For a man used to the daily vigour of a morning work-out routine and a hectic schedule, a bit of physical pain is sometimes presumed to come with the territory. But this time, it felt different. It had to be checked.
“I was having a bit of pain around my waist going around my legs all the way to my foot,” says former Prime Minister Raila Odinga in the lush gardens of his Karen home.
It is his first media interview since he took a medical trip to Dubai and a brief break in the Coast away from his usual busy schedule. It is also the first time he is publicly speaking about his health following weeks of speculation that started after he left on a private jet on June 21.
“The doctors told me it is called Spinal Canal Stenosis,” he says in the beaming demeanour of a schoolboy who has just successfully pronounced a tongue-twisting biological term.
Mr Odinga, a 75-year-old veteran of many battles over the decades, was ready for the next one after doctors in Nairobi told him he would require a “minor procedure” that he opted to be done at a German hospital in the United Arab Emirates.
According to Dr Dennis Otwori , who the Sunday Nation contacted for a general expert view, Spinal Stenosis is a narrowing of the spaces within the spine, which can, in some patients, put pressure on the nerves and there is usually pain. The situation can deteriorate if not treated.
“What they did for me in Dubai is a minor procedure. It’s called lumbar decompression and fusion,” Mr Odinga says, adding that the procedure was to ease the pain he was feeling.
“The operation itself takes some few hours and then you need time to recuperate,” says Mr Odinga.
The procedure, according to our expert, can take as long as four hours—but this all depends on the specific condition of the patient.
“I am feeling much better now,” he says.
He is well enough, he explains, to gradually start to return to his daily routine.
“This morning, just to give you an example, I have walked around here (the compound), it is three kilometres. And I walked very well — actually I was jogging part of the distance so I am getting fitter right now. Shortly, I’ll be back in the gym and there is nothing that I could do before that I cannot do now. I can do virtually everything. So, that’s why I’m saying I’m ready, almost good to go. I feel much better, I’m much stronger,” he said.
And the future looks even more optimistic, Mr Odinga thinks. The trip to Dubai and the break at the Coast have given him a sense of renewal.
“I feel renewed. I’m like a vehicle that has gone for an overhaul,” he says.
When a similar question about his condition was posed by his daughter Winnie in Dubai—with a short video posted on social media accompanied by a “we are back” message— a convalescing Mr Odinga, said he was feeling strong and rejuvenated after leaving hospital.
But in a Railasque manner, he was soon setting the trend after attention shifted to his sense of style on that day: blue shorts, an orange polo shirt and ankle-length socks. #Raila Challenge was soon trending on social media with people imitating his dressing and mannerism.
After almost three weeks in Dubai, Mr Odinga made a quiet return to Nairobi on July 12.
A controversial moment linked to his trip involved pictures of Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and ODM Minority Whip Junet Mohammed flying in the luxurious Constellation Aviation Airline Airbus A318 private jet to visit him in Dubai. Mr Odinga thinks the issue was blown out of proportion.
“I think sometimes our people become too petty. Those gentlemen were coming to see me. That aircraft had been hired and it had gone to Zambia and they talked to the owner. The aircraft came to pick them and bring them to Dubai. They never paid a penny. Their only ‘crime’ was taking a picture showing that they were travelling in a luxurious airline — and it became a major national discussion,” he says
Following the break in the Coast, he says he is “back in circulation” and has started hosting some political meetings.
Dr Dennis Otwori, medical officer at the National Spinal Injury Referral Hospital in Nairobi, told the Sunday Nation that there are two types of Spinal Stenosis: central and lateral spinal stenosis.
“The lateral type of spinal stenosis which most likely is what Raila Odinga suffered from is caused by compression of the disk (balloon) that is located between the spine segments. The balloon is filled with water and it is the water that gives someone the strength to maintain the weight.
“When one is young, the balloon is full of water but as you age, the water keeps leaking until the balloon collapses. The tissues bulge backward and unfortunately, the back is where the spinal roots are located and they go all the way to the leg,” Dr Otwori said.
The confirmatory diagnosis is usually made by an X-ray and thereafter followed by a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan to show where the nerves in the spinal cord are being pressured.
“Thereafter we access the patients as per the symptoms and give diagnosis,” he said
Its treatment depends on the location of the stenosis and the severity of the signs, and includes physiotherapy and even surgery in the advanced stage.
For physiotherapy, says the doctor, it’s common for patients with spinal stenosis to become less active, in an effort to reduce pain.
The expert says that decompression procedure (Lumbar decompression), is only done for patients with lateral spinal stenosis, it involves removal of a portion of a thickened ligament in the back of the spinal column to increase spinal canal space and remove the nerve root inflammation.
For advance cases, surgery may be considered to relieve the pressure on the spinal cord by creating more space within the spinal canal.
