Diagnosed with Achilles tendon tear & colon cancer: Local doctors share their stories |19 September 2020

Dr Paolo De Carli (left) and Dr Stefano Rosso

In the following accounts, Dr Paolo De Carli, consultant in charge of the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) department at the Seychelles Hospital, and Dr Stefano Rosso, dentist and owner of Italdent clinic in Providence, share their stories of overcoming serious health problems with the excellent service that they said they received at the Seychelles Hospital.

“I am Dr Paolo De Carli and I have over 20 years of working experience in the Public Health System as well as in hospitals in Italy, Europe and USA. I am a Specialist ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat), Head and Neck Surgeon since 1999, consultant in charge of the department at the Seychelles Hospital, Ministry of Health, since 2017. It has been 3 intense years of hard work in which I have given and received a lot.

“I brought the Seychelles’ ENT medical specialty to very high levels in the world, so much so that no patient has had to go abroad to be operated on for any kind of ENT pathology. All this is due to the hard work of the hospital’s staff who collaborate with me every day and every night without time limits. I take the opportunity of this interview to thank all the staff for their self-sacrifice and commitment.

“About a year ago, I started complaining of tendon pain with initial difficulty in walking. I met Dr Abdel Guennani, CIC of the orthopaedic department, and he recommended me to have an X-ray. The report of that spoke about chronic calcification. I started to do physiotherapy for a long time with Mr Antony Souris and then he advised me to continue with ‘shock waves’ therapy at the National Sports Council (NSC) in Roche Caiman together with Dr Martin.

“Probably due to long working days, hobbies like jogging, and because the ENT staff does not have a place to break for some minutes in the hospital, my condition got worse; I could hardly walk anymore and I could no longer climb the stairs.

“I performed an MRI in my left leg and the diagnosis was 75% tear of Achilles tendon with avulsion from the bone. This traumatic injury needs very fast surgery to have the possibility of recovery. So in the week, Dr Abdel Guennani operated on me; it was one very delicate reconstructive surgery with tendon plastic (duration of the surgery was 3h1/2) for the big extensive lesion and large calcification.

“After that I had a cast for 7 weeks. Now I have started physiotherapy and I'm still doing it with good benefits. I feel much better than I felt before the surgery.

“I will be back to work soon with more enthusiasm and energy than before, because I have discovered that I have many friends in the hospital. All the operation theatre (OT) staff were excellent with me and the anesthetists helped me so much to have very good, pain-free anesthesia. The D’Offay Ward where I was admitted was very clean and comfortable, and offered efficient and professional staff support.

“Warm thanks to Dr Abdel Guennani for his high level of professionalism and kindly affection for me during all these months. Thanks to his colleagues as well. Thank you also to Mr Antony for his daily assistance.

“Despite Covid-19 which has blocked the whole world, Seychelles healthcare has never stopped and has continued in a moment of emergency like this to maintain high quality standards.

“It is important that as many people as possible know of experiences like mine in order to continue to have faith in our healthcare system.”

“I am Stefano Rosso, I am 53 years old and I am an Italian dentist. I have lived in the Seychelles for almost 8 years and I am the owner of my dental clinic, Italdent Ltd, located in Providence.

“I graduated from the University of Genoa (Italy) in 1991 with a vote of 110/110 cum laude. I am the son of doctors and since 1991, I have been working independently, having owned 3 dental clinics belonging to my family in Italy.

“I chose to come and live here in the Seychelles in 2012 and I immediately got into my new reality. I am very happy with my choice and knowing that there are competent doctors here gives me confidence.

“In the first months of this year I was feeling a little weak and after taking the appropriate blood tests, I found that I was anemic. I started an iron-based treatment, but it wasn't enough to solve my problem.

“As soon as possible, at the beginning of July 2020, I booked a colonoscopy. As per protocol, two days earlier, I performed an ultrasound at the hospital, which immediately diagnosed a possible mass in the right colon.

“Very kindly, Dr Mahmoud Farouk immediately performed my colonoscopy and unfortunately I was diagnosed with carcinoma. I was immediately hospitalised and the next day the doctors gave me a complete CT scan. After a few days, on July 21, 2020, I had surgery performed by Dr Henry Telemaque. I was in the hospital for about 10 days, constantly assisted by all the nurses.

“Everyone was always very professional; the cleanliness of the room and the service were truly excellent. As an Italian doctor, I can confirm that it seemed to be in a European private clinic, with much faster times. In less than a month, I did it all; in Italy it would have taken 4 - 5 months.

“After I was discharged, I spent a few days off at home, continuing to lead my normal life with my family and friends.

“As recommended by Dr Telemaque, I started a preventive chemotherapy course with Dr Simon Duverger and his colleagues.

“Now, I only have to go to the hospital once every 3 weeks. In the meantime I am working normally, I have regained the energy I had lost with the anemia, and my life is absolutely normal.

“I warmly thank Dr Telemaque, all his excellent staff, the head nurse MME Morel who was very close to me, Dr Mahmoud Farouk , the oncologists Dr Simon Duverger and all his staff who are following me in the healing phase.”

Compiled by F.P.