Tamryn Hanna with dr. BL van Niekerk. (Photo: Heléne Mocke/Maroela Media)
After years of unbearable pain and a rejected medical aid application, a homeschooler from Pretoria finally received a life-changing jaw surgery – thanks to a specialist and an entire medical team who performed the procedure for free.
Tamryn Hanna (36) already started experiencing problems with her jaw at the age of 18. According to dr. BL van Niekerk, a specialist oral, maxillofacial and facial surgeon at the Cintocare hospital, Hanna approached him for help about two years ago after her condition deteriorated drastically.
By then, she was struggling to eat, her jaw was often “hanging out” and she was experiencing severe pain. Van Niekerk says all investigations confirmed that surgical intervention was absolutely necessary.
“The diagnosis required absolute surgical intervention. All examinations indicated that the operation was necessary,” he says.
However, the operation, which is known as a bilateral temporomandibular joint procedure (TMJ), would cost thousands of rands. Because maxillosurgery fell almost entirely outside the benefits of her medical aid, the application for payment was rejected and the procedure could not proceed at the time.
The temporomandibular joint connects the jaw to the skull and is considered one of the most complex and used joints in the body. When it fails, it affects virtually every aspect of someone’s life: from eating and speaking to sleeping and social interaction.
Van Niekerk says Hanna’s case affected him deeply and continues to haunt him.
“This is the most meritorious operation I have ever seen in such a case,” he says.
Hanna says that Van Niekerk’s office called her unexpectedly after almost two years and asked if she had already undergone the operation. When he heard that she still lives in pain and that her jaw sometimes dislocates when she chews hard food, Van Niekerk decided right then and there that Hanna would be his very first pro bono patient for the procedure.
On Friday, he performed the operation completely free of charge, after all other treatment options had been exhausted.
“She did everything right. She had a medical fund, she was under specialist treatment and all conservative treatments were exhausted over a long period of time. Yet her medical fund refused,” he says.
However, the operation would not have been possible without the help of an entire team.
Teresa de Bruyn (hospital manager), Annette Oberholzers (sister), Elreza Scholtz (sister), Tamrym Hanna and her doctor dr. BL van Niekerk, Van der Merwe Van Niekerk (theatre assistant), Liezl du Preez (anesthetist), Sindysiwa Mnyengeza (sister) and Yolanda Vermaak (marketing officer of the hospital). (Photo: Heléne Mocke/Maroela Media)
Liezl du Preez, an anesthetist attached to Van Zyl Narkotiseurs, Van der Merwe Van Niekerk, the theater assistant, the hospital management and nursing staff all provided their services free of charge.
The anchors implanted in Hanna’s jaw were also provided free of charge by the supplier Arthrex.
Yolanda Vermaak, marketing officer at Cure Day Hospital Midstream, says the hospital performs between ten and 12 free surgeries every year.
“The approval processes are strict, but the hospital ensures that life-changing operations are performed for those who need it most,” she says.
Vermaak also says Hanna’s procedure is Van Niekerk’s first pro bono operation since he joined the hospital in September last year.
“He also recently reached his 100th patient,” she says.
Van Niekerk says, however, that Hanna’s case is not unique and that he performs between one and two similar operations per week.
He believes this points to a bigger problem in South Africa’s healthcare system where medical funds reject procedures that specialists consider to be medically necessary. According to him, this often leaves patients caught between what is medically necessary and what their medical fund is willing to pay.
Meanwhile, Hanna expressed her gratitude to everyone who was involved in the procedure and says she is deeply grateful to the actors who help to change her life.