Dr.Joseph
Agris
The
copyrighted story below from the Houston
Chronicle details one of the hundreds of
medical and goodwill missions undertaken by
one of our clients, renowned Houston surgeon
Joseph Agris, M.D. (with a little help from a
few others, including Texas legend Marvin
Zindler, subject of Dr. Agris' most recent
book, White
Knight In Blue Shades). The
above photo of Doc Joe and a young patient
was taken on one of his many medical missions
to Central America. But Dr. Agris' compassion
knows no national or cultural boundaries...as
the story below proves.
April
9, 2004, 8:44AM
Amputees
arrive for treatment
Iraqi
businessmen's hands removed under dictator's
regime
By
ERIC BERGER
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Medical
Writer
Memories
of losing his right hand in an Iraqi prison,
Qasim Kadim says, are sharpest on very cold
nights. The remaining stump feels like a
block of ice.
Kadim,
a victim of Saddam Hussein's bloody regime,
may never have to experience the painful,
chilling feeling again. Now in Houston with
six other amputees, Kadim will soon receive a
$50,000 bionic arm courtesy of several
journalists, doctors and hospitals.
After
he learns to flex certain arm muscles, the
46-year-old Baghdad appliance importer will
be able to curl his fingers, make a fist and
perform many of the everyday tasks he now
struggles to accomplish. The bionic arm is so
advanced, it has "intelligent"
sensors that know when to delicately hold a
champagne glass or firmly grasp a tool.
As
miraculous as this new limb will be, Kadim
says, it's just one facet of the six-week
odyssey to the United States that he and his
fellow Iraqis are taking. The other half is
perhaps even sweeter, the gregarious father
of seven said with a smile. He relishes
introductions to all that Texas has to offer,
from chips and salsa to rodeo.
"It
is a very beautiful feeling to be here,"
Kadim said through a translator. "There
is nobody who doesn't want to come and see
the States. It is a dream come true."
The
seven Iraqis' right hands were surgically
removed, and a crosslike tattoo carved
between their eyes, because Saddam blamed
businessmen dealing with foreign interests
for the country's failing economy. The
regime's punishment was intended to
intimidate other business owners looking to
trade in international currencies.
The
Iraqis' journey to the Texas Medical Center
began when former TV correspondent Don North
saw video of the amputations last spring and
befriended the men. North contacted Marvin
Zindler, of KTRK-TV Channel 13, who
persuaded a German company, Otto Bock Health
Care, to donate the specialized prosthetic
limbs.
Zindler
then enlisted Dr. Joseph Agris, his cosmetic
surgeon, to prepare the men's arms for
surgery and remove the crosses from their
foreheads.
On
Wednesday, the Iraqis, newly arrived in
Houston, faced a decision they hadn't
contemplated. To properly fit the bionic
arms, Agris must shave another inch from
their mutilated arms. Without making this
trim, surgeons could only offer a
functionless cosmetic hand cupped to the
existing stump.
"We
showed them a hook and a cosmetic hand, and
then we showed them the bionic arm,"
Agris said. "It became an easy decision
for them."
After
blood work and other surgical prep Thursday,
the men will rest from their four-day trip
from Baghdad to Houston. Next week Agris,
using an operating room donated by The
Methodist Hospital, will slice the inch from
each man's arm and treat the nerve endings by
folding and capping them. Then, he said, the
men should no longer feel the pain that
occasionally shoots through their arms.
To
fit the prosthetics properly will require
casts of the men's arms. The new arms,
including matching skin color, will be
attached by Dynamic Orthotics and
Prosthetics, of Houston, the following week.
By mid-May, doctors said, the men should have
learned how to contract various muscles in
their forearms to move the hands.
"Hopefully,
after about three weeks, they'll be able to
throw a baseball," Agris said.
Kadim,
who traded in foreign currency, including
dollars, was importing cigarettes in August
1994 when he and other merchants were rounded
up by the Mukhabarat, Saddam's secret police.
For
two months, he said, special police beat him
and prodded his body with electric rods,
seeking information about who his trading
partners were.
"I
expected to be killed," Kadim said.
"Many others were."
After
being held by the police for about eight
months, Kadim found himself in a courtroom
with eight other businessmen who, after a
30-minute "trial," were convicted
of working in foreign currency. His defense
lawyer, Kadim recalls, never spoke.
After
their amputations in March 1995, Kadim says,
the men were kept in a prison hospital for
three days. Nurses would give them injections
for the pain but to no effect.
"I
believe it was water in the syringes,"
he said. "It was part of the
psychological torture."
Then
the men were released. Kadim says his family
brought 10 vehicles to pick him up, threw a
party and celebrated his emerging from the
notorious Abu Ghraib prison alive.
Although
the stinging pain in his right arm has
lessened, it remains, as do other reminders
of the amputation. Each time he wears a dress
shirt, he cannot button his left cuff. He
finds himself losing his balance, and he
endures the indignity of people assuming he
was convicted of stealing or some other
crime.
When
together, Kadim and his fellow amputees act
much like brothers, having shared a horrible
experience. While here, they say, they want
to experience everything, from NASA to
Houston's museums.
Already,
Agris has helped arrange for the seven Iraqis
to spend a weekend at the Y.O. Ranch west of
Kerrville, bunking together, seeing wildlife,
going horseback riding and experiencing what
is it is to be Texan.
The
Western allure of the Lone Star State, in
fact, seems to be most captivating. Among his
requests, Kadim asked to meet a real cowboy
or cowgirl.
On
Thursday, he broadly smiled when introduced
to Ashley Guest, a 15-year-old high school
rodeo champion from Crosby. After shaking her
hand, inquiring about the nature of barrel
racing, Kadim offered an unexpected comment.
"That,"
he said, "sounds very dangerous."
The above
story is copyright © 2004 by The Houston
Chronicle.
There's
more...
Doc Joe Agris
is also the co-founder, with Marvin Zindler,
of The Agris-Zindler Children's Foundation, a
non-profit 501(c) (3) organization created
especially to deliver badly needed care to
children and their families all over the
world, including the U.S. This encompasses
medical care, surgery, medications and
prostheses, as well as family support. For
more information, or to make a tax-deductible
donation (made payable to THE CHILDREN'S
FUND), write to The Agris-Zindler Children's
Foundation / 6560 Fannin Street, Suite 1730,
Scurlock Tower /Houston, Texas USA 77030. Or
call (713) 797-1700. (The Foundation also
accepts donations via credit card.)
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