A man is not as strong as you think. A man is not as strong-willed as you think. A man is not as rugged as you think. I would know because people had told me how stubborn and difficult Ibekwe could be, and so they are surprised that I’m able to live with him, despite having had two children with another man, despite not being a fresh leaf.
They said I must have gone somewhere and got some charms with which I held him down, na njipia. You know that sort of stories portrayed in Nollywood movies in the early 2000s, stories of wives or girlfriends holding their partners with charms collected from powerful dibias. I think we Nigerians have consumed so much of those movies that we now think that every successful marriage must be dependent on charms. They said there must be something I did, or I’m doing, that has made it possible for us to live together.
My first husband died of motor accident, God bless his soul, and it wasn’t up to a year before I met Ibekwe. What do you suppose a woman should do? Ibekwe had never married before, but according to the stories I’ve heard, he had cast off some girlfriends, and when he saw me, I was the one he chose to marry. His family were enraged when he took me to them. “Of all women to marry, Ibekwe, you chose a widow with two children. What has come over you?” they asked.
They gave me odd stares which did not really bother me. I knew too well that I wasn’t forcing myself on anybody. I was on my own when Ibekwe came asking to marry me. I had not expected to remarry too soon, but I was a woman. When I saw how genuine he was, how honest he was, how loving he was, and how sexy he was, I decided to accept his proposal. Ibekwe is the sexiest man I ever met. I don’t know if people of today actually use sexy to describe a man, but permit me to use it here, biko. I hope he wouldn’t read this, that I’m calling him sexy. That man is also a reader.
Ibekwe’s people were enraged because Ibekwe should marry a fresh leaf, ọnụ-ugu, not someone who had been used by another man. Ibekwe insisted I was the one he would marry. It was me or no other person. Ibekwe loved me. He knew I had two kids. He knew I had married before. He even knew my husband when he was alive. He heard about the news of his death in a motor accident, but Ibekwe chose to marry me, befuddling many connoisseurs of what a proper wife should be for a man who had not married before. I had mourned my dead husband for eleven months before I met Ibekwe in the new supermarket in town. I had gone to get some bread for I and my children when he walked up to me to help. He asked for my phone number and I gave it to him. He was handsome and charming. There was a soothing effect that his eyes gave.
When he called in the evening I didn’t hesitate to tell him that I was a widow with two kids. I wasn’t ready for any wahala. I wanted to have peace within myself. I wanted to be truthful so that I would be able to sleep in the nights, so that I wouldn’t be worried about covering up lies. I told him my truth, and we started dating. When I went to bed in the night I slept peacefully, knowing fully well that I wasn’t deceiving anyone. I wasn’t lying to anyone. I was surprised that he knew my dead husband. He was a bit popular in Aba, an upcoming singer who would later die in a motor accident on his way to perform in a function in Lagos. “He was the one who performed on my elder brother’s wedding ceremony some years ago. Emenike was his name,” he said.
“Yes,” I said. “Emenike was his name. Emenike Onyeudo.”
That night, after we talked, I cried for a few minutes, because we talked about Emenike in the past tense: was.
.
A man is not difficult to love and please when the man knows your spirit and soul. I’m Ibekwe’s fresh leaf. I’m the perfect ọnụ ugu for him, because we are still living together after a couple of years, because Ibekwe’s love for me is out of this world, because the connoisseurs of what a perfect marriage should entail are not truthful.
Author’s Note:
Among the Igbo people of Nigeria, a fresh leaf or ọnụ ugu is a young woman who had never been married before, and who is probably a virgin.
Isaac Dominion Aju lives in Nigeria where he works as a fashion designer. His literary works encompasses poetry, essays and fiction. He has appeared in Poetry X Hunger, Kalahari Review, Flapper Press, Steel Jackdaw magazine, and Synchronized Chaos Magazine.
Moon curve silver contrasts sky slivered rather sharply streaking swift light shards shot unto visional tablature eccentric literature eloquent language form. Shadows shade plus shadows form habitat below. Each passer-by mental engrossed clicks gravel shoe muddied or screech tyres same muddied each sharing commonality of utmost silent. Day ends locating joyed mourning.
