We
haven’t shared many patient stories but a few weeks ago a truly remarkable surgery
was conducted onboard.
Meet Sambany.
For nineteen of his sixty years a tumour that had slowly been growing from his
neck had consumed his life. The tumour was massive; it was a burden that
represented nineteen years of misery and disgrace.
He said that
because of the tumour, he had stopped praying. He didn't believe that he would
ever have relief. One day, near the end of 2014, a friend told him, “There in
Tamatave, there is a ship, Mercy Ships. You can go there and be fixed.”
He decided to
take the chance and set out with his grandson.
For three days
they walked and walked until they finally reached a town with a paved road.
They rested there for some time and then took a four-hour car ride to finally
reach Tamatave where we are berthed.
Sambany had one of the biggest tumours Dr Gary Parker – our Chief Medical Officer and Max Fax surgeon - had seen in his 28 years with Mercy Ships. Knowing the risks, the Mercy Ships medical team and Sambany reached a decision; they would go ahead with his surgery.
The night before his surgery Sambany said, “I know
without surgery I will die. I know I might die in surgery, but I already feel
dead inside from the way I'm treated. I choose to have surgery.”
After twelve hours of surgery (around twice as long as planned), the 7.46 kg (16.45 lbs) tumour he carried for nearly a third of his life was finally removed.
An interesting fact about the ship is that the crew are the blood donors. And Sambany needed plenty of them – fourteen in total. The cool thing is that they he got to meet them all after his surgery. They are truly international with Australians, Americans, Canadians and Brits all represented. How awesome would that be to meet the man who now had your blood flowing through his body after such a life changing surgery?
When he awoke after his surgery, he said, “When I have recovered, I want to repay you (Mercy Ships), because I am very happy, because I am saved. God gave to take out my big tumour. God helped me to become like this. God saved me.”
My little part in all of this is that I was duty engineer on the day and so was extra vigilant to see that the power and other services for the ship but particularly the hospital were supplied without interruption.
And the same applied to crew all over the ship who in their own way contribute to the operation of the hospital and the life changing surgeries such as Sambany’s.
Now I’m not a medical expert but I would guess that if you were a Max Fax surgeon anywhere in the developed world you would never see a tumour like this as it would be operated on far sooner. So Gary Parker is probably one of the most experienced Max Fax surgeons in the world for dealing with such large tumours. And I am not an expert on the hospital capabilities of Africa but I would doubt there are many able to conduct such a surgery – probably only in South Africa and Egypt. So God has truly blessed Sambany bringing this ship and this team of surgeons and medical staff to Madagascar this year. Remember, we were meant to be in Guinea or Benin, not Madagascar.
I have often joked with Gary Parker that seeing the patients is my “salary” and last week I felt like I received a huge bonus.
He will remain with the ship for many months of recovery, but today Sambany is a new man and he is happy.
As you might expect Sambany has become a bit of a Mercy Ships legend already. His story was picked up by The Daily Mail in the UK and several others have written far more eloquent blogs than I. Here are a few links:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2952590/Desperate-grandfather-one-stone-tumour-measured-TWICE-size-head-removed-walking-three-days-seek-help.html
https://offtozanzibar.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/saved-by-an-army/
http://debsheartinafrica.blogspot.com
