Sister Irene has provided us with the following case notes for some patients who have recently been treated free of charge in Hope Ward:
AL
AL is an elderly lady, 70 years old and under the care of her grand daughter. She came with a painful, foul smelling left leg following a thorn prick 8 months ago. From just the prick, the leg had progressively become swollen, was rotting away and she could not move. Amidst all this, she was left alone due to the stench. Having come to Hope Ward, she was seen by the surgeon who finally amputated the affected limb and soon the smell was no more. Gradually, the lady began to improve, had guided sessions of exercises by the physiotherapist and soon she could move out of bed with the help of the crutches and other walking aides. All this as you can imagine really took a long period of time but she was finally discharged one and a half months later in a much better condition.
RJ
This 66-year-old man came suffering from cancer of the oesophagus. At the time of admission, he was terminally ill as his cancer had progressed resulting in failure to feed; his throat was completely blocked. This caused him to become severely wasted and required immediate intervention as an emergency situation. He was really worried, depressed, feeling out of control and desperate for help.
A lot was done with the surgeon to have a tube put in his stomach to aid his feeding. Finally he was taken to theatre where a feeding tube was inserted directly into the stomach and soon he could feed on some fluids. This brought a lot of hope in RJ’s life as he was finally discharged after a few days.KM
KM is a 17-year-old lad who was admitted to Hope Ward due to recurrent anaemia. He has been admitted more than 4 times. His bone marrow or the areas that aid in the manufacturing of some blood cells cannot sustain his body requirements. This therefore requires that he receives blood at least every 3 weeks as by then his blood levels drop. He is so grateful each time he is discharged because without such treatment he would die.
KC
This 15-year-old boy was involved in a road traffic accident along Jinja road. He was brought to one of our clinics and later transferred to Hope Ward for further help. KC is an orphan who sells merchandise along the streets of Kampala and while he was there, he sustained a fracture of the right lower limb that resulted into excruciating pain and severe bleeding. Having reached Hope Ward he was given a blood transfusion and taken to theatre. Later on he was discharged when he could move using crutches after several exercises with the physiotherapist.
Having got more information from the boy, we contacted his Aunt who was so grateful for the care rendered even in her absence. KC went home with hope restored, a life rescued and a difference made in his life.OE
Even the confused, breathless and hopeless feel better while in Hope Ward.
Such is the case with this 19-year-old boy who came with severe immune-suppression, confused, semi-conscious and unable to feed or walk. He was severely dehydrated due to profuse vomiting and had a very bad chest infection. While on Hope Ward, the physician gave him very specialized care, which included investigations such as a CT scan. After two weeks, he had started walking with minimal support, feeding by himself and could now describe how he feels better. OE together with his relatives went home so grateful and happy.CK
This 43-year-old lady, a mother of 4 came to Hope Ward having suffered from severe vaginal bleeding for 4 months. The actual cause of this problem was uterine fibroids. Her children were worried about the outcome of their mother’s condition and remained anxious until their mother got better. On admission she was put under the care of the obstetrician and gynaecologist who took her to theatre and operated to remove the fibroids. After a few days she was discharged and her children were so glad because their mother was now so much better.
KP
This 36-year-old man was suffering from heart failure with immune suppression. He had difficulty in breathing and could not do anything that required much energy. Under the care of the cardiologist and physician he was given highly specialized medical care that saw him through such a difficult situation. A week later he was discharged in a much better condition; his mother was so grateful for the kind of treatment given to him.
