Liberian Patient Reunites with Douglas Anderson, MD, 36 Years After Life-saving Procedure

MAYWOOD, IL – On Friday, July 29, Grace Troko Schilder visited Loyola University Medical Center with her mother and cousin to reunite with Douglas Anderson, MD, the neurosurgeon who performed a life-saving operation to remove a brain abscess when she was just three years old.

In 1986, three-year-old Grace was living in Liberia and suffering from seizures. "The first time she had a seizure, we were very concerned," said Velma Troko, Grace's mother. "She went from complaining of a headache to not being able to move one side of her body."

At a local clinic, Grace was given antibiotics and returned to normal by the next morning. To Grace's parents, who were both doctors, this indicated there may be a space-occupying lesion in her head.

In an attempt to help the family, a pediatrician from Indiana visiting Liberia at the time wrote to a pediatric neurologist in Chicago about Grace’s condition. While they waited for a response, Grace's condition worsened as she continued to suffer from headaches, loss of appetite and weight loss. A letter finally came back from the U.S., inviting them to Chicago to seek further treatment for Grace.

"As a mother and a doctor, it was scary," said Velma. "We prayed that God would hold whatever was in Grace's brain in place until we could find a solution, and we prayed that she would have no seizures as we traveled from Africa to the U.S."

When they landed in Chicago at 2 pm, they visited a local hospital for a CAT scan. Upon seeing the results, the pediatrician called his colleague Dr. Anderson right away to ask him to see them. Dr. Anderson invited them to his home and, after looking at the scans, determined that they would need to operate immediately to remove a brain abscess.

"My schedule was booked for the next two weeks, but here was this mother with her daughter and they had traveled so far for help, and the abscess had already been causing symptoms for a month," said Dr. Anderson. "We called Loyola and scheduled them to be admitted that same night."

By 1 am, less than twelve hours after arriving in the U.S., Grace went in for her first surgery. While the surgery went well, Grace wasn't fully out of the woods. "Abscesses are always dangerous; they can grow, they can burst, so they need to be treated with antibiotics quickly and, frequently, need to be drained to be removed in its entirety," said Dr. Anderson. "Grace's abscess had grown a satellite in a harder-to-reach area of her brain, so we weren't able to remove all of it in one surgery."

"When you're a doctor and a parent, sometimes you know too much. I can now say that sometimes ignorance can be good. At the time, I had no cell phone to call my husband or family. We could rely only on faith and the prayers we were receiving from others," Velma said.

Grace would go on to have a second surgery before returning to Liberia six weeks later. Today, Grace lives in Munich with her husband. She has experienced no health issues since the surgeries.

"It's quite surreal to hear the stories my mother has told about her experience," says Grace. "I don't have any memory of any of this time in my life, but what's driving me to be here is my gratitude and recognition of how significant this was."

36 years later, Grace returned to the U.S. for a reunion with Dr. Anderson. On Friday morning, July 29, 2022, Grace visited Loyola University Medical Center for a tour of the hospital. For Grace and her mother, the kindness they were shown in 1986 means everything to them.

"We arrived in the U.S. with so few connections and everyone just welcomed us into their communities with open and loving arms," said Velma. "Everyone we met demonstrated God's love when they accepted us with open arms and we can only say thank you. We will never be able to repay them because they have given Grace her life."

"To come here today and know that so many people did so much for me just so that I can live is one of the biggest things ever and completely changes the way I think about myself," said Grace. "There was no limit to what Dr. Anderson and the community gave to me, and it reminds me there is no limit to what I can give back to the world. That has always been my life vision, and today is really confirming that. This is a life-changing moment, and it makes me determined to share the love that I've received."

Watch Grace's full story