Sikeston surgeon, two nurses treat patients on mission to Africa

SIKESTON, Mo. -- A Sikeston surgeon and two nurses went back to the basics when they recently traveled to Africa on a medical mission, and their experience proved key in providing care to the residents in need.

Dr. Ly Phan, general surgeon; Tressa Neely, certified nurse anesthetist; and Roberta Merryman, registered nurse, all employees of Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston, traveled in late August to the African community of Migori, Kenya. Migori is an eight-hour drive from Kenya's capital city, Nairobi.

The trip came about because Neely had been supporting three children in Migori through the not-for-profit Kenya Relief for the past year and a half.

"I wanted to meet them," Neely said.

Kenya Relief stations teams of physicians who are organized to come in to the compound every two or three weeks.

"When we came in there, we came in as a team of physicians, surgeons, scrub techs and nurses and had all the supplies we needed," Phan said. "It's almost like you take a small hospital and fly it into that community."

The best analogy Phan said he could think of was a MASH unit.

"The tent is there for you," Phan said. "The operating room was a big building with windows covered with curtains. It was very poor conditions, and the operating room here (in the United States) is not what it is there."

There were two operating rooms: One side was for the pediatric surgeon, the other for Phan. Sunlight peeked through the windows and it was common to see flies, Phan said.

"You assemble your team and within a day, we work like we've known each other for a long time," Phan said. "We knew what we had to have done and knew what we have and make do."

The 10-day trip consisted of four days of traveling; one day of assessing patients; three days of operating on patients; and two days participating in a safari.

Phan said Kenya Relief must broadcast to the community that a team is coming in so when the team arrives, the residents are prepared for any type of treatment. Some haven't eaten in a day and are ready to be put out for surgery, Phan said.

"When we see them, within two hours, we'd be operating on them," Phan said.

Unlike in the United States, where patients have to undergo pre-operation requirements, such as lab tests, chest X-rays, EKGs and receive clearance, this was not the case in this African community, Phan said.

"You have to rely on your basic knowledge to make sure you get the right diagnosis and treatment for them," Phan said.

Most patients would go home the same day, Phan said. Most of the patients Phan treated were for breast cancer, hernia repair and excisions of masses, such as goiters, growing outside their bodies. The pediatric surgeon performed lots of circumcisions, he said.

"They all go home a few hours afterward. They'll go home with some Tylenol and no pain medication," Phan said.

Phan and the pediatric general surgeon performed 38 surgeries in three days, and the physicians and their team members assessed over 200 residents.

"We did a tremendous amount of surgery in a very short period of time as efficiently and as safely as we do here. That just showed the power of human nature," Phan said.