Caiden waiting for the PEG surgery to be performed.
MBOMBELA – Dumisani Malamule, the Mpumalanga Department of Health (DoH) spokesman confirmed that the toddler has now been operated on.
This comes after three cancelled surgeries over a period of 11 days due to various reasons. A complaint was lodged on Monday with the quality assurance coordinator at Rob Ferreira on day 14 of her stay at the troubled institution.
“Three cancellations and 13 days later; my heart can’t cope with the stress this predicament is putting on me,” the mother, Ashleigh van Staden, told Lowvelder.
Complaint lodged by Caiden’s mother, Ashleigh van Staden.
Malamule unveiled that this is not common practice and that extraordinary circumstances persisted during the little girl’s wait for PEG surgery, that involves a medical procedure where a tube is passed into the patient’s stomach through the abdominal wall, most commonly to provide a means of feeding when oral intake of food is inadequate.
Lowvelder previous reported on September 18, 2015 about a little girl who received crucial stem cell treatment in order to improve her chances for survival after being diagnosed with Lissencephaly, a rare brain disorder, and West syndrome, that causes severe infantile spasms and mental retardation. Children with Lissencephaly have a life expectancy of only 10 years.
“The patient came in during a contingency plan period and unfortunately on December 23, the medical institution had high volumes of critical care emergencies, hence the operation was cancelled,” Malamule explained.
“It must also be noted that it is not possible to do elective non-urgent cases on December 25 and 26, as only one theatre is available during this period for critically ill patients, who are in dire need of assistance. By December 26 we had serious mechanical problems with the air conditioners in all theatres; it was therefore not possible to operate on December 27 as well,” Malamule revealed.
Although the distraught mother of little Caiden was initially dissatisfied with the service she had received at the medical facility, she commended the help and support she received from the medical manager and hospital staff.
“It is actually the DoH public healthcare system that is failing us. I had a very pleasant experience with the friendly medical staff who did the best they could in the prevailing circumstances. I met the medical manager this morning and she had assigned a surgeon to operate on Caiden on the same day the complaint was discussed with her,” Van Staden said.
Van Staden explained that Caiden started to struggle consuming her food three months ago. “She lost a lot of weight, her physical appearance declined rapidly and her epileptic seizures increased. Dr Michael Lippert, the neurologist who treated Caiden, warned me that because of her limited brain function, she might eventually forget how to swallow her food.”
Rose Innes Inc. Attorneys established the Caiden Trust, where any donations towards the aftercare of Caiden van Staden can be made: Caiden Trust, Rose Innes Inc., Absa Bank, account number: 720 710 013, bank code: 334 152, reference: 8800 CAIDEN.
