The surgery for patient Doan Thi Thuy was performed for the first time in Vietnam after Dr. Nguyen Thanh Liem returned from his training. Before that, no one with the same disease as her had been saved.
Ms. Thuy (right side of the photo) met Professor Nguyen Thanh Liem before Tet At Ty - Photo: FBNV
On the eve of Tet, Professor Nguyen Thanh Liem, former Director of the National Children's Hospital, shared on his personal page about a special meeting that surprised even the Professor.
Found the benefactor
Professor Liem recounted: The secretary reported that there was a visitor and two women came in, but one kept crying. When asked, he was surprised that this was the patient he had operated on 31 years ago. The patient had congenital biliary atresia and before 1994, no child with this disease had been saved in our country.
"When I returned from my training in France, the patient was fortunate to have the Kasai surgical technique applied for the first time in Vietnam and was successful. Now, the patient has become the mother of two children and has a happy family," said Mr. Liem.
For him, the tears and happy smiles he saw this time were the biggest Tet gift this year.
The patient that year was Ms. Doan Thi Thuy (32 years old, Vietnamese living in the Czech Republic).
Doan Thi Thuy was born on December 23, 1993 in Giao Thuy district (Nam Dinh), the first child in a farming family. At birth, she was completely healthy, but about 2 months later, she started to refuse to eat, her skin was pale, and she cried all day and night. Her parents took Thuy to the district for treatment, but the doctor did not know what was wrong and had to send her home.
The family took the child to the provincial hospital again and the doctor discovered congenital biliary atresia, but at that time this was an incurable disease. They advised the family to take the child home.
At home, the baby cried loudly, not breastfeeding day and night, the young couple also cried with the baby. Neighbors told them about the Swedish Children's Hospital (now the National Children's Hospital), maybe they could cure it.
Professor Liem said he has met many patients he treated like Ms. Thuy. The photo above shows a "letter" he received from the family of a child patient who also had congenital biliary atresia - Photo: FBNV
The Surgery of Life
At the Swedish Children's Hospital, there were 3 children with biliary atresia in the room, but only Thuy survived.
Thuy's parents said that the surgery was performed by Dr. Nguyen Thanh Liem, who had just returned from studying abroad in France. Before the surgery, the doctor met with the family and only gave them a 50% chance of success, but that was too much hope for the family.
After the surgery, Thuy's life was saved. Every year, her parents took her to Hanoi for check-ups twice until she was 5 years old. When she was 13, her parents took Thuy to the Czech Republic.
Since going to school, Thuy's parents told her about her childhood illness and Doctor Liem was the one who revived her for the second time.
"My parents always told me to find Dr. Liem to thank him. My parents gave me a body, that doctor gave me life. My whole family is grateful for that," Thuy shared.
When she returned to Vietnam 2 years ago, Thuy went to look for her benefactor, but when she asked at the National Children's Hospital, she learned that Professor Liem had retired. After that, Thuy could not find the doctor, so she returned to the Czech Republic.
On this occasion, Thuy returned to Vietnam to celebrate Tet with relatives and her biggest wish was to meet Dr. Liem.
"Thanks to many connections, I know the address where the doctor is working, but the problem is how to get a famous doctor and scientist to meet me. People around me say my wish is unrealistic," Thuy confided.
This woman did not give up because she believed that true love would be found. Thuy went to the private hospital where Professor Liem worked after retirement to make an appointment (Professor Liem currently works at the Vinmec Stem Cell and Gene Technology Research Institute).
When meeting the doctor who examined her, Ms. Thuy "took the opportunity" to recount the surgery more than 30 years ago, hoping to meet her benefactor again.
Through that, Ms. Thuy was contacted through Professor Liem's secretary and an appointment was arranged for an afternoon at the end of the year.
"My parents told me hundreds of times that I must meet Dr. Liem and finally I did it. My family has been waiting for that thank you for more than 20 years. I could not hide my emotions, I was so happy that I cried when I met my benefactor again. Each person has one birth and I have two," said Ms. Thuy.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Liem is a famous pediatric surgeon, voted and recognized by Asian Science Magazine (Singapore) as one of the 100 typical Asian scientists in 2019 (Asian Scientist).
In his medical career, he has left a great mark on the world medical community: he has been a leading pediatric endoscopic surgeon since 1997, the first person to perform kidney and liver transplants for children, contributing 9 modern endoscopic techniques, bringing Vietnamese pediatric endoscopic surgery to the same level as the most advanced centers in the world.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Liem is the author of more than 200 medical scientific research works published domestically and internationally; he has been invited to lecture and demonstrate pediatric endoscopic surgery in many countries.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vuot-9-000-km-ve-viet-nam-gap-lai-vi-bac-si-phau-thuat-cuu-song-minh-30-nam-truoc-20250129093212816.htm
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