Medical care & rehabilitation changing lives Nepal

Namaste,

Welcome to our quarterly project report!

In case you missed our last email, NHEDF changed its' name in January and is now called 'Medical Rehabilitation Organisation' (MeRO).

Since our last report, your generosity has supported the medical and surgical intervention, nursing care and physiotherapy for three existing patients and eleven new patients at MeRO’s Shelter. Six people were discharged. One of these was 27-year-old Janaki and this is her story.

First, some background: Medical care is not free in Nepal, however people requiring major heart, orthopaedic or neurological surgery are eligible for a payment from the Government of about $900 Samrat, MeRO’s Director said “such support is simply a drop in the ocean. Big surgery costs much more than that. There are many exclusions - infestigations, blood tests, blood for transfusions, implants, prostheses, food, medications and things like IV tubing, catheters etc. For many people the only options are to live with their condition, beg on the streets, or die thinking about how different their life could have been. In Nepal people don't have many choices but we don’t want to see people dying in front of us. so we help”.

Janaki comes from Western Nepal. Two years ago, during her pregnancy, she was diagnosed with a serious heart problem requiring surgery. Being pregnant, she was not a candidate for surgery, so she was instructed to return to Kathmandu for surgery when her daughter was 6 months old.

Janaki’s family was poor and could not afford the cost of treatment, even with the one off Government payments, so she never returned to Kathmandu as instructed. As time went on, her condition deteriorated, and she could hardly walk without becoming extremely breathless. Like many people in Nepal who live in poverty,  her husband went to India to find work and came home with the equivalent of $1000. They finally made it to Kathmandu, however, this amount was insufficient for cardiac surgery. Fortunately for Janaki, the hospital referred her to MeRO.

It was initially challenging for MeRO to cover the costs as cardiac surgery is incredibly expensive. Samrat explained “MeRO initially had to budget for the cost of surgery (approximately $2200), plus investigations, medications, food for Janaki and her husbankd, whilst in hospital and 8 pints of blood – the latter cost approximately $100..”  Janaki had surgery on December 16^th and  MeRO had a wonderful surprise!

MeRO’s grateful thanks go to “the hospital's amazing management team for helping us with all the processes and providing discounts. All MeRO was required to pay in the end was NPR 35,000” which is about $400.Janaki and her family were transferred to the Shelter for ongoing follow-ups, wound management and physiotherapy, and 2 months later the family were discharged home with Janaki having made a great recovery. Her little daughter is delighted!

On behalf of Janaki and her family and everyone at MeRO, we thank you again from the bottom of our hearts for your kindness and generosity. Our work, and MeRO’s, would not be possible without you and it is solely because of you that we have been both able to keep going, especially during these difficult times. Stay safe and take care.

 With best wishes and grateful thanks,

Virginia Dixon

President, Roads to Rehab Nepal