A SUCCESSFUL STORY OF GOITER VICTIM

A SUCCESSFUL STORY OF GOITER VICTIM

One Friday afternoon, a group of three elderly people approached the front door of our offices. One of them had a large swelling on his neck. They were welcomed by TAHO's team, examined by one of our specialized staff and registered for the surgery appointment. When taking his past history he narrated, "10 years ago, when I was in my fifties, I was very okay and used to work as a local plumber in my village at Karagwe. I lived with my wife and four children as one happy big family. I never dream of being left alone someday. "

Judging by his physical appearance, this man had no hope of living. One day, he woke up feeling unusual due to simple coughs, which he thought were due to the kind of activities he was attending at work. "I did not consider the simple coughs I had, all I thought was that they were due to my routine activities (tiresome). Despite using local herbs, I felt the same cough and unusual intensity, which brought about more worries. The condition proceeded accompanied by swelling on my throat and difficulty breathing as time went on." This man presented with some infected local bruises all over his body. This was possibly due to traditional treatments he had received in the past from the witch doctors. Being bewitched by his colleagues at work was his attitude. After intense counseling by one of our staff, he was scheduled for surgery at Kagondo Hospital.
"THIS IS MY FIRST TIME TO VISIT KAGONDO. IT HAS SUCH BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING SETTINGS."

"They did a blood test and after the laboratory result, they took me into a room with a lot of medical equipment. I was very scared, they told me to change my clothes, which I did. There was one doctor who was coming in blue clothes, covering his face with a blue mask. He removed his mask and said, "Hello, my name is Filbert (an anesthesiologist)."My work is to make you sleep so that we can start our work", he emphasized while smiling. Indeed, he was a good friend and full of empathy. While wondering how he could make me sleep, he approached me and put on a kind of mask that covered all of my nose and mouth. As I felt dizzy, I saw my wife and my children approaching my side. I felt reborn. I didn’t remember anything until the same man called my name again. It took some time to regain consciousness. I palpated my neck, but it was all covered with bandages. I felt relief, and it made sense of life again.

After recovering, this humble man came back to our offices to offer a word of appreciation. He was humbly welcomed by Dr. Jerome, one of TAHO’s staff. Presenting with a big smile, he said
"Hey, I HAVE COME TO SHOW YOU MY NECK, I THOUGHT I WAS BEWITCHED".

This successful procedure was done by Dr. Inyas Laurence (MD, MMED) from Bugando Hospital, Tanzania, under the sponsorship of Dr. Wend Schaefer, M.D through KSJHF.

In this program, TAHO sent six goiter patients for surgical interventions. We further supported their transport to/from, lab Tests and Hospital registration. The Operation cost, doctor's payment, and other expenses were covered by KSJHF (Kagondo St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation).
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