Mission to Djibouti: A unique opportunity for children Djiboutian cardiac patients
"A medical team is Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaquearriving in Djibouti. For children suffering from a heart defect, a free consultation will allow us to detect those who need to be operated on in France. "This is the message of hope that was spread across the country before our team arrived in February. In 5 days, 113 children and their parents made the trip, sometimes long journeys, to come and meet our team with only one goal: to have a chance to be operated on in France.
Every morning, a waiting room full of children from all over the country awaited our medical team at the Peltier Hospital. Some of them had already been operated on by the Association, but the vast majority were there to meet Constance Beyler, our volunteer cardiopediatrician. Accompanied by one or more members of their family, they all waited in relative calm, sometimes for several hours, to be received.
Waiting room / Consultations
Peltier Hospital Pediatric Department
Faced with so many patients, the organization of the day had to be meticulous.
Each day, the first thing to do was to register their details and organize the order of their visits. One by one, they were received in a first room to undergo an electrocardiogram, take their measurements, weigh them and carry out a social survey. An essential step in learning more about their living conditions. Dr. Beyler then took over, giving them a clinical examination, followed by an ultrasound or X-ray to diagnose their heart disease.
-
The cardiopediatrician has never given families an immediate answer about the possibility of their child coming to France, as each case needs to be studied very carefully by Professor Leca and the medical team on their return to Paris.
To date, we have scheduled the arrival of 18 children from Djibouti over the coming months, and other projects are still being studied. The first will arrive in early May!
Stay tuned, as we share their stories with you on our social networks throughout the year!
