(NEW YORK, USA): After five months of hectic planning, the Medical Team for Guyana’s First Kidney Transplant Surgery is set to leave New York this evening for the historic procedure,
scheduled for Saturday at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). Medical Team Leader, Dr. Rahul Jindal, was optimistic of the team’s success saying that he has been in constant contact with the Ministry of Health, Georgetown; and the patient Munesh Mangal and that “the prognosis for success was excellent.”
The GPHC in November 2007, conducted its first open-heart surgery successfully and is hopeful of its first transplantation operation.“We are also anticipating that this surgery will open the door of hope for others with a similar condition,” said Dr. Jindal. Munesh Mangal, 18, of Lusignan, East Coast Demerara, was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Failure in 2007, and through his mother, Leelkumarie’s efforts, was trying to raise US$36,000 for a kidney transplant surgery in India. His case was however brought to the attention of Guyanese philanthropist Subraj, who promised to introduce the operation to Guyana -- undertaking to fund all the expenses for travel, tests, accommodation, et cetera.
Subraj’s gesture also prompted the doctors to perform the surgery voluntarily.
The team of doctors heading for Guyana are senior Transplant Surgeons of the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre (WRAMC), Washington, DC - Dr. Rahul Jindal and Dr. Edward Falta; Dr. Arthur Womble, attached to the Athens-Limestone Hospital, Athens, Alabama; Dr. Melanie Guerrero, (WRAMC); and Laura Owen. Subraj has also indicated that the Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy and the
Administrator and Staff of the GPHC, have offered their full support for this mission and that “both parties have been in close contact for the past five months.” The Indian-born Dr. Jindal is also very proud of the assembled team, all of whom, except for him, is making their first trip to Guyana.
“I visited Guyana in March of this year at the invitation of Mr. Subraj and met the patient and his mother. We also saw Minister Ramsammy and proposed the surgery idea after I saw that Munesh was an ideal candidate for a transplantation operation.” “He agreed to the vision and promised the GPHC facilities and services of the local professionals. This prompted me to invite some of my colleagues on this humanitarian mission and they all agreed,” said the soft-spoken doctor. Ideally, as Dr. Jindal reported, Munesh’s mother Leelkumarie, is a compatible donor and the surgery which is scheduled for Saturday, July 12, will last 7-8 hours.
“This is a two-phase, complex procedure whereby the mother’s kidney is removed first. This takes about three hours. Then it is cleaned, which includes flushing and inserted into the recipient Munesh. This is for another 3-4 hours. It is a staggered operation that takes the entire day so we will start at 8 am,” he said. Munesh who has been on expensive dialysis treatment since last year should be able to resume living normally within weeks after the surgery. “Transplant surgery is one of the miracles of modern science,” said Dr. Falta. “It is like a patient getting out of a wheelchair and beginning to walk immediately. The same can be said for kidney transplantation. Someone who has been sick for a very long time can literally get up and go in a matter of weeks. It brings a lot of joy to witness this.”
Dr. Jindal also said that a clinic has been organized at the GPHC on Friday for the team to meet with patients who are suffering from kidney-related condition.
“Our team is willing to meet with potential transplant patients at the GPHC on Friday. We would however, like these patients to walk with their complete medical dossier, in a chronological order, so that we can examine and advise them and also create a workable file for future help,” he added.
The team is slated to leave Guyana next Tuesday.“This is a very altruistic mission by both the medical team and Subraj and his co-coordinating team for the past five months which included many, many calls, emails, tests, among other things. Now it is down to this moment and we are very happy to be a part of Guyana’s upward stride in the path of modern medicine,” said Dr. Jindal.
The Administrative Team from the U.S. includes George Subraj, Lakeram Persaud, Jas Persaud and Tony Subraj.