Doctor works to fight child’s rare disease
As the nation of Belize attempts to reform its health care system and upgrade the standard of medical care, it means that doctors must be equipped to both diagnose and treat rare conditions that were previously either sent abroad or neglected. This morning I visited the KHMH to see how one particular condition was being managed.
Dionicia Chiac, Mother
“It is very hard for me, I can’t imagine my baby like this.”
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Two years ago Dionicia Chiac lost her five-year old daughter in a road traffic accident. Today, the mother is back at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital faced with yet another tragedy. Her four-year old son, Albert has Guillan Barre Syndrome, a rare disease that causes paralysis and if not treated immediately, death. Two weeks ago, Chiac complained to his mother that he was feeling weak. The little boy was put to bed to rest but his condition got worse.
Dionicia Chiac
“He collapse, he fell down and never got up back. And then I tried to put him to stand up and he can’t stand up. When I told him to hold something, he can’t hold anything, that’s right away. Then I took him to the hospital at Belmopan. They admitted him right away and then on Saturday, they transferred me right here to Belize City.”
Dr. Victor Rosado – Head, Pediatric Department, KHMH
“When I saw him he was having severe weakness from the waist down and within twenty-four hours that weakness had rapidly increased to include the fore limbs and even breathing muscles and some muscles to swallow. He was actually choking on some of his secretions that was how bad it got.”
Little Chiac was desperately in need of a ventilator machine and a specialized treatment. Immediately the KHMH had a problem on its hands as the hospital did not have the equipment nor the medication to deal with the emergency case.
Dr. Victor Rosado, Head of Pediatric Department at the KHMH, quickly started to lobby to get the equipment and medication necessary to save the boy’s life. As it turned out…help was not far away.
Dr. Victor Rosado
“When we inquired about the ventilator we found out that the Southern Regional Hospital had a ventilator that we could use and through some lobbying we managed for them to loan us this ventilator specifically for this patient.”
“In my experience these case have been referred abroad for these two basic reasons, lack of a ventilator and lack of the specific treatment. Once we acquired the ventilator, I tried to convince the authorities that if we can get the treatment then we wouldn’t have to refer this child abroad. We managed to get the medication from the United States, its called intravenous hemoglobin and it actually cost us over ten thousand dollars, just for the medication, but I believe that if we compared the cost of that treatment, versus the cost of having to send this child abroad, we still ended up saving a lot of money.”
The treatment, which is given over a five day period stop the process that causes weakness and minimizes the risk of Chiac going into respiratory arrest. It also prevents the condition from recurring. Albert is now off the machine and his health has been slowly improving. However, he is still unable to walk and it will take several months of physiotherapy to get back on his feet.
Dr. Victor Rosado
“What we have to do now is about two to three months of intensive physiotherapy, specialized exercise, so that he regains his muscle strength in all his limbs.”
Rosado says they treat one case of Guillan Barre Syndrome roughly every six months. That is why Rosado says it is essential for them to always have a ventilator machine on site.
Dr. Victor Rosado
“Well it is a little ironic that we have a ventilator in the Southern Regional Hospital when district hospitals primarily refer their typical cases to Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. We would have to negotiated with the Southern Regional Hospital to see where this machine is best served.”
John Waight, the Acting Chief Executive Officer at the KHMH, told News Five that the hospital has a total of four ventilator machines but none are presently working. Waight said there are plans to either rehabilitate the equipment and if that is not possible they will purchase new ones. Waight said they will talk to the Southern Regional Hospital about the possibility of keeping the ventilator machine temporarily until the KHMH gets its own equipment back in shape.
