Popular Nigerian actress, Kemi Afolabi, has revealed that she has four more years to live according to medical reports based on her battle with an incurable ailment.
The Nollywood actress said she was suffering from an ailment that had drained her physically, financially and emotionally.
She said in an interview that she was suffering from lupus, an incurable condition for which a doctor said, last year, that she had just five more years to live.
In the excerpt of the interview shared on Jideonwo’s Instagram page, the 43-year-old actress quoted the doctor as saying: “Make sure you are with your loved ones. At least you still have up to like five years.”
Speaking about her diagnosed ailment, she said: “I have lupus. It’s not curable. You just have to take medications for the rest of your life.
Lupus, according to google.com, is a disease that occurs when your body immune system becomes hyperactive and attacks your own tissues and organs.
Also known as autoimmune disease, the inflammation caused by it can affect many different body systems including your joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs.
The exact cause, according to medicalnewstoday.com, remains yet unclear.
Afolabi said at some point she spent about N1.2 million weekly but the treatment was not working.
“It was not working. I was in pains. I was crying,” she said amid sobs.
Only last month, she relived how she was diagnosed with an incurable disease on account of which she sold her property and secured a space for her burial.
She recalled that she visited different hospitals because she was short of breath.
She said she was eventually diagnosed “of a condition that has no cure but can be managed by medications and takes me in and out of hospital at will.”
She also said it has been a struggle taking medications to reduce pain and ensure that it does not affect her weight because the entertainment industry places so much value on appearance.
“Being in an industry that places high value on appearance, it’s been a struggle taking medications that helps ease the pains but affect my weight and people will constantly remind you of how fat you’ve become without hesitations,” she had said.
According to her, she has already lived one of the five years, leaving her with four more.