While benign cysts and warts are harmless, such non-cancerous skin growths cause discomfort and looks unpleasant. Many poor Filipinos could not afford the cost of minor operation to remove such unwanted lumps and simply bear it.
Humanitarian group Tzu Chi Medical Foundation Philippines, which provides free eye surgeries through the Tzu Chi Eye Center (TCEC) in Sta. Mesa, Manila, reached out to people with benign cysts and warts and its volunteer surgeons removed these at no cost to them.
On 28 June, Tzu Chi volunteers and staff transformed one of the TCEC’s consultation rooms into a bustling minor surgical theater. They set up three operating tables where Dr. Timoteo Yu, Dr. Anthony Lim and Dr. Robert Sy, vice president of the foundation, operated simultaneously.
While superficial, there are cysts like neurofibroadenomatosis which afflicts Felimon Aguirre. The 51-year-old continually develops fatty lumps or lipomas across his body.
For this reason, Aguirre has been in a constant search for free clinics and surgical missions since his diagnosis 15 years ago.
“The first time I went to a hospital, they quoted me P500 for each cyst. I could not afford it, so I always wait for surgical missions like this,” Aguirre recalled, according to a post on the foundation’s Facebook page.
Sy spent about an hour operating on Aguirre, making six incisions on his abdomen to remove 10 substantially sized lipomas.
He described Felimon’s condition as an unending operation.
“Even if you remove plenty today, they will reappear in another part of the body,” he said, according to the post.
Christopher Abellana, 44, had lived with a bump on his forehead for 17 years. Its conspicuous location was a constant source of low self-esteem.
Yu successfully removed the lump.
“This means a lot! I earn just enough to support my family; an operation was simply beyond my means,” Abellana told the foundation.
Truck porter Sammy Gabriel Jr. echoed Abellana’s sentiment. Two years ago, a small, mung bean-sized cyst had appeared on Sammy’s scalp. It grew relentlessly, causing pain and alarm. Lim removed the benign tumor. Gabriel embraced him — a warm, tight hug conveying gratitude that words could not express.
It was not the first time that TCEC helped people with benign cysts. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Sy led a team of volunteer surgeons in performing such operations on disadvantaged patients at the Tzu Chi recycling station in Barangay Tatalon, Quezon City. The project aimed to minimize risk of patients going to hospitals during the pandemic. However, as more patients showed dire need for such services, the team decided to conduct another similar mission last month.