It started with a sore throat, my skin became abnormally smooth: King Kaka speaks on illness

 A photo of King Kaka when he was unwell. [Courtesy]

King Kaka has opened up on his illness and many hospital visits that left him lethargic.

Speaking during an interview with his wife Nana Owiti, the Manifest hitmaker revealed that it all started with a severe sore throat after a family trip to the coast.

King Kaka said that it got so bad he had to seek medical attention and he was given some antibiotics.

“I have never been that sick with such a bad sore throat. I was being injected four times a day. Three weeks later the sore throat came back. I lost my sense of taste. At first, I thought it was Covid.

“My skin became abnormally smooth and I realised I had lost weight,” said King Kaka.

He also spoke about rapidly losing weight and lying to Nana that he was okay because he did not want her to get worried.

At this point, he had started coughing and his trousers could no longer fit. He revealed that he would sweat profusely at night, something that left the couple worried.

“My trousers could no longer fit. I started coughing…sweating at night. I talked to a doctor friend called Stanley and I told him something was very wrong.

“I usually weigh 85kgs but I had dropped to 68kgs. I told Nana that I was 74kgs because I did not want her to get worried. It was a good lie,” he said, with a sly smile.

Never ‘Google’ your symptoms

King Kaka and Nana joked that rushing to Google to look up your symptoms will cause you unnecessary anxiety and they opted to seek professional assistance.

“My lips were extremely red and had cracks. We decided not to google.

“We started doing tests…HIV, TB, Chest X-rays. We prayed it would be TB… (to know what we were treating) but I tested negative for everything,” he said.

Adding: “At some point, I could not breathe…I went to the hospital but I felt we were not finding the problem.

“We did a culture for TB and everything was negative. I was disappointed that it wasn’t TB. I wanted to place a finger on it.

Wearing track-suits and hoodies to conceal my frail body

King Kaka also revealed that he had become so thin that he would experience discomfort while sitting still and had to use light pillows to cushion his body whenever he sat on the couch or in the car.

“I would look at myself in the mirror and wonder. I used to place light pillows on my seat since I would experience pain whenever I sat down.

“I wore tracksuits, a hoodie, and a jacket to conceal my body…I was always in a mask…at this point I was 65kgs. I was worried.”

Acceptance

The Wajinga Nyinyi hitmaker said that things became thick and even though he was getting support from his wife and some friends, he came to terms with the fact that he was unwell.

“I could not recognise myself. I was worried about my inner circle, my wife, kids and mum…,” he said.

Nana interjected by reminding him of a rather emotional moment when she found her husband gazing at their family photo, perhaps afraid of what would happen to them.

“There is a time you (King Kaka) looked at our family photo and just broke down. That scared me…because you do not cry. I have seen you cry only twice.

 “I went to a pastor who lives nearby and together with other preachers came with anointing oil. We prayed and everything was peaceful,” said Nana.

King Kaka responded by saying: “As a man, there are things you hold dear. I live for my family.”

 King Kaka and his child after the visit by preachers. [Courtesy]