Kemi Afolabi: My whole life changed after i was diagnosed with an incurable sickness

Kemi Afolabi

Popular Nollywood Actress, Kemi Afolabi, has disclosed that she has been diagnosed with an incurable illness named Lupus, which has affected her work, relationships and has ultimately “changed her life forever.”In a sit-down with Chude Jideonwo, host of #WithChude, she said that the illness prevents her from being exposed to strong lighting, which is the reality of her job as an actress.

Shedding light on the issue, she said, “For my first three months at LUTH, I didn’t know what the problem was. We had run a whole lot of tests. Different doctors kept coming, they would ask me questions and I would communicate with them through writing. One of the doctors finally came and he was able to tell me the kind of test I will run. The test was done in South Africa, and it took like two weeks to get the result.”

“I knew something was wrong because I had 11-15 doctors when they wanted to tell me what was wrong. I even thought it was something worse than what is worse because I’m an actor, so I can actually tell the reactions on the doctors’ faces.

Eventually, they were asking me questions like do I still want more babies, I said ‘Yes I do’. They told me that there is risk in doing that because with what they are about to tell me I will need to stay away from a lot of things, that my life has changed forever,” she said.

She added that when she eventually got her diagnosis she was broken, as “I was even told that I had to avoid lighting, and that is what pays my bill as an actress. My life just changed forever.”

She, however, noted that her family has been supportive at this point, adding, “At some point, I was feeling like I couldn’t breathe properly. So, I said, let my daughter come and see me in this position. Even if I am going to die, I need to see my daughter. So, they brought her, and she broke down. To my surprise, after a week of crying all of sudden, she became mature, and she started asking how she can help with my medication. I had this feeling that, even if I am going to die eventually, the moment I have left, I need to be there for her. My mother was overstressed; she was going in and out of the hospital with me. The burden was so much because we couldn’t share with a lot of people what was going on. So, she was carrying it alone. God bless her for me.”