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Our September 2005 mission to Dominica was filled with challenges and successes.
There were many feel-good stories, involving both caring service and heart-felt
gratitude. One such story comes from the Portsmouth site and involves 2 doctors,
Steve Caddle and Lydell Lettsome, and a nurse practitioner, Devika Brijlall.
Dr Caddle, a pediatrician, reports that, at the end of a long day, he met 21-year old
Khalid who had come in with an orofacial tumor that had been growing for 3 years. Dr
Caddle immediately realized that the tumor required surgery and, although our team
included surgeons like Dr Lettsome, we were not equipped to do surgeries at that
time. Unable to get help in Dominica, Khalid had been to the neighboring island of
Martinique but was unable to afford the surgery due to his financial condition. Dr
Caddle was moved to help the young man and took some pictures and got contact
information for follow-up.
He subsequently consulted with Dr Lettsome and they decided that any help would
have to be rendered in the USA. Dr Lettsome connected him with another surgeon at
Interfaith Medical Center but this led nowhere. After chasing down a few more dead-
end leads, including “Operation Smile” and his own institution, and no doubt feeling
hopeless, Dr Caddle went on another Dorcas mission, this time to Grenada in
September, 2006. It was this trip and his continued contact with an eager and
persistent Khalid that re-vivified his hope.
Upon his return to New York, he contacted a colleague at Montefiore, where he had
trained and, coincidentally, where Devika was working at the time. He was able to
convince the Montefiore team to cover most of the expenses of the surgery and the
surgeons to donate their time. As it turned out, there was at Montefiore a Dominican
nurse, Arlette Paul, who was able to help with government in Dominica to get Khalid
to New York.
In New York, Khalid stayed with Arlette and Devika, who took him to his appointments
and stayed with him throughout the process to alleviate his distress. In her words, “He
didn’t have a family member here, so we became his family, his friends and his
support.” In November, 2006, Khalid underwent almost 8 hours of surgery at
Montefiore. Afterwards, he couldn’t believe the way he looked, “I was stunned, I was
speechless. I couldn’t stop looking in the mirror.” And, “Dr Caddle, I don’t know what
to say about him, he’s so great.”
Reconstructive surgery began in April, 2007, and Khalid is well on his way to better
days and to eventually realizing his dream of attaining an MBA degree. Remembering
the fact that as the cancer progressed, Khalid had got to a point where swallowing
food was nearly impossible, Dr Caddle remarks, “This is a testament to the work we
do and it gives me joy to have worked with Dorcas and to be able to help this person.
Glory be to God.”
Michael Samuels
Executive Director
Dorcas Medical
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