Sister Irene with Emmanuel, a child treated for leukaemia

Sister Irene Maria has been running Hope Ward since the beginning in 2006. During this time she has seen Hope Ward grow from a simple medical-surgical unit to a ward offering more complex care and oncology care.

With training from Dr Helena she is now a trained chemotherapy nurse.
She enjoys this new element of her work but oncology can be full of mixed feelings – chemotherapy can make patients feel worse and they need all of Irene’s support both medically and emotionally to help them through this phase.

The benefits of seeing patients go into remission (like Emmanuel, pictured here) makes it all worthwhile.

For Sister Irene, working on Hope Ward presents many challenges, she sees patients coming in without hope and in desperate circumstances. But with help from the team in Hope Ward they improve.

One of her big job satisfactions is “seeing them smile when they go home”

Sister Irene would like to thank  everyone who supports Hope Ward and makes the work that she does with the vulnerable patients possible.

Thank you!

Emmanuel Lubaale (Emma) is a charming 3 year old boy.  He is the second born of three children.  His father is a teacher in a government school.  His mother was a student at Makerere University pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree; she had to discontinue her education to take care of her ill child (Emma).

Emma’s illness started when he was six month’s old.  At first it seemed that he had recurrent upper respiratory tract infections, severe malaria and severe anemia.  He was in and out of hospital and had several blood transfusions.  After one and a half years of this recurrent sickness several tests revealed that Emma had Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (A.L.L.).

Emma was referred from Mulago Hospital to the Uganda Cancer Institute where he received three courses of chemotherapy inductions, but sadly the cancer did not go into remission.  At this point his family had depleted their financial resources on Emma’s treatment and could not afford more chemotherapy.  Fortunately Emma’s parents met a very kind man named Jimmy one of the Hope Ward sponsors.  Jimmy referred Emma and his family to the Hope Ward at International Hospital Kampala.

Emmanuel was then admitted to the Hope Ward where he was started on a fourth course of chemotherapy induction in January 2008 and he completed it in May 2008.  Repeat tests (Bone marrow aspirate) showed no evidence of cancer in Emma’s bone marrow; the cancer had gone into remission.

Emma is now on consolidation chemotherapy (which is less aggressive) which will go on for up to 2 or 3 years.  Emma is now back at home and whenever he visits the hope ward for follow up visits he brings such joy to the nurses and medical team.  It is so exciting to see him so happy and active.  He is a very special boy.  Just seeing Emma makes one realize that all we put into the Hope Ward is more than worth it.

Many thanks to the Hope Ward team and sponsors; indeed you are making a difference in many people’s lives in Uganda.

BT a 5 year old boy came to Hope Ward with a swollen abdomen. This problem started in July 2006.

His mother had sought treatment from different hospitals but could not find a solution. With the continuous swelling of the abdomen, BT started to refuse food and gradually began losing weight. Later he developed persistent  excruciating pain around the umbilicus.

Later on he was brought to the Hope Ward and ultrasound scan and endoscopy investigations were done. Finally he was operated on by the surgeon and went home happy and better again.

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MM a 14 year old teenager and orphan was brought to Hope Ward following 3 years of agony. A year ago he had been diagnosed with a kind of cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma in his mouth and had been to various hospitals seeking help and solution to his problem.

From then he was started on chemotherapy but along the way the family could not afford continuity of treatment and they stopped.

Unfortunately, the cancer became aggressive and soon he started getting difficulty in swallowing and had a risk of having a blocked air passage. So by the time he came to Hope Ward his Aunt had completely lost hope and was desperate for help.

For the risk of blocking the airway a tracheostomy tube (artificial airway device) was inserted by the ENT surgeon around the neck region to facilitate his breathing. From that several baseline investigations were done to prepare him for chemotherapy.

Today he has able to get his chemotherapy and is so happy and hopeful.

Dr Helena Nam is a specialist in the treatment of cancer patients and over the course of the year has done a pioneering work, at Hope Ward, in treating many patients with cancer. We wish to express our special appreciation for what she has done and also to the rest of the team led by Sister Irene Nassozi.