Next fruitful bend apprehends turn unconsciously phone dialling itself haptic thumb tap gotten. Light drenching moonlight stretching confront selves eternal struggle net breaths might then seized watching if there were any all eyes peeled upon something different however. Sat watching however. However stretched the plate was it crawled empty. It stood that after all. After all the self scrutiny Jesus was fed at least. Hunger death provokes happiness. Simply must. Full bellies lack unsheathed sky possessing sitting brain full purses current drain; plate outstretched fingerings sky. Intoxicated throat pity needing at pitied watching pitiless day close fast workplace ushering night sacs containing bones enclose empty brains housing overfed souls. Tie slackened suitcased strides clanking gravel clop — clop — clop — clop — warping truth towards higher truth as all is truth. Food rent clothes boss fiancé mother siblings friends celebrities obsessions run young man’s head seventy two hermit watches across close nearly far across among overlapping streams exercising breathlessness. Breathlessness curse! Gutters flying stench bowed nostrils impassioned glad accept walking submitted greatness submission. Zero space stating breathe?
Cold eve scanty glad hermit grey giggles cleaving slivering shivering off heavenscape. Drunk decades watching death alive intoxication living moving picture non fiction dream eternal be spit drip lip visual glee surrendering. Friendly house bank during laughing day. Clank! Wad floats down. Clank! Eyes float down. Clank! Disappointed float vanishes upward excitement throat squeezed reminded vanity though screaming assuage far from place at hundred naira economy drained. Used to retain kingly pay one time. Monarchical Left look right look receding day holds two three four five fat slim groups one plus one numerous answers searching loosing time track working work working lost cursing boss children mom wife wide father tableau life spot placed striving husband chained neck feet hand blood vessels arteries arsehole tongue eye all seeing feeling thinking loving believing walled all side taught ordered expected caught napping death alive death alive death alive scared angry what happens happened happening questions unquestioned questioned unquestionably unquestioned left shod mountainous behold blind blotting light darkness shade reading curbed gaze clawed eyes eyes ice ayes highs left low legged legendary lest leap lost loving lime life limelight looks vertical east west south darkness heart recent gleam gloam joy crow peck flesh unfleshed flattering bleached depreciating self loving hoping wanting needing starving seeing blindly kissing touching unfeeling. Monarchical.
Before all these he was young Before all these he was old but he was young and he was old at heart reading diving drowning found him so Sitting found him so happily sitting still Clang! Floating descends new note five h Glad hide preposterous. Four days hunger cured by six h sees him stand to kiosk ordering beer with groundnut. Laughing ease transform ease necessary to ease hunger. To think one must think he held dark corner marching maintaining gesture reflex mental choices waking abrupt. Friendly house here friendly house there nowhere every where. Spit opens bottle uncork gulping facilitated breathing agreed beer coolth evaporating aroma mouth mastering watering lip tongue jumping joyous glee. Toast thought ancestral garbage at instant apprehend intoxicated aroma bent coolth rushing throat gurgling Adam apple bitten causing temptations love soothing gurgling twice bottle half emptied relishing gassed belly intensely moon brightness intensified. Friendly house here. Hallucinatory stepping digging moats each traverse gifting war away anger away love away beingness away susceptibility way hunger paves drunken belly appreciates. One plate adventure one may sing. Roadside. Sit. Legged crossed opened dally minutely chooses legged cross more emotion summoning strategy best survival way. Singing soothes evening hearing;
Harmattan rises down every day
In hot cold heat and happy day (fifty naira)
Cold heat and happy say every way
Harmattan brings cold biting toes and souls
Cold heat they say is frost
But me I say is solid gold
As the moon shines moon shine gives me know
And I walk where I walk toe to toe
With bare feet (one thousand naira)
Tell me the joy of singing happily
The Friday night tells all they must feel
This Friday night with dance we must see:
Gets up picks notes pocketing starts dances banging plate onlookers glance crossing avoiding walking striding lengths coordinate of him Memories of joy joyful than joy this whipped horse whips horse parity horse weeping tears of joy breeze sweeping neighbour tongue five hundred dropped dust dropped songless dance drops pants opening genitalia former kiosk possesses sachet gin genes beer genes cigarettes genes groundnuts lastly genes sweet ground nut heals being chest and hearts that fasting men sweating absolution within each step Point of despair avoided such men walk toward backward content forward stretch eye peeled Kerouac way magical rebel submission nature requests;
Corners again. New spot which pristine bliss stronger wields. Strong. Silence lost boom song crawl upward hearing pathethics bliss tremendous blood cough death chucks all at once beyond moonlight anger moonlight hate moonlight debauch spoiled through play within walls shielding moonlight gaze moonlight hate hoping by shooting rays streaking face arrive crush entire place.
