Miracle: 37 Years Old Woman with 38 Children

Nabatanzi (middle) pictured with her children.

Nalongo Muzaala Bana (the twin mother that produces quadruples) is what Mariam Nabatanzi Babirye goes by and she is popular because at 37, she has 38 biological children.

The oldest is 23 years old, while the youngest four months. She was married off at 12 years of age.

Married off
Nabatanzi breaks down when she recalls what she went through upon getting married. In 1993, she was married off to a 40-year-old man.

“I did not know I was being married off. People came home and brought things for my father. When the time came for them to leave, I thought I was escorting my aunt but when I got there, she gave me away to the man.”

Being only a young girl, she found marriage a difficult task in the new family. “My husband was polygamous with many children from his past relationships who I had to take care of because their mothers were scattered all over. He was also violent and would beat me at any opportunity he got even when I suggested an idea that he didn't like,” she recounts.

Starting a family
Her father-in-law gave them a piece of land to start their family, a family for which she planned to have six children.

In 1994, when she was 13, Nabatanzi gave birth to twins. Two years later, she gave birth to triplets and a year and seven months after that added a set of quadruplets. This, she says, was nothing strange to her because she had seen it before in her lineage.

“My father gave birth to 45 children with different women and these all came in quintuplets, quadruples, twins and triplets,” she says.

Indeed, Dr Charles Kiggundu, a gynaecologist at Mulago Hospital and president of gynaecologists and obstetricians, says it is very possible for Nabatanzi to have taken after her father.

“Her case is genetic predisposition to hyper-ovulate (releasing multiple eggs in one cycle), which significantly increases the chance of having multiples; it is always genetic,” he explains.

By her sixth delivery, Nabatanzi had had 18 children and wanted to stop, so she went to see a doctor at the Namaliili Hospital.

The problem
The doctor told Nabatanzi that she could not be stopped then because she had a high ovary count which would eventually kill her if she stopped.

“Having these unfertilised eggs accumulate poses not only a threat to destroy the reproductive system but can also make the woman lose their lives,” Dr Ahmed Kikomeko from Kawempe General Hospital explains.

“I was advised to keep producing since putting this on hold would mean death. I tried using the inter-uterine device (IUD) but I got sick and vomited a lot, to the point of near death. I went into a coma for a month,” she explains.

At the age of 23 with now 25 children, she went back to hospital to try and stop. “I was checked in at Mulago Hospital and advised to continue producing since the ovary count was still high.”

Hurdles in marriage
Nabatanzi's 25 years in marriage have been characterised by humiliation and torture. “I have been tortured countless times by my husband; he beats to the pulp when I try to reason with him over any issue, especially when he gets home drunk. He does not provide for basic needs and welfare of the family; the children hardly know who he is since he is an absent father who gives his children names over the phone and not physically,” she says.

Charles Musisi, 23, her eldest son, says their father disappeared and they have grown up only with their mother's love.

“I can comfortably tell you that our siblings do not know how our father looks like. I last saw him when I was 13 years old and only briefly in the night because he rushed off again,” he says.

Nabatanzi says her husband spends close to a year without coming home and when he does, he just sneaks into the house late in the night and leaves very early in the morning.

“I carry these humiliations because my aunt advised me to always endure in marriage and have my children as the centre of focus. She advised me not to produce children from different men.”

The education challenge
Nabatanzi is optimistic about seeing her children through school, something her father could not do for her. Despite being a Primary Two dropout, she has managed to educate her children.

One of her first born twins has a certificate in nursing and the other in building although they have not found jobs yet.

Two of her other children are in Senior Six, three in Senior Five, four in Primary Seven, and four in Senior One. The rest are between baby class and Primary Six.

“I am hopeful that my children will go to school because they all have big ambitions of being doctors, teachers and lawyers; I want them to realise these dreams, something I was not able to do,” she narrated.

Nabatanzi has to buy food to feed her children and this is her biggest expense.

David Kazimba, who fetches her water, says he gets her 15 jerry cans of water a day. “She is a social person I have known for the last eight years. She is a hard working and caring woman. At times, people mock her because of her many children but she just ignores them,” he says.

