Quechua Indian woman successfully operated on aortic aneurysm
Maximiliana knows the realities of the Peruvian mountains. Her husband Basilio and she live from farming, but their land is not very big. The mountain village of Oquebamba in the province of Espinar in southern Peru is the family’s hometown. The 59-year-old Quechua Indian raised six children. The field work is hard, but the fresh air within sight of the high mountains is, in a way, compensation for Maximiliana.
A year ago, the farmer’s wife noticed a tumor in her lower left abdomen that moved rhythmically to the heartbeat. As the months passed, this strange mass grew in size. “I must be suffering from cancer,” thought Maximiliana. As her anxiety grew with the tumor, she made the trip to Diospi Suyana Mission Hospital.
An ultrasound examination and a computer tomography clarified the diagnosis: it was a dangerous dilatation of the aorta. An aneurysm can be described as an internal time bomb. At any time, the wall may yield to internal pressure and cause immediate hemorrhage. In Maximiliana’s case, the aorta had expanded from 2 cm to 11 cm. A highly explosive situation.
On June 1, a team led by our vascular surgeon, Dr. Thomas Tielmann, operated on the patient. The procedure lasted five and a half hours and was without complications.
The patient spent five days in the intensive care unit (photo: see above). She is scheduled to be released home next week.
We are happy with the whole team about this great success and of course we thank God for his preservation.
