Medical care & rehabilitation changing lives Nepal

Namaste to our wonderful GlobalGiving Community,

Welcome to our July project report. In Australia we have just entered a new financial year and the years are flying past since we first started working with MeRO in 2016. Our annual report will be published on our website and uploaded to GlobalGiving over the next month or so. We hope you enjoy it.  

Whether you have made a general donation, or one that supports the wages of MeRO’s clinical staff, or your generosity has provided medical care to MeRO’s patients, or has been used to purchase essential medications, medical equipment and supplies, your generosity has changed 57 lives over this financial year. Because of you, 38 adults and 19 children have had access to the best surgical, medical and nursing care, physiotherapy and rehabilitation services possible and have been treated with kindness, compassion, dignity, safety and respect. 

All of MeRO’s patients who were admitted over the last twelve months have been discharged, with the exception of Krishna-hari who has been at the Shelter since soon after MeRO opened. A number of patients with significantly challenging roads to rehabilitation went home including Pooja, Lakshmi,  Arya, Sushma, Dipsika and Dipak. All were able to walk again with Dipak being fitted with a prosthesis.

Since our last report, Saugat, a five-year-old with a significant facial hemangiomas was operated on; seven-year-old Milan with deafness also had surgery, as did four-year-old Gautam who had a hole in the heart repaired. All except Saugat have been discharged.

Other patients included two with leukemia; a toddler with pneumonia; an adult who needed an oxygen concentrator; Raju with a fractured arm and Tek, with a fractured leg, both requiring surgery. Kaliram and Karan also had prostheses fitted as did two others. Bishwokarma had his right arm amputated after a year of struggling to get a diagnosis, and having to sell his land and livestock to pay for 12 months of medical care at several different hospitals. Little Imanual was assessed for open heart surgery which will be done over the next few months. Suparna was admitted with severe burns to her hand requiring skin grafting and assessment of blindness but has also been discharged.

Other new patients include 31 year-old Raaju who fell out a tree whilst collecting fodder for their animals and sustained a spinal fracture. She recently underwent surgery and is doing really well. 25 year-old Shoba sustained a spinal injury seven years ago and whilst she can walk, she is getting increasing pain and numbness requiring assessment and possible surgery. Gulchana was a patient at the Shelter before COVID with significant facial burns. She has had her burns contractures released to her right eyelid, mouth, jaw and neck which will help her to open her eye, eat and drink and reduce significant pain. Moti, had gynaecological issues which were resolved and Yesodhi had a badly fractured arm requiring surgery. In Nepal, it is estimated that half a million additional people fall below the poverty line every year which means there will always be a need for what we do. 

This report comes with ours and MeRO’s best wishes and grateful thanks, as well as a big ‘dhanyabadh’ (Nepalese for thank you!) from all the patients and their loved ones whose lives you have changed with your incredible generosity. We look forward to another year of your wonderful support and sharing with you the impact your donations have on patients at MeRO’s Shelter.

With best wishes and grateful thanks,

Virginia Dixon

President, Roads to Rehab Nepal

Namaste to our amazing GlobalGiving community,

First things first.... We cannot thank you enough for your incredible support during our 'Love Our Work on Valentine's Day' campaign. Thanks to you, we reached our goal of US$10,000 and were absolutely blown away by the incredible generosity of our donors. This will start the medical journey for the next 100 patients admitted to MeRO’s Shelter.

MeRO’s Shelter is full of children at the moment. Dipshika had skin grafts for burns contractures of her lower limbs and has been fitted with splints so can walk on her feet instead of her knees. 

Two-year-old Arya, who was very good at letting Dipshika have a turn of her walker, is making great progress after her hip replacement for congenital hip dysplasia and loving walking…and running.. not too sure about stairs yet though...

Five-year-old Saugat has had the first of three surgeries for a facial hemangioma.

15-month-old Sandeep has been discharged after cardiac surgery; and 4-year-old Gautam has just had cardiac surgery after being treated for pneumonia.

There are a few adults around too, though Sushma was discharged after having her badly damaged hip replaced. She never thought she would walk again and thought staff at both the hospital and the Shelter were lying to her when they told her she would; Dipak has also been discharged having been fitted with a prosthesis, along with several other patients, who had amputations last year, Krishna-hari is unchanged; and 39 year old Suparna was admitted with sudden onset blindness and a burned hand requiring debridement and a skin graft.