To meet her expenses, Nabatanzi administers local herbs for various illnesses – which she says she has done since she was a young girl- and doing casual work such as plaiting hair, decorating at events and styling brides.

“I do not despise any job as long as it brings in some money. Feeling sorry for myself is something I dropped because I know these children are a gift from God that I have to treasure, so I try my level best to fend for them.”

Home care
The older children help with their siblings and the general home administration. “I enjoy taking care of my children myself though. My children are my joy and I pride caring for them. I cook, wash and bathe them with ease. Children grow better under a mother's love and care,” she says.

Health
Nabatanzi says she delivers her children naturally and she has always felt fine after each delivery until her recent C-section birth after which she started to develop backache after doing some home chores.

“My daughter who studied nursing used to take care of me during pregnancy. Eventually, I learnt how to do this, so I have not had any difficulties or complications with my pregnancies,” she explains.

Expert view
Gynaecologist Dr Charles Kiggundu refers to Nabantanzi's ability to conceive so many multiples as “genetic predisposition to hyper ovulation”.

He explains,
“It is an increased likelihood of having children in multiples (twins, triplets, quadruplets…) based on a person's genetic make-up. It results from specific genetic variations that are often inherited from a parent.

In some cases, women ovulate more than one time consecutively, but in other cases they release more than one egg at the same time, leaving room for the fertilisation of released eggs. When that happens, each one develops within its own sac in the womb; hyper-ovulation naturally is hereditary.”

Advice to women
Nabatanzi says a woman is respected by the way she handles her family and having to settle in her marriage despite all the challenges is her pride.

“There are no easy marriages; women should be patient because even our great grandmothers did not have a smooth one. They should be patient as there is always a lot to deal with in marriage and it is the patience that heals time, mine is to take care of my children which I am doing happily,” she says.

Advice to men
“Do not forget your responsibility because marriage is a joint responsibility to raise these children. “I cry deeply in my heart wondering whether I produced these children on my own.”

She further urges men to stop marrying off their children for quick money and gains, as this does not only affect them but also their children.

Source: Modern Ghana 

91 Years Old Doctor Who Treats Patients For Free Since 1948 Conferred One of The Highest Civilian Award in the Republic of India

Dr Bhakti Yadav receiving Padma Shri Award from The president in the presence of Indore in charge minister Jayant Malaiyya and Mayor Malini Gaud.

INDORE: Nonagenarian gynaecologist Dr Bhakti Yadav was handed over the Padma Shri award by district collector P Narahari at her house in Scheme Number 114 on Thursday.

Ninety-one-year-old Dr Yadav is Indore's first woman MBBS graduate and was conferred the Padma Shri award this year. She could not leave for Delhi to receive the award from the President due to health issues, thus was presented the award by Narahari in the presence of Indore in charge minister Jayant Malaiyya and Mayor Malini Gaud.

Dr Yadav has been offering free treatment for the last 68 years and is known for her close association with her patients.

Born on April 3, 1926 in Mahidpur town of Ujjain district, Dr Yadav completed her primary education in Garoth town. She completed her school from Ahilya Ashram school in Indore, while staying with her uncle.

Dr Yadav went on to become the first woman doctor in Indore when she passed out as part of the first batch of MGM Medical College here in 1948. She was the only woman in the batch.

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Early in her career, she refused job in government hospital and joined Nandlal Bhandari Maternity Home for wives of poor cloth mill workers. She headed the maternity home for several decades, before starting her nursing home, Vatsalya, in Pardeshipura area.

Dr Bakhti examining her patient in her Clinic

In 68 years of her career as a gynaecologist, she has delivered thousands of babies, without charging any fees from patients travelling reaching her from far off places of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

At 91, Dr Yadav is physically very weak now due to old age, but continues to serve the poor. Her last wish is to keep serving people until her last breath.

Source: Economic Times 

Meet the world’s oldest surgeon who at 89 years old Still Operates Four Days a Week

Alla Ilyinichna Levushkina starts work each day at 8am holding a clinic for her patients before going to theatre to start surgery at about 11am

By LIZZIE PARRY

At 89 years old and standing at a petite 4ft 9ins she is thought to be the world’s oldest working surgeon.

