Rare surgery by Shriners saves leg of girl from Samoa

Four-year-old Grace Misipati suffered from a rare tumor in her right leg since she was 5 months old but didn’t have access to the medical care she needed in her rural Maagao Village in Samoa.

Doctors at Shriners Hospitals for Children-Hono­lulu, during an outreach clinic to the island, discovered a severe curvature in her leg was the result of a benign tumor that needed to be removed right away to prevent the active child from becoming crippled.

Grace is the second Shriners patient in the past six months to undergo reconstructive micro surgery. In May, doctors replaced the midshaft of Grace’s tibia, or shin bone, in her right leg with the thinner fibula bone from her left leg to correct the deformity.

A similar surgery for another patient was performed by Shriners in March.

But this type of surgery is uncommon. These were the only two surgeries of their kind that Shriners-Honolulu performed during the past five years.

Shriners was established in Honolulu in 1923 to provide pediatric orthopedic services for children with bone, joint and neuromuscular conditions regardless of ability to pay.

"Her need was very great; we couldn’t wait a couple years. This was something thatneeded to be done," said Arabella Leet, Shriners chief of staff.

Leet said the massive tumor involved 80 percent to 90 percent of her leg bone.

"It was at risk of breaking," she said. "It’s hard to imagine she would’ve keptwalking (if left untreated)."

Shriners, which conducts outreach clinics in Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa and Fiji, sees 3,000 Pacific Island patients each year, said hospital administrator Stan Berry. Currently, about 40 percent of Shriners patients come from the Pacific Basin.

"The need never ceases to exist because health care in those regions is so limited," Berry said. "Often­times these arefamilies that haven’t traveled far from their villages and never thought of getting on the airplane and coming to Honolulu."

Before the procedure, Shriners also did extensive dental work involving a dozen root canals on Grace Misipati, who didn’t have access to a dentist. Oral health is critical in preventing infection after surgery. Shriners spent between $80,000 and $100,000 on the surgery and dental care. Annually, the nonprofit hospital spends $13 million on charity care.

Grace and her mother will return to Samoa on Friday.

"Now Grace can live a normal life back home," said her mother, Malaga Misipati, who through an interpreter said she is overwhelmed with joy and never dreamt there was a procedure like this.