July 18, 2024
Grateful for surgery
By Joy Rojas
For many, surgery is a scary thought: there’s the fear of pain, the anxiety of being put under general anesthesia, and the worry that something may go wrong.
And then there are those like Marilyn Potazo and Norvelyn Rivas, who sought out the free surgical treatments offered at Tzu Chi Philippines’ 265th medical mission held at the Leyte Provincial Hospital in Palo, Leyte, from June 11 to 13. For Potazo and Rivas, surgery proved transformative, restoring confidence in one and bringing relief to another.
A mother of five children, 40-year-old Potazo noticed a small lump developing in her neck when she was pregnant with her eldest. The lump turned out to be goiter, the enlargement of the thyroid gland likely from hormonal changes during pregnancy. Modest earnings from her work in Manila as a house helper and most recently as a nanny to a special needs child prevented her from getting treatment.
As her goiter got bigger, she lost all sense of confidence. Potazo stopped working because she tires easily. “Also, because people are looking at me,” she says. Her second husband, who works in Manila, says his job keeps him from coming home to Leyte. “Maybe he’s turned off by my goiter,” she thinks, sadly. “And now that my kids are growing up, they might be ashamed of me too.”
One of 35 patients who underwent thyroidectomy at Tzu Chi’s medical mission, Potazo considers the procedure a dream come true. “I’ve been waiting for it. I’m sure I’ll feel better and will be able to work again,” she says, tearing up. “For my kids.”
Rivas cried tears of joy too when her young daughter Yeshaa Brianna Puda was carried off to surgery to correct her inguinal hernia, or the protrusion of part of her intestine in her abdominal muscles.
“I was crying because they were going to make my baby better,” says Rivas, 33. “It’s like I won the lotto!”
Though the hernia was diagnosed during a 2022 checkup, the idea of surgery frightened the little girl. Eventually, Rivas prevailed upon her daughter, especially when she began to experience pain.
“Mama, how will I get better?” asked Yeshaa Brianna. “Will they do magic on me?”
Medical mission surgeons performed a herniorrhaphy on her and 50 other patients. “Thank you, because the Lord used you as a way for my daughter to get better,” says Rivas.
If patients are thankful for the chance to finally get quality medical treatment for free, healthcare workers are just as grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the healing and recovery of these patients.
“It’s so overwhelming in a positive way,” says Myleonor Alcoriza, an ICU nurse at the Zamboanga City Medical Center and volunteer of the medical mission. “It feels good to serve patients who underwent thyroidectomy and herniorrhaphy. The smiles on their faces are priceless—especially the children. At first, they were crying when we prepared them for the operation, but afterwards, you can see the happiness in their eyes. This is the best for us, seeing the patients happy and able to go back to their daily activities.”
For fellow Zamboanga City Medical Center ICU nurse Enrico Estoque, his first time volunteering in a medical mission is fulfilling. “It’s very rare that we get to go outside the ICU to work and meet new people,” he says. “It’s also very grounding. No matter how far you’ve come in your career or personal life, you always go back to the core reason of why you took up nursing—to take care of people, regardless of what health status or stage of life they’re in.”
The three-day medical mission served 5,444 patients in Palo. Three hundred volunteers were mobilized in Palo and Tacloban, while 205 volunteers from Manila, Cebu, Davao, and Zamboanga flew in to help. Seventy-six medical staff, including 40 doctors and 18 dentists volunteered their services for free.
Prepped for their respective surgeries, patients of Tzu Chi’s medical mission wait for their turn inside the Leyte Provincial Hospital in Palo, Leyte.
Norvelyn Rivas holds on to her daughter Yeshaa Brianna Puda, who was diagnosed with an inguinal hernia. As soon as Rivas learned Tzu Chi was organizing a medical mission in Palo, Leyte, she jumped at the chance to enlist Yeshaa Brianna. “Tzu Chi helped my mother during Typhoon Yolanda,” says Rivas.
The look of relief and confidence in Marilyn Potazo’s face is noticeable after a successful removal of her goiter. A mother of five, Potazo stopped working because she tires easily and is self-conscious about the bulge in her throat. “I’m sure I’ll feel better and will be able to work again, for my kids,” she says.
Tzu Chi Zamboanga volunteer Harvey Yap (back left, in blue) and mother Norvelyn Rivas (right in pink) cannot contain their joy following the herniorrhaphy of Rivas’ daughter Yeshaa Brianna Puda (carried by a Tzu Chi volunteer). “Thank you, because the Lord used you as a way for my daughter to get better,” says Rivas.
At the operating room in Leyte Provincial Hospital, surgeries for goiter (thyroidectomy) and hernia (herniorrhaphy) are conducted simultaneously.
Volunteer surgeons and healthcare workers from different Tzu Chi chapters around the Philippines work together on a patient.
Four-year-old patient Gil Llames is being prepared for herniorrhaphy by a Tzu Chi volunteer. He is one of 51 medical mission patients to undergo the hernia operation.
Every form of assistance counts at the medical mission. Surgeons are grateful to (from left) Jerome Del Mundo, Louie Villaneno, and Jovi Del Mundo for washing surgical instruments used during operations.
Tzu Chi Philippines Deputy CEO Woong Ng (right) talks to a woman with goiter. Volunteer surgeons performed 35 thyroidectomies at the Palo medical mission.
The last to undergo surgery was a lone case of neurofibromatosis, or the growth of benign tumors on different parts of the body. Volunteer doctors performed the “multiple excision of fibrolipomatous masses on the chest, bilateral upper extremities, right knee, and back” of patient Marissa Jaiben.
In a show of compassion, Tzu Chi volunteers help clean patients up post-surgery.
In a show of compassion, Tzu Chi volunteers help clean patients up post-surgery.
In a show of compassion, Tzu Chi volunteers help clean patients up post-surgery.
Tzu Chi Charity Department Head Tina Pasion explains to patients the concept of Tzu Chi’s coin bank. All of Tzu Chi’s programs, including its medical missions, are funded by donations. Giving any amount means contributing to the treatments of patients in future medical missions.
A child at the Palo Medical Mission donates to Tzu Chi’s coin bank as Tzu Chi Charity Department Head Tina Pasion looks on.
Volunteers distribute tokens from Tzu Chi Founder Dharma Master Cheng Yen—an ampao (red envelope) and an aphorism with a charm.
Volunteers distribute tokens from Tzu Chi Founder Dharma Master Cheng Yen—an ampao (red envelope) and an aphorism with a charm.
Tzu Chi volunteer doctors, healthcare workers, and patients say “thank you” with their thumbs for the opportunity to address their health concerns in a free medical mission.