Thank You!

Sincere and heartfelt words of thanks to all of you, my friends, who kept me in you prayers while undergoing the surgery. I am back home, looks like the procedure went well and though weak and dizzy yet I look forward to the time of recovery that lies ahead now. Thank you and God bless you all!

Back On The Med Trail

The day after the arrival back to Kraków I am again since this morning on the medical trail of doctors and preparations for what is coming up next Monday and Tuesday when I will be admitted to the hospital for the planned surgery which supposedly will ease up my persisting breathing problems, especially when sleeping.

Frankly, I am looking forward to this new challenge and experience in my life. And I am very grateful to the leading surgeon on the surgical team for finding a spot for this procedure when I met him in early August last year at the end of my medical checkup process in May to July when the source of the problem was discovered. I feel somehow relieved that he and other specialists found out the root of the problem that bothered me for long time now and came up with the solutions and the date for the procedure under national insurance policy which will help me avoid the significant costs of this surgery. I wish to thank also my family doctor who helped me last year with all the necessary procedures and checkups and directed me for the surgery.

I am very grateful to my friend and brother-in-arms, Rev. Fr. Stanisław Puzyniak, the parish priest of my home parish in Nowa Huta - The Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Osiedle Teatralne, covering the area of Osiedle Górali where I was born and lived till Form IV before moving to our own apartment in December 1981 in St. Kazimierz Parish in Kraków's Grzegórzki. Himself touched by pain and suffering in his own life, he did not hesitate to cover the expenses of the airfare to get me here and return back to Tanzania after the procedure and six weeks required recovery time as told by the surgeon. Thank you very much, Stasiu!

A very special word of thanks to the CEO with the family of my friends of Foundation Kiabakari, to all my friends who are with me in this point of time of life - for their closeness, support, help, words of encouragement and prayers. Thank you so much!

Prayers very much appreciated for the successful procedure next Tuesday. Thank you and God bless us all!

Inguinal Hernias In Tanzania

I woke up early this morning in my favorite room at SMA Regional House in Bwiru district of the city of Mwanza. In a couple of minutes two young Polish surgeons will land in Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and then after a couple of hours they will board the Precision Air flight to Mwanza. They are expected to land here in Mwanza at 9.20 A.M. I will pick them up and we will drive straight to Kiabakari, hopefully, God willing, reaching their final destination around lunch time. Then after a short rest and settling down in their rooms, we will have a first meeting with the staff of our health center, to get to know each other, prepare the theater, newly purchased autoclave machine (I brought it from Dar es Salaam especially for this project; it is brand new and never used so far), other operating tools (brought by the surgeons themselves) and select employees who will work directly with the surgeons. We will set up procedures for the upcoming hernia surgeries and will hope that people affected by this ailment will shop up starting tomorrow, Monday, September 2.

The government of Tanzania via District Medical Officer of Butiama District will finance the procurement of all needed medicine and dressings. We, as the health center and Foundation Kiabakari, will sponsor internal health center costs, so instead of paying a lot, the patients will contribute as little as 15 Euros (of course the will pay in Tanzanian shillings) for the surgery.

Sławek and Przemek will have only two weeks to perform as many surgeries as possible. On my part I did everything that was possible under circumstances and with the financial resources I had in my disposal, posting announcements everywhere in the Region, spreading word through friends channels, via Radio Victoria and government and church healthcare institutions. We will see if this effort brings some effect.

As always, I count very much on your kind prayers and well wishes for the success of the project. And it is my hope that this Inguinal Hernia Project in Kiabakari will be the beginning of the new chapter of healthcare in Kiabakari - opening the avenue of visiting doctors and specialists of various kinds according to the priorities of health problems of our communities in Kiabakari, Butiama District, Mara Region and beyond. Already people ask for cardiologists, dentists, eye specialists, gynecologists, physiotherapists, diabetic specialists etc to come. The needs are huge. Let's spread the word about this. It is a noble cause!

For Polish readers (but you can also use Google translator) an article on our surgeons adventure in Kiabakari (click here).

Ancient Times

I am trying to figure out when was the last time I had my tooth extracted? Can't remember really...