Update on Uch Tith's Surgery

Thanks so much for your generous donations and prayers for Uch Tith's heart surgery.  He was seen by the US Christian cardiologist on February 20th and I just got this follow up report:

"He has severe MS and pulmonary HTN, class II NYHA.  We have added metoprolol 25 mg twice per day and will reevaluate him in two months.  He will need a Mitral Valve Replacement in the future. We have to triage our patients.  We have so far already scheduled 13 patients for open heart surgery, and will probably have 15 other patients who need surgery now.  We will have to try to get funding for the other 15 patients.  Our other patients, class II to III will have to wait until next year".

Dr Tim who is the Director of the MMC Clinic here in Phnom Penh went on further to explain: 

NYHA is an abbreviation for the New York Heart Association classification rating the severity of the disease. 1 is mild and 4 is severe. Since he is a 2, and there are those who are more severe than he is, he has been put on the waiting list. The balance is making sure that we don't wait too long. He may be stable for the next year on medications but it is possible that he would deteriorate. They are certain that he will need a Mitral Valve Replacement (MVR) in the near future. 

So this is both good news and bad news.  The bad news is that he will need the valve replacement surgery and they have a number of more severe cases that the visiting cardiac team from the US have prioritized to treat first.  This means that the US surgical team will most likely not be able to do Uch Tith's surgery on this trip.  The good news is that his disease is not yet at an advanced stage and he will be re-evaluated in 2 more months to determine how soon they will need to schedule his surgery.

This is one of the challenges of living in the developing world where there are only a finite number of heart surgeries that can be done at a time when this visiting team of US cardiologists come to Cambodia for short-term medical ministry...  They are doing surgery on the ones who are most critical and who have a good prospect to be helped.   Uch Tith will need the surgery but there are others who are in even greater need than him right now so the US cardiologists have had to prioritize.

In terms of how to pray,

1.  I have been in close dialog with Uch Tith's pastor who has explained this to him.  Pray that Uch Tith and his family would have God's peace and sense of God's care in the midst of this.  This can be a good opportunity for him to grow and exercise his new found faith
2.  Pray that the medications would be effective in holding off more damage to his heart and the Lord would work out the perfect timing for his surgery.
3.  Pray for the US cardiologists to have wisdom from the Lord as they make the very difficult calls about the people they need to prioritize for these surgeries and of course pray for these many people who need these surgeries.

I know it is disappointing that Uch Tith will not be getting this surgery right away.  I want to assure you that the funds that have been donated for his surgery will be kept for him until his surgery is done.  As there is clarity on the timing of his surgery, I will be sure to keep you posted.

In Christ, Dave Manfred, C&MA Mission, Cambodia

Finances for Uch Tith's Heart Surgery have been met

Dear Praying Friends:

We are so thankful to the Lord and to God's people that the full amount for Uch Tith's heart surgery was just committed today.

We thank all of you who either gave or prayed for this need.  I spoke with Uch Tith's pastor today and Tith was overwhelmed by the response of so many strangers as he heard that we were getting close to the amount that he needed for the surgery.  This has been such a boost to his new faith and such a powerful testimony to both his close family and extended family.  Thank you for being an answer to his prayers and giving him a new chance at life.

For your ongoing prayers, he is scheduled to meet the cardiac surgeons on Feb. 20 and then a date for his surgery will be set.  I will let you know with a follow up email after the surgery is completed.  If there are those of you who would like to get an ongoing update on how things are progressing, I will post the surgery date and any other significant details on this blog as they develop.

Thanks once again for your faithfulness in praying for this man and for this good work that the Lord has begun...  and that it would be brought to completion (Philippians 1:6).

Blessings, Dave and Chris