Over the past weeks Jeremy has been in and out of hospital waiting for an operation to widen the stoma site so that he can excrete fasces easily without pain. Each time he was nil by mouth for the surgery. On one occasion he even made it into the theatre but the power went off so the surgery was cancelled. Another time the anaesthetist was sick and the surgery was cancelled again.
Thankfully last week Jeremy had his surgery. The Surgeon has made a formal request to the Ratua foundation for assistance for Jeremy & has taken biopsies to be sent to a pathology lab in Australia. These biopsies will confirm if Jeremy has Hirschsprung's Disease. If this is the confirmed clinical diagnosis he will require on-going surgical review and a definitive operation known as a Soave procedure or endorectal pull-through procedure.
The surgeon has requested support from the Ratua Foundation to assist in costs of sending the biopsies to Australia around $2,000 NZD ... the Ratua Foundation has agreed to pay these costs.
In the meantime the Ratua foundation is going to purchase stoma bags needed for Jeremy ... we have been quoted around $4,000.00 NZD if purchased in Vanautu per year. If Jeremy undergoes an operation 2022/2023 & no longer needs the stoma bags there are already 3 other children in need of these.
The costs of referral and communication with specialist teams overseas are unavailable and inaccessible to the patient (Jeremy), his family (Sunila, Jeremy's mother) and Luganville hospital. A formal request has been made to the Ratua Foundation to assist with installing a reliable internet system so that Doctors at the hospital can have the support they need while they take care of patients like Jeremy & many others.
The Ratua Foundation has agreed to go ahead and install a much needed & long over due internet service at the hospital ... This will cost $4,000.00 NZD with ongoing costs per month.
I am attaching a recent photo of Jeremy after his operation last week
