Saving lives with diagnosis on time

Gustavo 

Hospital Pablo Tobón Uribe pacient

A testimonial with Soul

Gustavo is a 59-year-old man who, upon recommendation by a pneumologist physician,
came to Hospital Pablo Tobón Uribe’s private consultation service. After visiting the ER on
several occasions due to thoracic pain and dyspnea, a possible infarction was ruled out and
Gustavo was diagnosed with a benign thymoma in the mediastinum.

Since Gustavo’s tumor exceeded 10 cm in size, tomography imaging was ordered along with
a biopsy procedure and analysis. Based on the corresponding results, Gustavo was
subsequently referred to thoracic surgery, where the tumor was fully resected through
thoracoscopy, which is a minimally invasive technique.

Thanks to this technique and its possibility to zoom in the images to make the surgical work
significantly easier, the procedure was performed safely and successfully. Once the surgery
concluded, Gustavo was able to resume his life normally, with both physical and mental
improvements and without any adverse effects or major scars.

“The service provided by Hospital Pablo Tobón Uribe was excellent in terms of both the
human factor and the technology used in the procedure. The message I have is my most
sincere gratitude to the medical team and the support staff. I am also very grateful for the
facilities and equipment that made me feel completely safe and calm during the entire
process,” stated Gustavo.

Luciana is a little two-year-old girl who, one week after being born, was referred to our Hospital
Pablo Tobón Uribe due to a jaundice pathology. She was subsequently diagnosed with an orphan
disease called biliary atresia.

During Luciana’s admission process, our team of specialists did multiple tests to determine the
condition of the patient. One of the tests the team was able to perform was an endoscopy, which
allowed diagnosing in a timely manner that an inflammation of the stomach and esophagus veins
caused bleeding in that area, meaning that Luciana required surgery. The procedure was
performed through the interventionism service, a minimally invasive technique for the patient.

After the surgery, Luciana went home for the first time. She needed to wait a few months for her
to reach the ideal weight and height to be able to have a liver transplant. Such procedure was
carried out at our Hospital when Luciana turned seven months old, with a transplant from a living
donor: her mother.

“I am immensely grateful to the Hospital for looking out for its patients, for those kids that arrive
day in and day out with complex diseases. I am also incredibly grateful to the team of
professionals who were always willing to help us and give encouragement by telling us that
everything was going to be OK. My sincere thanks to all of them, who put their whole Soul into this
beautiful job of saving lives.” Paola, Luciana’s mom.

A Testimonial with Soul
from a Hospital Pablo Tobón Uribe Patient

María  is a 79-year-old patient who came to our Hospital looking for assistance
regarding a low-limit pulmonary function that put her health at risk. Her lungs were
deteriorated by the excessive use of cigarettes. During María’s admission process to
the Hospital, our specialists conducted multiple exams, including a chest X-ray, in order to
determine her health condition. The results of the exams showed that María had a
malignant nodule in the right lung, thus requiring a major pulmonary lung resection.
However, María did not have the necessary pulmonary reserve for this surgery. If an
open surgery was conducted, her pulmonary function would deteriorate faster and her
recovery would be slower. That is why our thorax surgeon, Wilfredy, made the decision to
perform a total upper right lung thoracoscopic lobectomy (surgery conducted using an
endoscope). This procedure is minimally invasive, which allowed the patient to undergo a
quick recovery and have a smaller loss of pulmonary function.

The surgery took place on December 15, 2021, and María had an excellent recovery,
being able to breathe without the help of the oxygen tank one month after the surgical
intervention. Thanks to this procedure, it was not necessary for María to undergo
chemotherapy or radiotherapy because the tumor was fully removed and she presented a
significant improvement.

“I am very grateful with the Hospital because, thanks to the care and assistance I received
there, I was able to improve my day-to-day life: now I can breathe with more ease and
without the need for an oxygen tank. I can walk up the stairs, as well as longer distances,
without that many breathing difficulties.”

Testimonials like this one from María inspire us to keep being a Hospital with Soul
focused on the care and well-being of each one our patients.

A Testimony with Soul

Isabella, one of our patients at Hospital Pablo Tobón Uribe

Isabella is a pediatric patient at our Hospital. She was admitted on October 19, 2021, with a diagnosis of a tumor in her spinal cord. Therefore, after being admitted, she was directly referred to the intensive care unit. Due to her delicate health condition, Isabella underwent an MRI exam which allowed confirming that the tumor was pushing her nerves, thus causing her difficulty to breath, walk, eat and mobilize normally. Her diagnosis was not positive and the only option for removing the tumor from her body was a surgical procedure.

On October 27, Isabella underwent surgery to remove the tumor and, subsequently, got a diaphragmatic pacemaker implanted through a laparoscopic procedure performed by our thorax surgeon, Wilfredy. The purpose of this last procedure was to allow her diaphragmatic muscle to move so that Isabella would be able to breathe without the help of a ventilator, thus improving both her and her family’s quality of life.

In January 2022, Isabella was discharged from the Hospital. Her mother says that their lives completely changed since Isabella’s initial diagnosis: “we used to live in an apartment but when Isabella was going to be discharged from the Hospital, we had to move to a house to make things easier for her and us.” At first, the news were a little discouraging: “they told us that we would have to specially furnish a room for her with a ventilator, because Isabella was probably never going to be able to breath on her own,” stated Patricia. Time went by and Isabella started exhibiting an unexpected improvement. She started eating and, a few days later, breathing on her own thanks to the surgical procedure performed by our specialist. Therefore, Isabella was able to leave the ventilator behind and, little by little, continued showing health improvements. Both Patricia and Isabella have expressed their gratitude to the Hospital for the assistance given and the care provided.

Testimonies like Isabella’s inspire us to continue being a Hospital with Soul focused on the care and well-being of each one of our patients.

Katherin is a pediatric patient who was brought to our Hospital’s emergency room when she weighed 32 kilograms due to malnutrition caused by other health difficulties that prevented her from ingesting food. The patient was admitted with the aim of conducting timely exams in order to identify the corresponding pathology. One week later, Katherin was diagnosed with achalasia, a disease that hinders food and fluids from passing through the esophagus. Therefore, the patient underwent two surgical procedures, a laparoscopic Heller myotomy and a laparoscopic Toupet fundoplication, both conducted on October 5, 2021. Currently, Katherin thanks the Hospital for the timely assistance provided by all the staff who were part of her treatment: “The nurses and doctors were checking on me all the time. They were really nice to me and that made me feel very comfortable over my entire stay at the Hospital.” The patient has recovered her ability to ingest food with medical indications, and her health condition has been improving thanks to the timely detection and treatment. “After the surgery, I started having liquid food and, a week later, I began having some solid food too. Right now, the food is passing through nicely, so I have been able to eat without any problems,” stated Katherin. Testimonies like this one are a source of motivation for us to keep serving each one of our patients.