Samrat. MeRO's Director, wanted to share the following with you: "Today Dipshika may think we are her biggest enemy. She cries when she sees us because we do things to her that she does not like, like wound dressings which are painful for her, but one day, she will see videos and photos of how, thanks to people like you, she can stand on her own feet and walk like normal people, instead of on her knees. She will remember us, and remember you, even though she does not know you, and she will thank us all. On behalf of everyone at MeRO we want to thank you all for joining with us to create memorable moments like these. We are so proud of what we do, and we hope you feel proud to support us. MeRO also wants to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your amazing support during Roads to Rehab Nepal’s Valentine’s Day fundraiser.”

With best wishes and grateful thanks from all of us, everyone at MeRO and all their patients and their loved ones whose lives you have changed forever.

Virginia Dixon

President, Roads to Rehab Nepal

Namaste and we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and happy new year.

This quarter, as always, things have been busy despite a slow down for MeRO over the festival season over Dassein and Tihar. MeRO's Board and clinical staff continue to do an amazing job, and patients come and go. To give you a sense of the lives your generosity changes, instead of telling you about one patient, we thought we would give you a snapshot of all the patients who were treated at MeRO’s Shelter since our last project report.

Sandeep is 13 months old and requires urgent cardiac surgery. He weighs only 7kg and is on an intensive feeding program until he is strong enough to undergo heart surgery for a large hole in the heart. The surgery carries a heavy 30% mortality rate but everyone is keeping fingers crossed.

Amisara is 15 and had corrective orthopaedic surgery for a disability. She is back at the Shelter and is receiving ongoing wound management and physiotherapy.

13 year old Laxmi was readmitted as her nerve graft became infected resulting in her previously healed wound breaking down. She was operated on at the end of December. The infected graft was removed and replaced with a new one and everything is healing up nicely. She is also back at the Shelter for nursing care and physiotherapy.

Bahadur is a nice easy case! He needs oxygen therapy for a severe lung infection. When MeRO can find a spare  oxygen concentrator he can take home, they will lend it to him. He will return it when it is no longer needed.

Bal was admitted for investigations into abdominal pain. He was found to have advanced stomach cancer and rather than endure treatment, he returned home to his family. 

Ram was admitted for wound management of her wound in her left arm. Thanks to MeRO's nurses, it healed beautifully, and she was discharged home.

25-year-old Susma was hit by a vehicle 3 years ago and had to accept a life-time of disability because her family was unable to afford the cost of the surgery she required. Three years later, she heard of MeRO and got in touch. She was operated on in early January and Roads to Rehab Nepal funded her very costly surgery. She is doing amazingly well and is so motivated which is wonderful to see. She is enjoying walking again!

Lila was a patient under our fistula project. She re-presented with ongoing incontinence following a fistula repair. She was diagnosed with uterine prolapse but it was deemed not severe enough to warrant surgery. She required intensive physiotherapy to help strengthen her pelvic floor. Sadly, her husband has now left her – he had taken a second wife when she developed the fistula but she still lived at home. Now she is homeless.

Lakshike had a non-malignant tumour and only stayed for ten days before discharging himself and declining treatment. Staying in Kathmandu for a long period of time is often hard for patients who come from far away and have never been to a big city before.

22-year-old Deepak had major surgery in early December for osteosarcoma of his knee. He is having ongoing nursing care, wound management and physiotherapy. He has one of those all-too-familiar stories because he inherited a huge medical debt prior to coming to the Shelter.

Pahuna burned his leg whilst working in India. He was given basic first aid and sent home. His burn progressed to severe infection as the months went by and although his family took him to Kathmandu, they could not afford treatment. He later presented to a local hospital again, and fortunately for him, the clinical supervisor had heard of MeRO and referred him straight away. He had an amputation and will soon receive a prosthesis.

Karan also had an infected wound on his leg and another on his arm. He had also had a right above-knee amputation several years previously. His story is so sad, as again, gangrene had set in and he required an above knee amputation of his other leg. He is now a double amputee. MeRO's nurses are working wonders with his arm. It always amazes us that they manage to treat the most complex wounds successfully despite none of our fancy dressing products.

16-year-old Sujan slipped and fell off the roof fracturing both legs and an arm. He was sent home with bandages only. No plaster, no surgery, as again, the family could not afford hospital treatment. MeRO had him re-assessed and no surgery was required. His limbs were plastered, he was discharged home with regular reviews, and he has made a great recovery.

