Joseph Ssentamu lies in bed, battling an incurable muscle disease that has progressively robbed him of his strength over the past 33 years.
He is 38 and has ideally have only known life for five years - that is if the resident of Kyalusowe Village in Masaka City has memory of his early childhood.
Otherwise, for Ssentamu, it has been a painful life.
Ssentamu's ordeal began when he was just five years old. Ssentamu said at that age he got a severe fever that put him in a coma for two weeks.
Although he initially recovered, he began to gradually lose his muscle strength.
"I was walking normally but the time came after sickness I started losing control," he recalls.
"When I was walking, I got muscle pool and sometimes I fell down but all long I stood up and continued walking until at the age of 24 when I became completely bedridden."
Despite numerous hospital visits and consultations with various doctors, it took years for him to receive a definitive diagnosis.
"At the age of 33, I was eventually diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease, also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord," Ssentamu says.
"The disease is characterized by the gradual degeneration and death of motor neurons, which leads to loss of muscle control.
"The doctor told me that this disease is a birth disease and I was born with it. Just the fever that I got at the age of five was a transparency to the disease."
Since then, Ssentamu has been on medication that can help to relieve pain and muscle not clash with bones.
Doctors told him that the disease is not curable.
"They told me that when I do not take drugs, the problem can become severe and affects heart and lung muscles which can worsen the situation," he says.
Josephine Namalwa, Ssentamu's 13-year-old niece, has taken on the responsibility of caring for him.
Despite her tender age, she handles the daily tasks of feeding, carrying and providing emotional support to her uncle with remarkable dedication.
"Although caring for my uncle is challenging for my age, it is not difficult because I do everything with love, since it wasn't his decision to be like this," Namalwa said.
"Here we stay with my mother Agnes Nakalegga, but she went to look for foor."
Ssentamu's condition requires continuous medical care and medication, which the family cannot afford.
"My only worry now is that I have no money to buy my medicine," Ssentamu said.
His medication ran out three months ago, and without it, his condition continues to deteriorate.
"Every day I have to take two tablets, one in the morning and another one in the evening but they are so expensive. I was getting a pill at Shs3,000 which makes Shs180,000 every month but now I get one tablet at a cost of Shs18,000 which needs me Shs1,080,000 every month," he explained.
The financial burden also falls heavily on Agnes Nakalegga, Ssentamu's sister.
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She used to sell matooke in the Nyendo market, but her ability to work has been severely impacted since she took on the responsibility of caring for her brother.
"I was selling matooke but I ran out of capital. Now I dig for people to get what we can eat," Nakalegga said.
Dr Idd Matovu, a specialist, provided insights into Ssentamu's condition. He explained that the motor neuron disease is caused by the West Nile virus transmitted by mosquitoes, polio, and mostly it affects people who smoke, those with diabetes, obesity, cancer, and hypertension.
"When a mosquito bites an infected bird and then bites a person, it transmits the virus into the person's blood, which can lead to what we call Neuromuscular Disorder," Dr Matovu said.
He said it was important to take preventive measures such as regular exercise and the use of mosquito nets to reduce the risk of infection.
