After two major reconstructive surgeries in the United States, Katherine Akum Lum is back in the country.
For the most part, she feels the same, but for the first time in almost three years, she does not have to depend on a tube to urinate.
In an exclusive story carried by Guardian Media in February, Akum Lum, 54, spoke candidly about the extensive injuries she suffered on June 12, 2019, when lye was used to perform a pelvic washout after a hysterectomy at the St James Medical Complex.
After she appealed to Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh, the North West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA) covered all her surgery expenses and associated costs and she left for Urology of Virginia at Norfolk Sentra General Hospital via air ambulance on February 12.
But, now that she is back in the country, Akum Lum, a mother of one, is again on her own.
She explained that she now has to do a test and send the results to the medical team because she may have an infection.
She now wants a monthly financial assistance from NWRHA, at least until her court matter with them is settled.
“I am again appealing to Minister Terrence Deyalsingh to talk to the NWRHA to assist me. I am not working for almost three years. Right now, I don’t have no money. I am appealing to the minister. It takes a lot of money to support me in terms of the nursing care, the caregiver, grocery, my bills, my child.”
Akum Lum, who returned to the country on April 9, said she could not even send her 12-year-old son, who is in Form One, to school because she has no money to buy his uniform and other school supplies.
“All that they have done to me, it grieving me to know that everyone who did this to be happy, they living pain-free and I am the one who is suffering for a negligence they have done to me. I am in pain emotionally, financially and physically,” she lamented.
Akum Lum underwent two surgeries on February 17 and March 17.
“I was expecting that the morning after (the second surgery), I would be different but I am the same, so there was no major changes, except I’m passing some urine.”
She admitted that she cried when she had her first bladder movement.
But, the doctors left the nephrostomy tubes which connect from her kidneys through her back to two urine bags.
“The tubes and bags are still there but they put a valve so the urine is going to the bladder. It’s a trial run to see how my body is working. There is no guarantee that it will work. But, for me, it was a good thing. I felt a little happy in my heart even though I am not very different from when I went in, but I know they did something inside of me and I know they waiting on time to see how it works.”
Noting that after the second surgery, she had to do about 15 other procedures and she could not eat or drink for four days. Akum Lum said she had the best team of doctors and she thanked them for their compassion and care.
“They did the best they could do in their experience and knowledge, so at least I would hopefully be okay because remember, they have never come across a lye case before so it was not like a clear case that they could say we are going to do this and that and it is going to work.”
She has to return to the hospital in June for the doctors to see how she is progressing.
“I’m getting a lot of pain because there are a lot of implants inside of me but I am praying for the best as you know I am always praying.”
She again thanked everyone locally and abroad for their prayers and support.
Akum Lum, who worked as a successful building designer and project manager before the hysterectomy, said she cannot continue to beg family and friends for money.
She thanked her attorney, Anand Ramlogan, who has also been assisting her financially.
“How much pain the RHA wants me to go through for something they did? And for everything I have to beg them to do it. You cannot function when you have pain. I am talking to you and right now I feel my whole tummy coming out,” she lamented.
Akum Lum is also praying for a speedy completion of her negligence claim against the NWRHA.
