A test of faith for ill son Floyd, mum Sharon

By MAZIE SELMBIA
ON June 8, 2018, when mother-of-one Sharon Landime was in the maternity ward delivery room ready to give birth to her second child, she had no idea what she was going to face.
At around 11pm, when she gave birth to son Samson Floyd Floriantius at the Angau Memorial General Hospital, the midwife noticed an abnormality on the infant’s feet. It was a case of the Talipes equinovarus or clubfoot, where the foot points downwards or inwards. It needed to be treated at the Physiotherapy Unit using the Plaster of Paris.
Then on the third week, Sharon noticed a swelling on Floyd’s abdomen, making it difficult for him to pass stool. A surgeon confirmed that little Floyd had the Hirscprung disease – missing nerve cells in the muscles of part or all of the large intestine which causes difficulty in passing stool.
He underwent his first surgery on June 27. During the surgery, the anesthetist noticed that Floyd was going into cyanosis – when the skin, lips or nails turn blue due to a lack of oxygen in the blood.
The surgeon closed up the abdomen and created a small colostomy – a small hole made in the colon from outside the body for waste to pass through.
Then the anesthetist also discovered that Floyd might have a hole in his heart. Mum Sharon could not believe what was happening to his new-born son.
“The surgeon and the anesthetist called me into the theatre to explain their new findings and the outcome of the surgery. Three problems to tackle in the days, weeks, months and years to come.”
She had to take his son to the physiotherapy clinic every Friday, to the cardiac clinic on the first Tuesday of every month, and to the surgical clinic for the review of his colostomy every three months.
She prayed to God to help his son come through it.
On top of his scheduled visits to the clinics, the little boy had to be taken to the hospital to be treated for diarrhea and dehydration, or pneumonia.
“It was a hell of a long, tiring time.”
In November that year, the doctor who was supposed to operate on Floyd’s feet cancelled it when he noticed that both feet had returned to normal.
“We were delighted that one problem was over and only two to concentrate on.”
Despite all the attention on her son, Sharon also had to consider her career as a medical supervisor and health extension officer at the Wafi-Golpu project site.
“I had to resign in 2019 because I couldn’t continue to apply for leave without pay to attend to his reviews.”

“ We put our trust in God because I know that before He made Floyd, he has something big for me, something great in store for Floyd and me. So I put my trust in God that he alone will fix Floyd in his own time.”

In August 2019, American heart doctors visiting Lae had a look at the little boy.
“It was another miracle when the heart doctor found after a scan that the hole in his heart was getting smaller. Floyd did not have to undergo heart surgery and was discharged from the heart clinic.”
Now only the colostomy problem was left.
“After resigning from my job in 2019, I remained as a house wife until January 2020 when I got an offer from the Morobe health authority to be a clinical health extension officer at the Bulolo Rural Hospital.”
Sharon took her family to live in Bulolo town, although they still needed to travel to Lae for Floyd’s clinics.
She took Floyd to Lae seven times. But due to the malfunctioning of hospital equipment, closure of the consultation clinic when the Covid-19 struck, his readmissions became a problem.
“In 2021, I decided to leave Bulolo to be in Lae with Floyd.”
But because the consultation clinic was closed indefinitely, Sharon decided to ask for a referral to the Port Moresby General Hospital.
“In April, 2022 I was employed by a new organisation as a patrol health officer in Western. So I took Floyd and his babysitter Yamali to POM. I had to take leave without pay again to get Floyd into PomGen.”
Floyd was later admitted in the surgical ward.
During the Easter week in 2022, Floyd underwent his second surgery to close off his colostomy.
“After his surgery, he couldn’t sleep and was in severe pain due to a blockage in his big intestine.”
Doctors came in on Easter Sunday to prepare him for another surgery. Another colostomy was created before he was discharged a week later. He needed to go back for monthly reviews until June that year.
“When we brought Floyd back for the closure of his colostomy in June 2022, the surgeons found that the old operation scar on his big intestine had developed more thick scar tissues, meaning he had to go into the theatre for another seven hours to remove the scar.”
Floyd underwent his third surgery when he was only four years old.
In September, 2022, Floyd was taken to the Pacific International Hospital for a special X-ray. It showed that everything was okay.
Floyd went into the operating theatre to have an anal dilation to prepare him for the closure in December, 2022.
Floyd was discharged by his surgeon and allowed to return home to Lae in the first week of December.
“We returned to Lae in December 2022 with his colostomy. On Feb 14, 2023, his surgeon finally closed his colostomy at Angau. After five years, my son was now free from the colostomy.”
Floyd is currently enjoying life as a normal child with his family at Mutzing station, Markham, Morobe. He began elementary school this year at the local primary school.
Mum Sharon is relieved and thanks God for His healing power.
“We put our trust in God because I know that before He made Floyd, he has something great in store for Floyd and me. So I put my trust in God that he alone will fix Floyd in his own time.”