The Life Saving Impact of Accurate Diagnostics

Loipa (left) poses with his Father (right) in FAME’s Inpatient Ward.

The story below illustrates the invaluable work performed by FAME's surgical department and highlights the critical importance of having skilled medical professionals to interpret our diagnostic results. The patient's father narrates the story and this interview has been translated from Maasai into English.
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“Loipa* has been sick for a long time. For over six months, he has been coughing and complaining of chest pains and sometimes, he could not breathe properly.

I took him to the local clinic many times; they gave him different medications and even injections, but none seemed to work. Then we went to a bigger hospital where they took a photo of his chest [X-ray] but said they didn't see anything bad. They told me to take Loipa home and ensure he keeps warm and eats healthy.

But after a few days, I knew I had to do something as Loipa was getting sicker. A friend recommended FAME, so I decided to bring him here. We started the long and hard journey to FAME, where we took two buses and a bodaboda [motorcycle] to get here.

At FAME, they took another photo of Loipa and said that their photo showed something in his chest that was making him sick and he needed surgery [a thoracotomy to remove a cyst in the lung]. I was very scared but decided to be brave and trust the doctors.

I want to thank the surgeon very much. It turns out that cutting Loipa is what healed him. It has been 16 days now and even I can see a difference. He is so much better! Thank you, FAME. I pray you continue cutting people so that they get better.”

*The patient's name has been changed to protect their privacy and permission was secured to share their story. The quotes from the interview have been translated from Maasai to English.