This is Alla Ilyinichna Levushkina, who at 89 years old is thought to be the world’s oldest working surgeon

Standing at 4ft 9ins Alla has to stand on a platform to perform her surgeries

The Russian still performs operations four days a week, from her vantage point perched atop a stool – to allow her the best possible view of her patients.

A Facebook post reveals that Alla, from Ryazan, southeast of Moscow, begins each day at 8am holding a clinic for her patients.

Three hours later, she heads to theatres at Hospital Number 11 in Ryazan to begin her day’s operating list.

There an assistant helps her up on to a small platform to give her a better view of her patient on the operating table.

Over the course of her 67-year career Alla has performed more than 10,000 surgeries.

However, medicine isn’t always where she saw her career going – she originally wanted to be a geologist, reports Russian newspaper Kommersant.

But she was inspired to become a surgeon after reading a novel about doctors and went on to study at the Moscow Medical Institute.

She told the newspaper that, at the the time, there was fierce competition to get a place at the institute but that only made her more determined.

Alla chose to specialise in proctology, a field of medicine that deals with bowel and rectal problems.

She said at the time you could count all the proctologists in Russia on one hand and no one wanted to handle that part of the body because it was too messy, but that was no deterrent for her.

Reflecting on how tough it was to survive in medical school, she told Kommersant: “Once a month the medical students could depend on getting a bottle of alcohol, we would run to the market and use it to barter – half a litre could get you a loaf of bread.

“We only survived because we split everything between us in the student halls.

“My parents, who barely had enough to eat themselves, sent a few potatoes from our village in Ryazan.

“Other students shared their salo [cured pork fat] and grains. That’s how we managed.

“I remember one girl brought a whopping great bream. It was incredible!

“We dined out on it for a week and then made soup from the bones we had gnawed on until they shone.”

Alla has been quoted as saying she has nothing to do in retirement, and so still works four days a week

Over the course of her 67-year career, Alla has performed more than 10,000 surgeries, it’s estimated

And is retirement on the horizon for Alla, who will turn 90 on May 5?

It doesn’t appear so.

Alla was quoted in newfoxy.com as saying: “I work and everything.

“I have nothing to do in retirement.

I have nothing to do in retirement. Doctor – it’s not just a profession, it’s a way of life

Alla Ilyinichna Levushkina Oldest Working Surgeon In The World

“Doctor – it’s not just a profession, it’s a way of life.

“Why else would the surgeon live, if not to work?”

The 89-year-old, who never married and has no children, lives in a studio apartment with her eight rescue cats.

When not at work she helps to care for her disabled nephew.

In honour of her loyalty to the profession, Alla was recently awarded the prize for the best doctor in Russia.

BARCROFT MEDI

In honour of her loyalty to the profession, Alla was awarded the prize for top doctor in Russia

Source: The Sun 

Telemedicine: Neurogeon Performs Live Streemed Total Disc Replacement

Richard Wohns, MD

Richard Wohns, MD, performed a live cervical disc replacement procedure video streamed on Facebook and YouTube last week as part of the Maldives Spine Conference 2017.

The event took place at ADK Hospital in Male, part of the Republic of Maldives, and attracted nearly 50,000 viewers, according to Sun.mv. Total disc replacement is rare in the region and streaming Dr. Wohns' procedure "was evidence of progress," according to ADK Hospital Managing Director Ahmed Affaal.

Medical students were able to ask Dr. Wohns and his team questions during the procedure. The conference as a whole attracted 100 neurosurgeons and orthopedists from the region. ADK Hospital is working on making total disc replacements available on a more permanent basis in the future.

Dr. Wohns is the founder and president of NeoSpine in Puyallup, Wash. He was an early adopter and innovator in the minimally invasive spine and outpatient spine surgery industry, launching a company in 2001 that developed a network of outpatient spine surgery centers. He was among the first surgeons to perform the XLIF technique for minimally invasive fusions.

Source: Beckers Spine Review 

Family Sells Jawellery to Pay an old Hospital Bill for 'Thank You' After They Have Been Given Medical Services for Free 35 Years Ago..

