Pictured above: Erneste Simpunga - 1 year anniversary of surgery at BWHDear Friends from Brigham and Women's Hospital,
I say hello to all of you. Today, it's July 29, 2009 where I remember and celebrate one year ago since my heart surgery!! My objective is to thank everybody especially doctors and nurses who have taken part in my life. This is like a thank-you letter and I would like to be clear that it is basically for Team Heart and it's members.
It is so nice for me to share my pleasure with you at this moment. Above all, Let us please get down to our knees and thank God for being with us. Now, allow me thank a lot of Team Heart members for helping me and my country. This team does what according to me, is called miracles. Their work and help is beyond human understanding.
Last year when it was their first trip to Rwanda, they saved 11 cardiac patients with the help of surgery. Now these 11 patients are feeling so much better and some of them have already reached what they dreamt as their performances after their surgeries.
1) Jean Paul is a very good taxi driver!
2) Djuma is one of the best soccer players at his school!
3) Alice is able to work on the farm in order to feed her family as she asked when she woke up after the operation.
4) KARUGANDA Jean Damascene is finishing his high school education this year in November and he will be at University next year! He is dealing with electricity and he has a very huge National examination on November 02, 2009. So pray for him.
5) Celestin GASAMAZA who became the first patient of this team said he will return to his university and get his masters degree and he is getting it at the end of this year!
6) Vedaste says he is again able to do everything he could not perform before. He also says when he drinks, he feels normal whereas before surgery when he tried to drink,he was feeling too tired and also dizzy.
Last April, I was very sick almost to die, Team Heart was so scared of my surgery but they never forgot me. They brought me to the United Sates. Staying with Ceeya and Chip Bolman, for several weeks after, Dr.Ralph Morton Bolman really shown he is the chief of cardiac surgery when he and his team successfully replaced my Mitral and Tricuspid valves! Since that day, my life is 7 times better than before! Thanks a lot.
Now, Erneste is full of beans. I would like to tell everybody that Team Heart really shows that every cloud has a silver lining or every difficult situation has a positive side. Team Heart also shows how life is more interesting! When you save a life, you also save the future at the same time.
I give thank you to:
- Doctors and nurses who were in the operating room with me on July,29,2008
-All nurses who care for me in the ICU and also in the Ward.(Two nurses were the first to take a very good care of me directly when i woke up.These are Kevin and Susan. Thank you so much.
I can not forget to thank:
-Dr.Gene Bukhman
-Leslie SABATINO.
- Dr. Pat Come.
-Amy and Mike (Thank you for being attentive with the use of heart -lung machine)
-Vlad and Louigi, i thank you too.
-Ceeya Bolman.
-Dr.Prem Shekar.
-Suellen (Thanks a lot for your help including your nice pre-operative education)
-Kayla Quin.
-Diane.
-Liz
-Sara
-Brenda
-Egidia (Thank you so much as well for a lot of things including translation.)
-Dr.James Rawn.
-Denise
-Marie.
-Dr. John Connell
and others.
Finally, this is how my life has changed:
1) Now, I have a very regular heart beats. Yesterday, I visited the cardiologists from India at King Faisal Hospital and they were so proud of my heart and it's functions.
2) Gain of 20 kg of muscles. When I came to Boston, my weight was 35 kg(78 pounds) where as right now I have 56 kg(124 pounds)
3) I am strong and energetic. Dr.Bolman said "At the end of November, Erneste, you could'nt hold him down! He rode between 12 and 18 miles." Now I have increased the distance, I ride 80 km within 6 hours and I feel normal.
4) I am back to school! This is my best performance. When I looked at myself the time I was very sick, I never expected to go back to school but now I am back there and the studies became much easier than I think or than before (Here I give a lof of thanks to Ceeya and her husband who pay my school fees and my medical treatments.
5) I am able to deal with every daily activities.
6) When Ceeya, Suellen and Kayla brought me home, they saw a mountain where I used to walk by using 1 hour, but we walked up that mountain and we used 10 minutes.
Thank you so much, I wish you the best and my God bless you.
Youngman from Rwanda, Always proud of you.
