Charity, a 43-year-old mother of six, was introduced to us by Liznet in late 2021. Liznet is a patient whom we sponsored for successful goiter surgery in April 2021 (a goiter is an enlargement of the thyroid gland in one’s neck). Liznet was so grateful for the care she received that she was determined to get the same help with her friend Charity. On the outside, Liznet’s goiter and Charity’s growth looked very similar, so the women believed that Charity’s condition could be treated as Liznet’s was. When surgeons examined Charity, however, they found that the growth on her neck was actually a tumor on the inside of her throat, not a goiter. The other difference between Liznet and Charity was that Charity had only begun to experience the difficulties the year prior, while Liznet had lived with a goiter for more than seven years. Charity’s symptoms included extreme difficulty breathing and swallowing and were incredibly difficult to live with. Her inability to eat full meals and breathe deeply meant that within weeks of our first meeting her, Charity could not sit up, walk, or stand on her own.
In partnership with WAM, AHA supported Charity to have an exploratory endoscopy procedure to learn more about her condition. Doctors did a biopsy on the tumor, and unfortunately the results came back cancerous. Charity was told there was nothing more they could do for her, and she continued to experience intense suffering from the continuously narrowing passageway of her throat.
We could not give up that easily. We contacted the most experienced ENT surgeon in Lilongwe who asked AHA to bring Charity into the city for further evaluation. In November 2021, AHA and WAM assisted Charity with the cost of roundtrip transportation to the new cancer center at Central Hospital in Lilongwe. There, another endoscopy procedure was performed, during which a stent was placed in her throat. The stent allowed for a larger opening in Charity’s throat, allowing her to eat and breathe more easily. Although the cancer still could not be cured, the care she received greatly increased her quality of life.
Charity’s family was so grateful to AHA and WAM for the support and for not giving up when additional care was urgently needed, even when it seemed that all other options had failed. After receiving the stent, Charity went home and her son was so happy he could care for her more confidently and without fear of starvation or suffocation. Now that Charity is able to eat again, her nutrition and overall health have greatly improved. In just two months since the stent was put in, Charity’s health has improved so dramatically her doctors are now considering chemo! Charity, her family, her doctors, and the AHA and WAM teams are so surprised and happy that Charity has gone from not being able to stand on her own to almost healthy enough to start treatment for the cancer! Thanks to your sponsorship and great care at Central Hospital, Charity might just be strong enough to start chemo soon!
We may not be able to cure every patient or fix every situation, but we firmly believe there is always something that can be done to make things better. In addition to building capacity within Malawi’s healthcare system, we must also address additional barriers for individual patients, such as lack of knowledge, the high cost of transportation, the need for coordination of specialized care, and advocacy for the rural poor. Especially in Malawi, one small act can go a long way to improve lives. Your support for the sponsorship program helps us increase access to healthcare for patients like Charity who would not otherwise have access to life changing, and potentially life saving, care.