Eric Gaffoglio, center right, and his wife Maryam Pakdelan-Gaffogio, right, donate a check for $10,000 to CHOC in Orange on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. Neonatal ICU nurses Debbie Vandevelde, left, and Cindy Salido were on hand to receive the check. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Josefina Saldaña-Gaffoglio selected her jewelry with care, often making sentimental choices, like the gold cross she wore last year to a baby shower for her first grandchild.

The cross was a gift in 1992 from her husband on their son’s 10th birthday, a milestone she said wouldn’t have happened without Children’s Hospital of Orange County.

After Saldaña-Gaffoglio’s sudden death earlier this year, her son and daughter-in-law sold the necklace, along with her entire jewelry collection. On Wednesday, which would have been her 74th birthday, Eric Gaffoglio and Maryam Pakdelan-Gaffoglio presented a $10,000 check to CHOC from the proceeds.

“It’s what she wanted,” Gaffoglio, 35, told two nurses who worked in the neonatal intensive care unit when he was there. “That was her wish. When she died it was our responsibility to take care of it.”

Maryam Pakdelan-Gaffoglio, second from right, is comforted by Neonatal ICU nurse Debbie Vandevelde as Maryam wipes a tear after she and her husband Eric Gaffoglio, left, donated a $10,000 to CHOC in Orange on Wednesday, April 12, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The donation was not only a debt of gratitude, but repayment of an actual bill.

In 1982, Gaffoglio suffered a collapsed lung after he was born at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. He was sent to CHOC and after a three-day stay, his parents couldn’t afford the $10,000 bill. So CHOC waived the fee.

Saldaña-Gaffoglio always referred to the doctors and nurses as angels and expressed her gratitude. She said she wanted to one day donate her jewelry to the Orange hospital.

“She would always say that,” Pakdelan-Gaffoglio said. “We thought, we have time and she’ll do it.”

Instead, Saldaña-Gaffoglio died an hour after experiencing a stroke in January.

Saldaña-Gaffoglio collected jewelry from her travels around the world. She had pearls from Hawaii and a gold bracelet and necklace from Italy. Her most expensive pieces included a $3,000 diamond bracelet and a $5,000 Cartier necklace and earring set.

“She wore one piece at a time,” Pakdelan-Gaffoglio recalled. “It always had a story. She knew who gave it to her or who she bought it from.”

After her death, with the blessing of Gaffoglio’s father, the couple, who live in Orange, collected her 50 or so pieces of jewelry to sell. They kept only one item, her wedding ring, which she was wearing when she died. That will be passed on to their son, who is 7 months old.

Pakdelan-Gaffoglio, 32, said rather than simply cut a check, her mother-in-law wanted to donate her jewelry because it meant so much to her.

“It belonged to her and they were her pieces,” she said. “She wanted to give the little pieces of herself for the donation.”

On Wednesday afternoon, the Gaffoglios arrived at CHOC with the donation and the hospital bracelet from Gaffoglio’s stay. They toured the NICU and talked with long-time nurses.

“For 35 years ….,” Pakdelan-Gaffoglio said, before trailing off in tears.

“She never forgot,” Gaffoglio said.

Debbie Vandevelde, who has worked in CHOC’s NICU since 1982, said she was astonished by the gift.

“I can’t even imagine that somebody thought that long about repaying and that we meant that much to them,” she said.

Denise Ogawa, associate director for major and leadership gifts at CHOC’s foundation, said meeting the Gaffoglios filled her with joy.

“What they did not only helps the children and families served by CHOC but they remind us how much goodness and generosity exists in this community,” Ogawa said. “What they did was very meaningful and impactful.”

Gaffoglio said he took comfort in marking his mother’s birthday in a way that would have made her very happy.

“We definitely miss her and having the opportunity to do this in her name is pretty cool,” he said.

Source: The Orange Country Register

Private Healthcare Facility Offers 60% of its Hospital beds to Poor Patients for Free

Karamsad-based Shree Krishna Hospital has launched a unique initiative for the underprivileged sections of the society in India.