Much love,
Erneste SIMPUNGA
I say hello to all of you. Today, it's July 29, 2009 where I remember and celebrate one year ago since my heart surgery!! My objective is to thank everybody especially doctors and nurses who have taken part in my life. This is like a thank-you letter and I would like to be clear that it is basically for Team Heart and it's members.
It is so nice for me to share my pleasure with you at this moment. Above all, Let us please get down to our knees and thank God for being with us. Now, allow me thank a lot of Team Heart members for helping me and my country. This team does what according to me, is called miracles. Their work and help is beyond human understanding.
Last year when it was their first trip to Rwanda, they saved 11 cardiac patients with the help of surgery. Now these 11 patients are feeling so much better and some of them have already reached what they dreamt as their performances after their surgeries.
1) Jean Paul is a very good taxi driver!
2) Djuma is one of the best soccer players at his school!
3) Alice is able to work on the farm in order to feed her family as she asked when she woke up after the operation.
4) KARUGANDA Jean Damascene is finishing his high school education this year in November and he will be at University next year! He is dealing with electricity and he has a very huge National examination on November 02, 2009. So pray for him.
5) Celestin GASAMAZA who became the first patient of this team said he will return to his university and get his masters degree and he is getting it at the end of this year!
6) Vedaste says he is again able to do everything he could not perform before. He also says when he drinks, he feels normal whereas before surgery when he tried to drink,he was feeling too tired and also dizzy.
Last April, I was very sick almost to die, Team Heart was so scared of my surgery but they never forgot me. They brought me to the United Sates. Staying with Ceeya and Chip Bolman, for several weeks after, Dr.Ralph Morton Bolman really shown he is the chief of cardiac surgery when he and his team successfully replaced my Mitral and Tricuspid valves! Since that day, my life is 7 times better than before! Thanks a lot.
Now, Erneste is full of beans. I would like to tell everybody that Team Heart really shows that every cloud has a silver lining or every difficult situation has a positive side. Team Heart also shows how life is more interesting! When you save a life, you also save the future at the same time.
I give thank you to:
- Doctors and nurses who were in the operating room with me on July,29,2008
-All nurses who care for me in the ICU and also in the Ward.(Two nurses were the first to take a very good care of me directly when i woke up.These are Kevin and Susan. Thank you so much.
I can not forget to thank:
-Dr.Gene Bukhman
-Leslie SABATINO.
- Dr. Pat Come.
-Amy and Mike (Thank you for being attentive with the use of heart -lung machine)
-Vlad and Louigi, i thank you too.
-Ceeya Bolman.
-Dr.Prem Shekar.
-Suellen (Thanks a lot for your help including your nice pre-operative education)
-Kayla Quin.
-Diane.
-Liz
-Sara
-Brenda
-Egidia (Thank you so much as well for a lot of things including translation.)
-Dr.James Rawn.
-Denise
-Marie.
-Dr. John Connell
and others.
Finally, this is how my life has changed:
1) Now, I have a very regular heart beats. Yesterday, I visited the cardiologists from India at King Faisal Hospital and they were so proud of my heart and it's functions.
2) Gain of 20 kg of muscles. When I came to Boston, my weight was 35 kg(78 pounds) where as right now I have 56 kg(124 pounds)
3) I am strong and energetic. Dr.Bolman said "At the end of November, Erneste, you could'nt hold him down! He rode between 12 and 18 miles." Now I have increased the distance, I ride 80 km within 6 hours and I feel normal.
4) I am back to school! This is my best performance. When I looked at myself the time I was very sick, I never expected to go back to school but now I am back there and the studies became much easier than I think or than before (Here I give a lof of thanks to Ceeya and her husband who pay my school fees and my medical treatments.
5) I am able to deal with every daily activities.
6) When Ceeya, Suellen and Kayla brought me home, they saw a mountain where I used to walk by using 1 hour, but we walked up that mountain and we used 10 minutes.
Thank you so much, I wish you the best and my God bless you.
Youngman from Rwanda, Always proud of you.
Much love,
Erneste SIMPUNGA
I really repeat that When you save a life,You also save the future at the same time.
ReplyDeleteYoungman from Rwanda