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Eight-year-old Hakimullah was suffering from continuous coughing, abdominal pain and shortness of breath. He and his parents visited many clinics in their rural hometown in Sar-e-Pol province, one of the poorest in Afghanistan, before being referred to FMIC.
After a full-scale check-up – x-ray, CT scan and lab tests – he was diagnosed with multiple hydatid cysts, a parasitic infection caused by a tapeworm that usually affects the liver and, less frequently, the lungs. Unfortunately, Hakimullah had cysts not only in the liver and the lungs but also in the heart, complicating treatment.
Heart treatment was critical and Dr Noor Amin, FMIC’s cardiac surgeon, decided to surgically remove the cysts. Hakimullah went through open chest surgery, attached to a cardiopulmonary bypass machine, before the hydatid cysts in his heart and the right lung were removed – all within three hours. He was closely monitored for two days by the doctors and then discharged.
The cysts in the liver will have to be removed after he recovers from this first surgery.
“We should be very thankful that FMIC is available for Afghans and patients do not have to travel abroad in a situation in which travel seems impossible,” said Abdul Wodud, Hakimullah’s father, while appreciating the professionalism and thoroughness of FMIC’s doctors.
Hakimullah’s family did not have to pay for his care thanks to La Chaine de l’Espoir for covering the entire cost of Hakimullah’s care and FMIC for contributing a third of the costs.
Hakimullah now dreams of returning to school and becoming a surgeon, having experienced how quality healthcare can improve the quality of life.
