Medical charity Mercy Ships has told the extraordinary story of a woman in Madagascar who travelled for three days by canoe and ferry to receive life-saving surgery.
Theogette, 40, developed a tumour around her mouth and jaw a decade ago. Over time the tumour grew and began to impact her ability to eat and started to inhibit her breathing.
Theogette suffered socially as well as physically: “People said I was sick and contagious … They influenced my husband and he left me.”
She added, “They [community] don’t like me; they don’t want me to come close to them.”
It is estimated that only 20 per cent of Madagascans have access to surgical services and that for 95 per cent of Madagascans even when such services are possible, they are prohibitively expensive.
Things changed for Theogette when her nephew, a medical student, called her to let her know about the opening of a Mercy Ships Hospital Outpatient Extension (HOPE) Centre near his university.
Theogette embarked upon her three day journey to reach the medical centre. When she arrived medical staff saw that she was undernourished and underweight. She was able to undergo the operation, however, and the following recovery process.
The surgery was performed by Leo Cheng, Royal London Hospital’s Maxillofacial Head and Neck Surgeon. Cheng said, “If it were not for Mercy Ships, Theogette could have died by slow suffocation as her oxygen supply would have slowly turned off – an awful way to die. Theogette's tumour not only affected her appearance, but her function of speech, communication, chewing, swallowing and breathing were all affected.”
Ali Herbert, the Operating Room Clinical Supervisor, described the moment Theogette realised the surgery had been successful: “There was this incredible moment when Theogette looked in the mirror and put her hand up to her face. Then she realised that the tumour wasn’t there anymore and her hand could move much closer to her face again.
“It’s amazing teamwork that goes into each of these complicated surgeries, but it’s a precious time seeing the patient afterwards, able to gain weight again and return to their families.”
