OVERWEIGHT AT 3
At only three years old, little Sophia Padi weighs 55kg.
Her situation is overwhelming for her mother as she does not have a specific record to the condition.
Through a campaign dubbed, ‘She weighs 55 Kg #Princess Sophia’s Wellness,’ Tlamelo Joseph aka Reacxion and his partners are on board to help the poor baby. Their mission is to raise funds as well as attract any form of assistance required for Sophia’s wellness.
They aim to raise P100 000.00 and currently have raised P5700.00 over the past two weeks. Joseph says the money will be used for Sophia’s healthy meals, electric wheel chair and recommended sessions for her condition.
In a week, he says she spends at least P1000.00 for her meals as well as nappies. Unlike other babies, her mother cannot carry her on the lap to the check-ups, and so the three months rolling campaign on the third week now, hopes to better the little girl’s life. Her mother, Memory Padi recalls that it all started when her born- healthy baby was 18 months old. “She fell and soon she would vomit a lot especially after eating and always had high temperature.
“Th i s wa s the beginning of her new life. I went to the clinic for help until she was referred to Princess Marina Ho s p i t a l where she was kept for a month, and the weight gain started during this period,” she said.
Up to now Padi does not really know the actual condition her daughter suffers from. She is currently on Diabetes medication, just to help her not to develop it due to her odd weight.
When baby Sophia was admitted at Marina last year in September, she weighed 10.1kg and suddenly weighed 16kg in October. After several visits at Extension II clinic where the baby was always given injections to stop vomiting, several tests were done at Marina.
“Most of the tests did not show what was looked for and the doctors suspected that she might have developed Cushing’s Syndrome or she has Mobid Obesity. She was then put on steroids medication.
“Since then Sophia’s food intake increased severely and I was shocked because before all this she was forced to eat. The situation went out of control just like that, to a point that I could not afford to feed her. She would also cry for other people’s food in the ward,” she said.
Padi has since involved a dietician, and the food recommended is too expensive for her. “We have been to different doctors ever since, and others suspect that when she fell, the biological communication messenger that alerts one that they are full after eating was affected.
“We could not at all get the exact condition that my daughter is suffering from, and the only solution that could work for her is not suitable for age,” she said explaining that specialists in India and America recommended surgery as the only viable solution, but it could only be done when she is a teenager.
As of July, Sophie could not stand or walk anymore, because of the overweight; however, the Orthopaedic ward confirmed that she does not have any fracture. At some point she says doctors also said she has Obstructive sleep apnea, because she cannot breathe well. She uses Asthma spray although she does not have Asthma.
“Sophia’s condition is just painful because she is still young but already treated with medication for different ailments just to try and help her cope,” she said. She only learnt after the baby’s eating disorder that, when someone is on steroids they have to eat in a particular way.
“I did not know anything about this and I am still confused if this could have contributed to Sophie’s health because at the time, she really ate a lot and I would give her anything without any caution,” she said.
Sophia is an active baby but her mother fears that she will hurt herself as she tries to stand all the time. To help her cope with the condition, specialists have recommended swimming, which costs P950.00 a session.
It is expensive for Memory as she does not work. She also has to buy special diet for her. So far she is grateful for the exposure that Reacxion has given her daughter to try to sensitise people about Sophie’s condition.
Reacxion has partnered with former Mrs Botswana Keletso Lenchwe of Sone Setho and other artistes to help Sophie through a campaign dubbed, ‘She weighs 55 Kg #Princess Sophia’s Wellness’.
Padi welcomes any form of assistance to help her daughter to have a normal life but is disappointed by the displeasing comments that some people raise on social media as the campaign to help her daughter rolls.
General Practitioner at MedExo Private Clinic, Dr Gure Gure shares that such weight could be caused by a condition called Prader Willi Syndrome - a genetic disorder caused by a loss of specific genes on chromosome 15.
He explains that in newborns, symptoms include weak muscles, poor feeding and slow development and beginning in childhood, those affected become constantly hungry, which often leads to obesity and Type II Diabetes.
He urges people to be careful and sensitive about body shaming because at times the society attack people without knowing that they are not well.