Recently, Dr. Pedro Beredjiklian, Chief of Hand & Wrist at Rothman Orthopaedic Institute helped facilitate a surgery, in conjunction with the group Puentes de Salud, on an undocumented immigrant facing deportation to Honduras. The gentleman was living for the past 25 years with a massive tumor engulfing his right hand. Dr. Beredjiklian sought the help of not only Rothman institute, but Jefferson Health and United Anesthesia to approve and complete the case pro bono. The surgery went very well, the patient did great postoperatively, and most importantly, there were no malignant cells.
“The tumor was huge and really monopolized the function of his hand,” said Dr. Beredjiklian. “It was so big it barely fit in the specimen study cups that are standard in the operating room. The tumor was sent for studies and we had to remove the excess skin, but all in all the surgery went very smoothly. I was happy to help out someone facing unfortunate circumstances. He probably would’ve had to live with this tumor for the rest of his life was it not for us.”