The second of four Fleming brothers with a hero father an über-wealthy grandfather an overbearing mother oh, Ian the black sheep moody, withdrawn, long hair slicked back exuding the promise of something dashing or daring, risks
in his piercing blue eyes great laugh all the girls flocked to him, his friends lost out to him at Eton his future spy network fatherless boys whose dads had died in World War I he learned German, French a bit of Russian he decided he wanted to write novels but held off, his older brother a young author and Ian flunked the diplomat exam
became a writer for Reuters charming, persuasive, magnetic an iconoclast people liked him in Moscow to cover a sham trial of two English businessmen when he saw the dark hand of Russia murderous, devious in his future spy novels and his book collection growing he treated women the same way: hunt, acquire, shelve
oh, the seductive playboy a smooth rock against which so many reckless women dashed themselves.
Ian the Spy
Left out of his grandfather’s estate the only heir without funds he worked for a living for newspapers, banks and a job as a personal aid to the director of Naval Intelligence laying the groundwork for the greatest intel alliance in history he helped build the CIA as well but never talked about what he did he did start to drink too much during the war his 450 operatives captured Enigma machines to decode Nazi plans
the life or death drama, the risks he recreated while managing a newspaper syndicate during the Cold War a global cadre of reporter spies saving the world from Russian aggression
he rose to the challenge for the rush, oh the rush that incandescent high one only experiences in a moment of greatness he was able to recapture with his writing in his novels on the risks, the wins against the evil empire by the glamorous Brit the dapper super-spy double-oh seven James Bond.
Ian at Goldeneye
He fell in love with a rum punch on arrival fresh fruits, fresh fish the colors, scents, trees swaying palms and mangos warm rain on warm waves caressing the white sand on the island of Jamaica.
He’d lost his first love a sweet Swiss girl at his mother’s demand then Muriel, his love a motorcycle dispatcher killed in the war his married older lover Maud warned him no, not Ann Lady Ann, chaos Ann but he liked her because of her independence her toughness he said she was such a bitch.
On fourteen acres north of Montego Bay he built his home with money from Maud no glass in the windows big sky, turquoise sea blue floors and birds flying in and out natural and peaceful he called it Goldeneye
Ann visiting, leaving a son her husband believed was his own divorce and a marriage Ian didn’t want, violent whippings he maybe did.
Ian as James Bond
Swimming in clear water above parrot fish, barracuda escaping into a hidden world under deadline he sits down at his battered Royal typewriter with the mind of a sexy boy scout
introducing a British ultra-hero attractive to men and women dangerous, exciting, patriotic the ultimate suave spy himself but romanticized a fast car fantasy life: sharp clothes, fine foods whiskey, gin, martinis a string of bedworthy girls a chain of cigarettes in solitude, darkness Scottish melancholy.
After the first sale a Bond every year all done the same way: an early morning swim then hours in the study two months in Jamaica editing in Manhattan retyping in England one after another until even JFK would ask: “What would Bond do?”
Finishing the first book the bang-bang, kiss-kiss he hands in the manuscript in time to marry Ann and suffers for twelve years writing eleven more books smoking, drinking, escaping her mockery, his depression before the final chapter of his filmworthy life: a glass of whiskey and dead at the height of fame.
