a big mistake.

 

“When I was in the hospital everything was going well until my husband said to the staff that he was going to sue the dentist that did this to me. [The hospital staff] literally kicked me out because they didn’t want to deal with medical negligence cases,” said Denitia.

 

She explained that in Namibia you can’t just sue a doctor because doctors refuse to testify against each other and it’s against the law to file a contingency lawsuit.

 

“I resent not having enough money to sue this idiot and the medical board of Namibia who dismissed my complaint after three years without ever meeting me,” she said. “ The dentist admitted to making a mistake but was never held accountable.”

 

It wasn’t long after the detail appointment that Denitia began tremoring, which was followed by dystonia and early onset dementia. She was put on a cocktail of differing drugs and it wasn’t until 2017 that she had a definitive diagnosis.

 

“I resent not having access to better health care,” she added. “I live in a third world country. I have [only] seen my neurologist twice in the three years I have been sick. The first time the neurologist didn’t know what to make of all my symptoms and put me on a lot of antipsychotics, anxiety and sleeping aids. I realized most of the medicines made the pain and Parkinson’s symptoms worse.”

 

When she was examined by a second neurologist what he found was a patient who was dealing with tremors, foot spasms and feet twisting in, freezing,  poor gait, difficulty swallowing, chewing and talking, difficulty concentrating or following conversations, memory problems, hallucinations, paranoia, and language processing.

 

The solution?  Denitia was put on Biperiden, which was first approved in the US for treating Parkinson’s in 1959.

 

Denitia believes if she had better access to healthcare she would have been able to face the challenges of Parkinson’s much easier. “What frustrates me most is medical staff that have not been trained on my disease,” she said.

 

All of this begs the question, is healthcare a right or a privilege?

 

“We don’t have a welfare system here like in the States so here if you don’t work you starve. We don’t even have a free facility for people like me where I can go live my days out once this disease turns me into a Zombie.

 

“I wish someone could make an example of this doctor but here nothing is done when stuff like this happens. Doctors are protected by law even if they kill someone. There’s a lot of people that die or get injured due to medical negligence but nothing is done to these doctors. That’s the most important thing that needs to change.”

 

Denitia can put on levodopa but her doctors say she’s too young so she’s stuck with Biperiden.

 

Her official diagnosis took three years, which took her past the statute of limitations for a negligence lawsuit. Despite this Denita says she’s at peace with what’s happened.

 

“I’m not one to worry about the future I stopped doing that two years ago because it just makes me depressed and suicidal. I believe life must take its course and as you say much can happen so I’m fascinated to see what’s next.”