PCSO shoulders laundrywoman’s surgery
RIZA Mugar, a widowed laundrywoman from Cavite, has endured years of physical pain but set aside the discomfort so she can provide food for her two children and elderly parents.
For more than four years, the mother of two boys, aged seven and four, suffered abdominal pain while she washed dirty clothes of various families. Earning only P300 a week, everything was kept at the most minimal way of living, as she could not even afford overthe-counter medicine for pain.
“Nungmaliitpayungpanganay ko,naramdamankonapoyung sakitngtiyanko.Perobinalewala kopoyun.Taposnoong April 2014, umihinapoakongdugo,atnilagnat she recalled.
Due to their dire money situation, she just tried to overcome the pain until it became so severe in 2018 that she decided to go to
Debilitating pain
Hindipotalagaakomakakilos noon,lagingnakahigalang ako.Sobrangsakitngtagiliran ko.Kontingkilos,sobrangsakit na.Hindinanawalayungsakit, kayahindiakomakapagtrabaho talaga, she said.
Medical tests revealed that she developed gallstones that was not really fatal, but her gallstones had grown large after years of neglect and she had to have her gallbladder removed.
“When I asked the doctor how much the operation would cost, she said I had to prepare P80,000. But I could not even afford P5,000, what more that amount,” she related in Filipino, adding that she almost lost hope during those days and just prayed that God would heal hear.
According to the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, thousands of new cases of gallstones are diagnosed in the country each year and cholecystectomy, the surgical removal of the gallbladder, is one of the most common procedures performed on the patients.
Angels around us
When word of Mugar’s pitiful condition reached her friends, one of them helped her to contact the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office ( PCSO) so she could get financial assistance for the required surgery.
When PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan heard of Riza’s case, he promptly instructed his personnel to attend to the widow’s needs and coordinate with the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center (CGHMC) for her operation.
only reminds us of the reality of poverty in the Philippines. One of the reasons PCSO expanded its presence in the countryside is precisely to reach hardworking people like Riza, who deserves all the help we can give, Balutan said. Balutan arranged to have Dr. Robert Sy, one of the top surgeons in the country also known for his philanthropic activities, to perform the operation along w i th a n - other top surgeon, D r . Anthon y Lim.
Common procedure
Sy said cholecystectomy is a common procedure and more than 600,000 are performed on patients around the country each year.
There are different kinds of gallstone. Some are like [ grain of] sand while others are like pebbles, Sy explained.
They are also caused by different chemicals. If they are caused by bile, they are called bile stones. If they are caused by cholesterol, they are called cholesterol stones which are the most common type, the surgeon said.
The young mother had bile stones and the two surgeons took all of one hour to remove her gallbladder and more stones in her bile duct on June 21. Both physicians waived their professional fees as their charitable act for Mugar. Asked how she felt when she was told PCSO would help her defray the cost of her surgery, she said: “I felt both nervous and happy. Nervous because I had thoughts that I would not wake up from surgery.
Taking care of ourselves
Sy said the operation would have been simpler had Mugar attended
the symptoms and avoided food that lead to gallstones.
She admitted that she frequently had instant noodles because it was cheap, but she resolved to take better care of her health after the surgery, which also led to a better situation for her and her family.
Two months after the operation, Mugar got a better job that she is no longer incapacitated by pain.
Before surgery, there were times I could not do laundry because of the pain. But now, the pain is gone so I can work without disruption, she said, adding that a former employer gave her a regular job at P300 per day instead of P300 per week.
"I sincerely thank PCSO, Doctors Sy and Lim and Chinese Gen for all the help they gave me. Because of your kindness, I have a better life now," Mugar smiling said in Filipino.