Hyperglycemia: Pathophysiological Causes, Clinical Consequences, and Laboratory Diagnosis
Author: Davlatyorova Iqbol Alisher qizi
Institution: Tashkent Medical Academy, Urganch Branch – Advanced Training in Clinical Laboratory Diagnostics
Abstract
Hyperglycemia is a clinical and laboratory sign of many systemic metabolic disorders. This article aims to investigate the underlying causes, short- and long-term consequences, and the role of clinical laboratory diagnosis in the early detection and management of hyperglycemia. Key laboratory tests such as fasting glucose, OGTT, HbA1c, and their interpretation in different clinical settings are discussed.
1. Introduction
Glucose is the primary energy source for most cells in the human body. Its level in blood is tightly controlled by a complex hormonal system, mainly insulin. Hyperglycemia refers to an abnormally high concentration of glucose in the blood, typically above 7.0 mmol/L when fasting, and may signal the presence of diabetes mellitus or other endocrine or stress-related disorders.
2. Pathophysiological Mechanisms of Hyperglycemia
Hyperglycemia may result from different mechanisms: decreased insulin production, increased resistance to insulin at the cellular level, or excessive hepatic glucose output. Type 1 diabetes mellitus is caused by autoimmune destruction of pancreatic beta-cells, while type 2 is linked to peripheral insulin resistance. Temporary hyperglycemia can also occur during severe infections, trauma, myocardial infarction, or treatment with corticosteroids.
3. Clinical Manifestations and Complications
Early symptoms of hyperglycemia include polyuria, polydipsia, fatigue, blurred vision, and weight loss. Chronic untreated hyperglycemia leads to serious complications such as nephropathy, retinopathy, peripheral neuropathy, and cardiovascular disease. Acute decompensation may present as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) or hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state (HHS).
4. Laboratory Diagnosis of Hyperglycemia
Laboratory testing is the cornerstone of diagnosing hyperglycemia. Commonly used tests include:
– Random Blood Glucose: ≥11.1 mmol/L in symptomatic patients.
5. Preanalytical and Analytical Considerations
Proper sample collection (venous plasma, fasting state), avoidance of glycolysis by timely processing, and accurate calibration of analyzers are essential for valid glucose results. Point-of-care testing (glucometers) is useful for self-monitoring, but should not replace lab-based tests for diagnosis.
6. Laboratory Role in Monitoring and Prevention
Laboratory follow-up is key in managing patients with diabetes. Periodic HbA1c testing, renal function tests (creatinine, urine albumin), and lipid profile help prevent complications. Mass screening programs in high-risk populations (obese, hypertensive, family history) are recommended.
7. Conclusion
Hyperglycemia is a complex metabolic condition that requires timely and accurate laboratory diagnosis. Understanding the laboratory parameters, their clinical interpretation, and integration into patient care pathways can significantly reduce the disease burden and improve health outcomes.
Sometimes I created mornings, in the embrace of darkness,
And I groaned and sighed in the heart of pain,
All the time my hand prayed in my heart,
For today’s happiness, God gave me patience.
My happiness has become higher than the UXUT mountain,
My father and mother always gave me support
Yesterday my tears flowed and were my confidant,
Today my fateful sun conquered the sky.
The nightingale that grew from under the thick snow,
Why should we bow to the losses that have come,
We came to live smiling and laughing
Shining like the moon in the sky of trials.
Please don’t put the bird of luck in a cage,
Be with your brothers before the opportunity is too late,
Let each person create a melody of happiness for themselves,
Let the melody they have created surround their home.
Born on June 2, 2005 in the city of Karshi, Kashkadarya region. She received secondary education at school No. 31 in the city, graduated from school with a “Gold Medal”. Currently, she is a 2nd year student at the Faculty of Journalism and Uzbek Philology of the National University of Uzbekistan named after Mirzo Ulugbek. She has been engaged in creativity since her youth, her creative works have been published in Uzbek and world newspapers and in several collection anthologies. Author of the collection anthology “Tafakkur yulduzlari”. Participant of the “China Fest” festival in the field of literature and science, organized jointly with Uzbekistan and China, participant of the international anthology “Создатели новой науки Узбекистан”, participant of the “Ma’rifat elchisi” project, organized jointly with Georgia, holder of the “Ma’rifat elchisi” badge.
