Sunday, July 18, 2010

St Thomas doctor raising funds to help Dominican woman get lifesaving surgery

Catherina Esprit is dying. The 38-year-old mother of four, who lives on St. Thomas, has a condition that has severely damaged two of her heart’s four valves, and both need replacing, doctors say.

Catherine Esprit.

Without surgery, the condition will kill her.

However, Esprit does not have the means to pay for the operation herself and, because she is not a U.S. citizen, she is not eligible for programs that might otherwise be able to assist her, said Dr. Moses deGraft-Johnson, a cardiothoracic surgeon who works out of Luis Hospital and the Virgin Islands Cardiac Center on St. Croix.

DeGraft-Johnson is trying to raise the funds to make the surgery possible.

Esprit, who has worked as a housekeeper, came to St. Thomas from Dominica in the 1990s. Two of her children, ages 12 and 3, were born here.

DeGraft-Johnson, who brought open heart surgery to the Virgin Islands starting in January, in June performed the territory’s first artificial heart valve implant at Luis Hospital on St. Croix. He replaced a patient’s diseased heart valve with an artificial one harvested from a pig.

Esprit needs a similar operation, although she needs to have two valves replaced instead of one, deGraft-Johnson said. She would be flown to St. Croix for the surgery.

Ultimately, without surgery, Esprit’s condition “is not compatible with life,” deGraft-Johnson said.

She came to the attention of St. Thomas cardiologist Dr. Roy Flood in May, when she arrived at the Schneider Regional Medical Center emergency room with symptoms of a stroke.

The night before, Esprit said, she knew something was wrong when she awoke in the middle of the night.

“I wake up and I found my whole right side of my body was numb,” she said. “And I couldn’t talk, because my tongue was heavy.”

She tried to call her sister, but was unable to speak, she said.

“I just ask the Lord to guide me, protect me, put his angels around me,” she said. She doesn’t remember anything after that until morning, when she woke up and found she still had some numbness but could talk, she said.

She went to the emergency room.

Testing at the hospital showed that she had severe valvular heart disease, Flood said. Once he got her stabilized, he called deGraft-Johnson on St. Croix.

Part of the reason deGraft-Johnson moved to the territory was to be able to help people in situations like Esprit’s, he said.

He has gotten involved “so passionately” in a fundraising effort to help pay for the operation, because Esprit, at the age of 38, “should not be going through this,” he said.

Although doctors will donate their services and deGraft-Johnson, through a foundation he started, is trying to make arrangements for companies to donate specialized supplies for the operation, money is desperately needed, he said.

One reason Luis Hospital was able to begin offering open-heart surgeries this year is that it receives the specialized supplies through a consignment arrangement with the suppliers. The hospital only pays for the supplies once they are used.

Utilizing those supplies without a funding source could upset the balance that allows the hospital’s open-heart program to continue, deGraft-Johnson said.

“That’s what keeps us afloat,” he said. “I can’t just use this for pro bono cases. I would risk losing the program altogether, because I created a debt that no one can pay for.”

He estimates that about $150,000 is needed.

He started fundraising efforts in June, with letters to some local residents and some companies receiving Economic Development Association benefits, he said.

So far, he has found the response disappointing.

“It hasn’t been what I expected in a small community like this,” deGraft-Johnson said. “I think a lot of it has to do with her immigration status. People have said to me that they’re not going to help because of her immigration status. To me, this is very unfortunate. We’re all human beings. I don’t think our color or nationality should dictate who has a right to live.

“I take care of people, and I don’t question where they come from or whether they can pay me. Our job is to take care of a patient, because they’re in need — they’re in agony,” he said.

DeGraft-Johnson said Esprit’s situation — and the hesitancy he has encountered in getting donations — makes the fundraising effort more personal for him.

He is a first-generation American. His parents, seeking better opportunities, brought the family from Ghana to the United States when he was a child.

“Obviously, there is a personal touch to it for me,” he said.

“She’s a very caring woman, a sweet and most respectful human being,” he said. “I have talked to her on the telephone. And her demeanor makes me want to help her more.”

Esprit is still able to function and does not appear unhealthy at this point, and some people have thought the efforts to raise funds were a scam, deGraft-Johnson said.

“Some people say that I’m not sick and I’m trying to make money,” Esprit said, adding that she would like them to know that what happened to her could happen to anyone at any time.

“It happened to me. They could be the next person,” she said. “I would never be like that. I would try to help them, because I know where I am right now.”

“Because you still move around, people think that you’re trying to run some scam,” deGraft-Johnson said. “I just don’t expect that from this community. This is a small community. I expected better.”

The India Association of the Virgin Islands has been generous with trying to help Esprit out, pledging $20,000, he said. Esprit said she has done housekeeping work for members of the association.

She also is doing her part for the cause, helping with food sales to raise money.

So far, deGraft-Johnson said, he has received commitments for approximately $21,000 to help pay for the surgery, and he has received about $11,000 of that.

Esprit’s prognosis, without the operation, is poor, deGraft-Johnson and Flood said.

“It really is a life-threatening situation for her,” Flood said. “The valvular disease affects her heart rhythm, and that means she’s more likely to harbor clots, which become potential sources of strokes.”

“Right now, we are playing with fire,” deGraft-Johnson said. “She’s definitely going to die. She’s 38 years old. She’s going to die soon, if she doesn't get treatment for it.”

Esprit is on blood thinners and other heart medications, but her condition will continue to deteriorate without surgery, Flood said.

DeGraft-Johnson said he is working on different options, trying to find a way to do the surgery.

“I’m really not optimistic about the community. We’re still trying to find other means,” he said. “We used to go to Africa, do heart surgery. I’m trying to pull together other resources. In my heart, I believe she’s going to get it done, regardless.”

Esprit says she is very concerned, not just for herself, but for her children.

“I need to see my children. I need to be there for them. I’m a single parent,” she said.

She said she is putting her faith in God that the money and the means for her to get the operation will come through. Meanwhile, she is continuing to work on food sales with some people who have been supportive to help raise money.

“I’m going to come right back in the land of living. I’m not going to die,” she said. “I trust in the Lord. God is going to provide. He’s my supplier, my giver, my everything.”

Donations to help pay for the surgery can be made at any FirstBank V.I. location under The Heart and Lung Foundation, a foundation deGraft-Johnson started when he came to the territory.

— Contact Joy Blackburn at 774-8772 ext. 455 or e-mail [email protected].