Albert anxiously awaits surgery

 OPERATION Open Heart surgery began yesterday on five patients, with 30 on the list for this week.

Terrah Albert, 20, from Tari, in Hela, is anxiously awaiting his turn today. 

He suffers from a rheumatic heart disease, a condition that shows damage to the heart valve. 

He was diagnosed with the disease as a five-year-old in 1998 and has been on medication since. 

Doctors were hoping that he would slowly recover. But that was not the case and referred him to have an open heart surgery to replace the damaged valve. He will go for surgery today at 9am.

“I am happy and confident that the specialists are here to help me with my condition and I know I will be okay,” Albert said.

Suzanne Bedford, a paediatric nurse with the Australian Open Heart Surgery team, is on her 13th trip and said the team hoped to complete 30 operations by Friday.

PNG doctors are only doing closed heart surgeries at the moment.