The hospital has earmarked 60% of its beds in the general ward for free treatment. Of the 720 beds in the hospital, free treatment will be provided to patients on 450 beds. Authorities claimed this is the first time that a private hospital in the state is extending such a facility to the poor.

The patients will be allocated 450 beds in the 'Aashirwad wards' which entitles them to get free treatment without any discrimination. "This is being done to provide access to best of health care at an affordable cost to all," hospital authorities said. There will be no charges for registration, doctor's consultation, administrative, nursing and operation charges. Similarly, ward procedures and laboratory investigations, sonography and X-ray will also be free and bed and diet will be provided without any charges.

"The patients will only have to bear the cost of medicines and consumables connected with the treatment. All can avail of this offer except cashless and other scheme holders. Cardiac and cancer patients have not been covered under the scheme," the officials said.

Source: Economic Times5

The Lethal and Highly Poisonous Nerve Gas Used In Syria: History and its Effect On Human Health

REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah

On April 4, airstrikes pounded the small Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun, wounding hundreds and killing more than 80 people, including at least 20 women and 30 children.

Shortly after the attack, photos, videos, and written reports of the carnage began pouring onto the internet — and it quickly became clear to experts that something other than conventional weapons was used in the bombing.

Victims described running from toxic gases, with those who could not escape allegedly choking and foaming at the mouth. Footage taken after the attack showed infants shaking uncontrollably.

These and other pieces of evidence suggested at the use of chemical weapons, and on Thursday, anonymous US officials told the Associated Press that early "assessments showed the use of chlorine gas and traces of the nerve agent sarin in the attack".

Chlorine gas is a powerful irritant that can wreak havoc on the human body, but isn't known for being extremely lethal. A small amount of sarin gas, however, mirrors the effects of VX nerve agent — the world's most deadly poison.

Blame for the internationally condemned strikes has fallen on ruler Bashar Assad and his regime in Syria, while Russian officials have "fancifully" blamed a rebel chemical weapons stockpile for causing the massacre.

Here's what sarin gas is and what it does to the body, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Reuters, and other sources.

Where the toxin comes from and what it is

Sarin is a nerve agent that:

o    Was developed in Germany in 1938 as a pesticide.

o    Is a human-made substance that's similar to insecticides called organophosphates, yet is far more powerful.

o    Is clear, colorless, tasteless, and odorless liquid in pure form, and dissolves easily in water.

o    Rapidly evaporates into a dense gas that sinks to low-lying areas, and is the most volatile of all nerve agents.

o    In a bomb, mixes as two chemicals to weaponize the nerve agent.

o    Can affect people through their skin, eyes, and lungs, and through contaminated food and clothes.

o    Was used in attacks on Japan in 1994 and 1994.

o    Was used by Bashar Assad's regime during an attack in Syria in 2013. 

What the symptoms of exposure are:

Moderate exposure

o    Head: confusion, drowsiness, and headache.

o    Eyes: watery eyes, eye, pain, blurry vision, small/pinpoint pupils.

o    Mouth, nose, and lungs: cough, drooling, runny nose, rapid breathing, chest tightness; victims have described breathing sarin gas as "a knife made of fire" tearing up their lungs.

o    Skin: excessive sweating, muscle twitching at the site of contact.

o    Digestion: nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, increased urination, diarrhea.

o    Cardiovascular: abnormal blood pressure and heart rate, weakness.

Lethal exposure

o    Convulsions

o    Loss of consciousness

o    Paralysis

o    Breathing failure

How sarin nerve agent is treated

While there's an antidote, to be effective it must be used quickly — so the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends leaving the area where gas may be present and seeking fresh air. They also recommend getting to higher ground, since sarin gas sinks downward.

The CDC also says potential victims should:

o    Rapidly remove clothing, tearing it off if necessary.

o    To protect from further exposure, place the contaminated clothes in a bag, then seal within another bag, as soon as possible.

o    Wash the entire body with excessive soap and water.

o    Flush the eyes for 10-15 minutes if vision is blurred.

o    If swallowed, don't induce vomiting or drink fluids.

o    Seek medical attention immediately.

Source: IFL Science