Gloria's Story ~ Update
On March 29, 2011, one year after her operation, Gloria
Passannante returned to the Orwell Private Cardiothoracic Unit to
talk to a group of nurses about how her life had been transformed
by a unique collaboration by two Consultant Surgeons.
Mr Samir Shah, a Cardiothoracic
Surgeon at Orwell Private Cardiothoracic Unit and Mr Venkat Ramakrishnan, a
Plastic Surgeon at Springfield Hospital. The surgeons came together
to reconstruct Gloria's chest wall following treatment for Breast
Cancer some 20 years earlier.
Osteoradionecrosis of the right anterior chest wall and a
fungating abscess on the right anterior chest wall resulting in
pathological fractures of several ribs. This was what Gloria
Passannante had to live with as a result of the radiotherapy
treatment for her Breast Cancer. Like many cancer survivors, Gloria
had lived with the worsening condition for so many years because
she felt it was a small price to pay in return for surviving the
cancer.
However, Gloria's life contracted to just work and home until
she decided it was time to do something about it. So in March 2010,
Mr Shah and Mr Ramakrishnan together
transformed Gloria's life by replacing five of her ribs and
removing the abscess to replace it with healthy skin.
Gloria was happy to come and talk to the nurse, who deal with
many patients suffering varying levels of the same problem to show
there is a way forward for their patients, to alleviate their
symptoms and transform their lives for the better.