After another marathon round, we had a heart-to-heart discussion. I asked him to tell me the
truth. He stuck with what he had said earlier and insisted his wife was the one refusing to
sign the divorce papers. He said he had been tired of the marriage for over a year and they’d
been on this divorce issue for a while but she had just refused to let him go. He added that I
hadn’t met her all this time because she had been away on official training. I asked about her
lover overseas that he had earlier mentioned and he confessed that he made up the part
about her having a lover although he was strongly convinced that she had been cheating on
him.
Now that she was back, I wasn’t going to be able to visit him anymore, but he promised to do
everything within his power to make sure the divorce was finalised as soon as possible and I
believed him.
The next day at work was one of those really slow days. By 12 noon I was already counting
down to closing time. Unfortunately, I was on call today so I had no hope of going home that
day. I was just about to go for lunch when Jumai showed up in my consulting room with
Abdul. I was shocked, I had hoped she’d be able to convince Abdul to come for treatment
but I didn’t think it would happen so soon, not after the embarrassing incident in Ghana.
“Wow! It’s so good to see you here. Please sit down,” I said, offering them seats. They sat
and we started our discussion. Apparently, the problem started shortly after they had gotten
married. Abdul seemed very dejected while telling the story. I had never seen him this way
before, it was obvious that his ego had been badly bruised by what he was facing. He had
been diagnosed as having diabetes a while before he got married and was placed on some
medication and dietary measures to control his blood sugar which he never took seriously.
Over time, the blood vessels and nerves supplying his manhood got damaged by diabetes
leading to the erectile dysfunction he was currently suffering.
In case you didn’t know, a lot of men suffer from erectile dysfunction, both old and young
alike but they are generally too embarrassed to seek help. Many people have the wrong
impression that erectile dysfunction is caused by taking too much sugar… unfortunately, that
is a lie from the pit of hell! Erectile dysfunction has many causes and taking too much sugar
is not one of them. You see, for a man to be able to achieve an erection, physical and
psychological factors play a role and any disturbance of any of these factors can lead to
erectile dysfunction. Some factors that affect the physical aspect include diabetes,
hypertension, obesity, heart disease, alcohol and substance abuse or even side effects of
taking certain prescribed drugs, while some factors that affect the psychological aspect of
erectile dysfunction include stress, depression and anxiety. Any of these factors can prevent
a man from being able to achieve or maintain an erection.
READ ALSO : Old Enough Yet Unmarried – Episode 12
Like I explained to Abdul and Jumai, for men suffering from this condition, there is hope.
There are various treatment options available depending on the cause. Psychological factors
can be addressed with counselling while physical factors can be treated with certain drugs,
penile implants and surgery.
I placed Abdul on some drugs which he promised to use as prescribed. Like I said before,
his ego had been badly bruised and he was willing to do anything to get his sexual life back;
he went as far as boasting about his sexual prowess in the past just to massage his ego. He
got so carried away trying to prove his point that he didn’t even realise when he mistakenly
revealed that he impregnated a woman in one of his past relationships and she had a son for
him.
“You did what?” Jumai asked, interrupting his bragging episode. At that moment he realised
his mistake, it suddenly dawned on him that he had said a little too much.
There was an awkward silence in the room, Abdul opened his mouth to talk but no words
could come out, it was like he had suddenly become deaf and dumb. This got Jumai even
angrier. I’m not sure I had ever seen her so angry in all my years of knowing her—the Jumai
I know would never confront anyone but this time it seemed like a showdown was about to
begin right there in my consulting room.
“Answer me you, Cheat!” she shouted, poking his chest with her finger. He immediately held
her hand firmly. He squeezed it so tight, I thought he was going to break it.
“Don’t you ever call me that,” he replied, finally regaining his ability to talk. It was as if Jumai
had just said the magic word that brought back his speech.
“Really I shouldn’t?” Jumai continued, clearly not moved by what Abdul was doing to her
hand. “What do you call a man who has a useless son outside of his marriage and doesn’t
deem it necessary to let his wife know till over 5 years later when he exposes himself at the
doctor’s office?” Jumai asked sarcastically.
Before I could even process the meaning of that sentence, Abdul’s hand landed on Jumai’s
face, giving her a resounding slap. I immediately jumped up from my seat, almost flying over
my table to separate them both.
“Don’t you ever refer to my son like that,” he said, shouting over my shoulders…
I wondered why I was always ever present in times of trouble. Here I was thinking we had
solved one problem now another one had cropped up.
Find out what happens next tomorrow in episode 14 #OEYU #Naija #cwdoseries #checkwithdoctoro