Before surgery, the 68-year-old woman in Guyana was experiencing 95 percent blockage of all the main arteries to her heart. Regular household chores like cooking and cleaning had become so difficult that the woman had to get outside help to keep her house tidy. Then, even eating started to cause pain.

“There were a lot of things I couldn’t do,” the woman said. “Everything you eat, you get the pain. And then you go to bed and you can’t sleep. That pain is not easy.”

In the United States, a critical lesion like this woman's would receive surgery within 48 hours of diagnosis. The woman in Guyana had been waiting nine months–with no end in sight.

That was, until Team Hearts arrived.

“If it wasn’t for them, I would have died by now,” the 68-year-old said. “God sent somebody for me. I got saved by the doctors.”

This woman, who underwent a successful coronary bypass surgery, was just one of the patients in Guyana offered a new lease on life by Operation International’s cardiac team. During their second mission with OI, the team performed an amazing 13 complex cardiac surgeries in just one week.

The valve replacement, tumor removal, and bypass surgeries completed during the trip have provided each patient a renewed ability to resume daily life without any pain and, in many of the cases, saved their lives. Here are just a few more of their stories:

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“I’m back on my feet”

One of several mitral valve replacements completed during the week, this young man’s surgery offered him the opportunity to return to work. Before the procedure, he struggled with shortness of breath during regular activities, he said.

As with many patients, the chance to undergo complex cardiac surgery was daunting, but the patient noted it was worth overcoming his fears.

“Before the surgery nobody knows what would have happened, but I trust them, I trust myself, and it came out successful,” he said. “I’m back on my feet now.”

The patient added that he is looking forward to playing football again, too.

“I’m very grateful for the team–I hope they can stick around to help people like they helped me,” he said.

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“They gave me a new life”

For this farmer, coronary artery bypass surgery was a new lease on life.

Before being treated by Team Hearts, the farmer hadn’t been able to work for several months due to the pain in his chest. Bending over had become so difficult he had to stay out of his garden completely, the man said.

“To do anything was very, very hard,” he told doctors. “[Now] I’m going to do much better. That’s what they have done for me.”

As with many of the patients, the man felt an improvement very soon after surgery. Just two days after his bypass, the man was up and walking around the hospital and said his breathing was “so far so good.”

“I thank the team so much–they gave me a new life,” he said.

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“It was a success”

One of the final surgeries of the week was a young 27-year-old man who Team Hearts heard about while in Guyana. The man had a large mass inside his heart that was causing shortness of breath and multiple clots to go to his lung.

“I was struggling for four months,” the man said.

Luckily, Team Hearts was able to add the 27-year-old patient to the schedule for an emergency surgery. They successfully removed the entire mass from his heart, team leader Dr. Sanju Balaram said.

“They did their job and I’m really impressed with the team,” the man said after surgery. “I was really nervous at first but they made me comfortable and it was a success.”

The 27-year-old said what he is most looking forward to after surgery is to play football again.

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Team Hearts' 2024 trip to Guyana was their second mission with Operation International. The team is a partnership between the Caribbean Heart Institute and OI to increase access the resources, technical equipment, and critical skillsets needed to perform complex cardiac surgery in Guyana and around the world.

“Life-saving work has been done here for many years, and the hope of this collaboration is to continue to grow and expand”, said Dr. Sanju Balaram, Team Heart Director.