Written by Catherine Flanagan

Each year, millions of people around the world die or suffer disability due to conditions that could be prevented or treated with safe surgery. This is the reality that motivates our work. And while we focus our efforts toward systemic change that increases access for all, we are also privileged to play a personal role in individual experiences of healing through our mission trips and year-round surgical programs.

This month, our Multi-Specialty Mission Trip (MSMT) is offering gynecologic surgeries for patients served by our host hospital. Two US missioners, gynecologist Dr. Ellen Eye and RN Geetha Chandrasekhar, partnered with Bolivian surgeons Dr. Jose Luis Choque and Dr. Jaime Vallejos to perform four surgeries at Maria de Los Angeles Hospital in Cochabamba.

Our first patient was 29-year-old Joselin. She lives in Cliza and had to travel to the city for the surgery, but for her the journey was worth it. Joselin was diagnosed with a tumor called a teratoma. While these tumors are benign, they can grow large and heavy. As they grow, they become extremely painful and can affect fertility. Fortunately for Joselin, our US-Bolivian team has the ability to remove the mass laparoscopically, and her recovery should be relatively quick and easy. This is important because Joselin and her mother support their family by growing corn, and she can’t afford to take much time off from tending the fields.

Two days before her surgery, Joselin welcomed us to her home. She grew up in her grandparents’ adobe home, but moved to this newer house with her parents about five years ago to be closer to town and public transportation. The family grows household vegetables and herbs in their garden and tends to their cornfield just outside the walls of the house. Joselin’s father is severely disabled from a variety of illnesses and can no longer work. Joselin manages her father’s numerous medications while her mother maintains the house. She proudly told us that her mother works extremely hard. “She’s very special,” Joselin said. Together, they work the land to provide for the family.

Joselin welcomed Marizol and Dr. Ellen at her home to talk over her concerns before surgery.

But this work had become difficult for Joselin. She had been experiencing pain for many years but recently it increased in frequency and intensity, prodding her to seek medical care. A doctor at a private clinic told her that she needed surgery. But the cost of surgery, added to the costs of her father’s medications, seemed to put the procedure out of reach. She turned to the public health service for a second opinion. She first visited an outpost clinic and then the hospital in Cliza, where she met Dr. Espinosa. An ultrasound showed a mass that appeared to be a teratoma. Dr. Espinosa confirmed that surgery was the only solution. There is no treatment for this type of growth other than surgery.

Joselin was discouraged. But a short time later, through the outreach of Puente de Solidaridad social worker Marizol Mamani, she learned that our mission team was coming to Cliza and could help to provide her surgery at a lower cost. She told us that when she learned we could help her, she “felt so happy and glad.” She went on to affirm, “I believe only God could bring this solution and you here.” She repeated words of gratitude as she warmly welcomed us into her home. In turn, those of us visiting were struck by what a privilege it is for us to play this role in her healing.

While waiting for our mission to Cliza, Joselin continued to be in a lot of pain—once so severe that she ended up in the emergency room. Painkillers prescribed by Dr. Espinosa enabled her to withstand the pain until our team could arrive.

Bolivian gynecologist Dr. Jose Luis Choque, his Florida-based counterpart Dr. Ellen Eye, and RN Geetha Chandrasekhar from Maryland.

Sitting together in her home, Dr. Eye asked Joselin if she had any questions, and answered each one thoroughly, describing the procedure and incisions in detail and reassuring her that it is a relatively low-risk operation. Joselin told us she was ready for surgery, and Dr. Eye was relieved she agreed to the procedure. Without this operation, her debilitating pain would inevitably continue and worsen until she could no longer work. “While it’s not an emergency now,” Dr. Eye told her, “it will soon become one.”

But now, the threat is gone. Yesterday, Joselin traveled to Cochabamba for her long-awaited surgery. The mass turned out to be different from what they expected. This is common in Bolivia where pre-surgical imaging is limited, and local surgeons are used to adapting as they go. Dr. Eye and Dr. Choque successfully removed a very large pedunculated uterine fibroid that was torsed and necrotic. Joselin’s wait is over, and she can now live the pain-free life she deserves.

Freedom from Pain