For some time now, popular Yoruba actress, Omotunde Ogundimu, has been
off the movie scene. But if you think she has found another passion,
then, you are wrong. At the moment, the mother of three is battling a
debilitating ailment that has since removed the shine from her acting
career. In this interview with TheNationOnlineNg, she ventilates her
pains and hope, among other issues.
You seldom appear in movies these days. So, what really is responsible for this?
I have been ill.
So, how do you feel now?
I am still very weak. I was at the clinic and the doctor revealed
that, even if I have the money readily available, I can't undergo the
surgery now because I have lost so much blood. So, I was given some
drugs to help boost the blood back to the level it should be.
Which hospital is that?
It is called Beachland Specialist Hospital in Arepo, Ibafo, Ogun State.
What is the nature of the ailment?
My period comes like 10 to15 days; then, it will stop and come again.
I menstruate twice in a month. I noticed it last year before my
husband passed away. Anytime we had intercourse, I would always bleed.
I took it for something else, so I didn't really pay attention to it.
But when he became sick and we couldn't have intercourse any more, it
(the bleeding) stopped. Then, I didn't have time to study it at that
period too.
But what I noticed is that my menstrual circle changed, so I would
menstruate twice in a month with very heavy flow. So, at that time, I
just felt it was one of the signs of menopause because I am way above
40. But last year, I had to go to the hospital to complain and the
doctor said I had fibroid, even before the tests and scan were
conducted. When the scan was done, it was discovered that the fibroid
was fully grown in my womb.
You said during the period your husband was sick, you were not having
intercourse. But were you having the heavy flow at that time?
Then, it was normal. But the only time it became abnormal was when we
had intercourse, so I thought I was approaching my period.
What do you think is exactly wrong with you? Don't you think it might
be a spiritual problem?
No; I don't think so. You can only say something is spiritual when you
don't get a solution to your problem. But in my own case, I have been
able to find out what the problem is and the remedy. Every woman has
fibroid, but it is only when it is overgrown that it becomes a problem
that needs to be attended to. When it started, I had people who shared
their own experiences with me and I was directed to the hospital.
So, how have you been coping, financially?
Well, I am presently in Ibafo, Ogun State, which is close to my home
town. When my husband passed away, my family asked me to come back
home, so as not to be left alone in Lagos, where I don't have anybody.
So, I came home and rented an apartment. But my children are in one of
the boarding schools in Lagos. I didn't want to change their school.
Whenever they are on vacation, they come here and we spend time
together. Sending them to one of the best schools in Lagos is part of
my huge financial commitments. But I am glad that I can do that for
them because I want them to have the kind of education that I didn't
have.
With your state of health, you definitely need some help. Is anyone
living with you?
Some of my siblings do come over to help. But most of them are married
and I cannot force them to come and stay with me. So, whenever they
volunteer to come, I am always glad to have them around. If not that
it went online, nobody knew I was sick. I am a very quite person.
Why did you have to make the ailment hidden for this long without
going public with it?
I am just a private person and I just felt I could raise the money and
go for the surgery before anybody could know that I was sick.
I don't go to functions anymore because of the state of my body now-I
am so lean. Nobody will see me without asking what is wrong with me.
Even the last time I was on location, many of my colleagues felt I was
dieting and they complained that it was too serious.
As a crossover actress and one who is popular in both the Yoruba and
English sectors of Nollywood, one would expect that you would have a
lot of people coming around you.
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