18-month-old Arya was admitted to the Shelter in late June. All conservative efforts to treat her congenital hip dysplasia failed. After a number of delays, she had her surgery in late December and remains an in-patient at the paediatric hospital where she was operated on until she is out of plaster. The doctors are very happy with her progress. Thanks to your wonderful generosity, Roads to Rehab Nepal funded her expensive surgery too. She will require lots of physiotherapy when she returns to the Shelter.

Krishnahari, MeRO’s longest staying patient, remains stable. His father has been by his bedside since he was injured in the earthquake in 2015 and Krishna continues to defy all odds of survival.

Whether you are a regular donor, a nurse or physio sponsor, or just make an occasional donation, we hope you get a sense of the difference your incredible generosity makes to all those patients at MeRO’s Shelter and how your support changes their lives.

With grateful thanks, as always.

Virginia Dixon,

President, Roads to Rehab Nepal

Namaste, 

This month has been quiet at the Shelter as it is festival time! Everything stops for two big festivals – Dassein and Tihar - and some of the patient’s at MeRO’s Shelter were able to return home for the festivities.

Little Arya however, remained in hospital. Some of you may recall reading about her in our September newsletter and earlier Facebook posts. We also put out an appeal for funds to cover the costs of her medical care,  and have so far been able to contribute $1100 of an estimated $4000  Our grateful thanks and those of her parents, go to all of you who contributed.

18-month-old Arya was admitted to MeRO's Shelter  in June with congenital hip dysplasia and a complete hip dislocation. This is rarely seen in Western countries as babies are screened within 72 hours of being born, and if diagnosed, are treated with a special splint and/or occasionally surgery.

In Nepal, screening and early intervention may not happen as many regions do not have adequate maternal and health services. This is a tragedy, as hip instability, where the hips can be wiggled in the socket because of loose ligaments, is the most common newborn abnormality affecting approximately 10% of babies. In 90% of cases, the ligaments tighten up naturally after birth but 1% will need treatment and 0.2% will be like Arya and have a completely dislocated hip.

Arya started her medical journey with two weeks of traction. She then had a closed reduction of her hip to try to manipulate it back into the socket. This was followed by six weeks in a special plaster cast. This approach was unsuccessful. She then underwent 8 weeks of traction in hospital and in early November will be operated on again.  This time, surgeons will perform an open reduction of the joint with additional bone surgery, the insertion of metal hardware and ligament tightening.

It will be a long road to rehabilitation for Arya. Her parents did not receive much in the way of support from family or community.  Her plight was perceived to be a punishment from the gods brought upon the family because her mother married a man from a lower caste. Arya’s parents managed to secure a loan for US$200 and travelled to Kathmandu. Her father said “I had already taken a loan of $200 to come to Kathmandu, so how could I possibly manage the huge amount which the hospital told me it would cost for her surgery? I could not stop thinking about this and I felt it was killing me inside.  Every day, I asked many people for a loan, but no one was willing to help me. Also, if I worked for my entire life, I would never be able to pay back this amount".

They are incredibly grateful for your support, and we will keep you posted on the difference your generosity makes to Arya, and so many other patients like her who are admitted to MeRO’s Shelter.

With best wishes and grateful thanks,

Virginia Dixon

President, Roads to Rehab Nepal

Namaste,

Welcome to our July project report.

Since our last project report your generosity has supported the medical and surgical intervention, nursing care and physiotherapy for 16 new patients at MeRO’s Shelter and seven patients have been discharged.

It is very hard for people who come from remote and regional Nepal when they come to a big city like Kathmandu. They have no idea how to manage the complex medical system. They may not know the difference between private and public hospitals and the cost implications of both, and unless they are fortunate enough to have family to stay with, they do not know where to stay, or how much it will cost. They are often exploited with life-changing economic and health consequences.  Anjali went from having a diagnosis of a hair-line fracture of her knee to osteosarcoma (bone cancer) and fortunately for her, she was referred to MeRO.

 It took a month for Team MeRO to organise everything. and they knew it would be very challenging for everyone, Samrat said “It was like we had a Mount Everest in front of us and we were determined to climb it. We started talking to many people and finally after a month we arranged everything”. The complexity of the challenges facing MeRO as they undertake their wonderful work is often immense. We could not help make it happen without you.

Samrat said “Our support of Anjali is how we work to shape a life – there is nothing called impossible”. Anjali’s long road to rehabilitation ended 3 weeks ago and she was discharged home.  On behalf of her and her family and everyone at MeRO, we thank you again for your kindness and generosity. Stay safe and take care.

With best wishes and grateful thanks,

Virginia Dixon

President, Roads to Rehab Nepal