Cancer patient given new lease of life by ground-breaking operation
to get on with it and have done what needs to be done. My family was very supportive,” she said.
“Each time I had chemo I lost my hair but it grew back after the chemo was finished. Chemo is an unpleasant experience. People handle it differently. It’s hard to go through it but when you do it you do it. You are down for a couple of days after the chemo cycle is finished but then you are able to get back to normal life,” she said.
She said she thought it was important for people to have regular check-ups and tests. If she had not had a CT scan the lung cancer would not have been discovered, because she feels and looks healthy. When detected early it is easier to deal with. he expressed her appreciation of the care and kindness she had found at The Avenues Clinic.
She was one of three patients who were operated on at the end of the International Uniportal VATS Masterclass Zimbabwe programme attended by doctors from across Africa. The other two patients were operated on at Parirenyatwa Hospital.
Uniportal video assisted thoracic surgery involves operating through a single small incision guided by video from a small camera lowered into the chest through the same incision.
These operations were the first video assisted thoracic surgeries through a single small incision to be carried out in Zimbabwe. Her operation was the first in which part of the lung was removed.
What made the operations unique for Zimbabwe was the extent of the surgery and the fact that only a single small insertion was made through which the operation was carried out.
The operations were all a success, with all three patients up and about the following day, according to Dr Kanyepi, who not only participated in the operations but played a major role in organising the programme, having visited Professor Diego Gonzales Rivas at his
Shanghai training facility and discussed with him conducting a Masterclass in Zimbabwe.
Among the major sponsors of the programme was Cimas Health Group, which provided US$3 000 towards its cost. The patients were treated for free. Dr Kanyepi, whose training was sponsored by the Cimas Health Education Fund, is the first and only female cardiothoracic surgeon in Zimbabwe.
The Cimas Health Education Fund (CHEDU was established in 2007 to contribute to the development of human resources in Zimbabwe’s health sector.
Since then the fund has helped address the healthcare sector’s skills shortage by sponsoring the training of specialists in various medical fields, including internal medicine, neurology, orthopaedics, radiology, paediatrics, haematology, histopathology and surgery.
The benefits for the patients of video assisted thoracic surgery rather than open thoracic surgery include less post-operative pain, less blood loss and a lower risk of complications, as well as a shorter stay in hospital, faster recovery and less scarring.
With open surgery there is normally an incision 10 to 15 centimetres long, Dr Kanyepi said. With the single incision used for Tuesday’s operations, there will be no more than one small scar.
Carrying out surgery inside the chest when able to only see what is going on by looking at a video screen requires special training. Doing so through a single incision is even more challenging, particularly where extensive surgery is concerned.
Dr Kanyepi said there were plans to make such programmes an annual event where surgeons from across the continent can be trained and carry out or witness live surgery such as that carried out at the Avenues Clinic and Parirenyatwa Hospital on Tuesday.