American doctor returns to Vietnam, removes tumors from five patients

The patients include Nguyen Hoang Thien An, a 19-year-old girl from the resort city of Vung Tau, who had surgery on September 24; 32-year-old Le Hoang Em and 22-year-old Kieu Thi My Dung, who were operated on on September 25; and Nguyen Thi Anh Thi, 26, as well as Nguyen Mai Tho, 17, who had surgery on September 26.

The operations were led by Dr. McKinnon, and assisted by FVH’s medical team, including Dr. Nguyen Quang Dai, head of the Otolaryngology Department; Dr. Gerard Desvignes, head of General Surgery; FVH’s Medical Director, Dr. Roswitha Budge-Wolfram; and Dr. Dao Thi My Van, head of Anaesthesia and ICU.

The first patient, Thien An, was sent to the operating room at 3:00pm and was anaesthetized for about an hour. The surgical team started operating on her at around 4:00pm, and successfully finished their work at 8:30 pm yesterday.

According to McKinnon, Thien An is expected to have a good-looking face, with the tumor almost completely removed, and her nose and right eye reconstructed.

In July of last year, An was operated on by the U.S. doctor for the first time.

An developed a small lump on the right side of her face when she was nearly one year old. The lump grew bigger and eventually turned into a large tumor which destroyed her face, while An’s family couldn’t afford treatment.

When An was 12 years old, her parents had collected enough money and took her to the a hospital in Tien Giang for surgery, but the tumor grew quickly after the operation.

In 2008, the she was admitted to the HCMC Oncology Hospital for another operation to cut the tumor. Once again, it re-developed quickly.

In 2013, Thien An was among several patients with serious facial tumors selected by the VinaCapital Foundation, a charitable organization, to be examined or operated on by American doctor McKinnon for free.

In early July, Thien An had several health and facial examinations at FVH. On July 29, Dr. McKinnon came for the last consultation and decided to operate on the patient as soon as possible.

Thien An is a poor student with good grades, so she was financially supported by Vovicare, a charity society run by overseas Vietnamese in Australia. She is currently a student at Nguyen Tat Thanh University in HCMC’s District 4.

Vovicare and the Vinacapital Foundation jointly covered the cost of McKinnon’s charity trip to Vietnam, as well as all the operations he has performed so far.

Besides Thien An, Dr. McKinnon removed 95 percent of a massive tumor from the face of Le Hoang Em, a 31-year-old Vietnamese man, who had also been operated on by the doctor previously.

On January 5, 2012, Dr. McKinnon finished his massive operation on Nguyen Duy Hai and removed an 82-kilogram tumor on his leg, which had caused suffering for years.

McKinnon has long been known as one of the best surgeons for complex tumor cases thought impossible to remove. His best known cases include Lori Hoogewind, an American woman with a 90.7-kilogram tumor; and Lucica Bunghez, a Romanian who had an 80-kilogram growth.

McKinnon’s most serious tumor cases are usually turned down by big hospitals, even in America, who thought removing these extremely large lumps was too dangerous for the patients. Over the years, the surgeon has saved hundreds of patients and returned them to normal lives and appearances. Rarely giving interviews about his work, he has quietly and tirelessly concentrated on his work, with a confidence built by years of training and experience.