Cardiac Sonographer, Ramona Chanderballi

Oct 03, 2021 News

Our Frontline Worker of the Week is….

“For those who are unvaccinated and had COVID-19, they will tell you the symptoms do not stop when you test negative. And we’re not sure how long after they tend to last.”

By Sharmain Grainger

Kaieteur News – “Your heartbeat is your first and last sign of life…it needs to be protected so you can have many more heartbeats, we want you to have many more,” is the message being shared with the public by Ramona Chanderballi, a Cardiac Sonographer at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

Cardiac Sonograpger, Ramona Chanderballi

Chanderballi is among the tireless healthcare workers who are offering their services in the fight against COVID-19 at the premier public health institution. She sees at least three patients on a daily basis there and this has given her some insight into what COVID-19 can really do to the heart. This state of affairs was brought to the fore this past week as World Heart Day was observed on September 29. “For those who are unvaccinated and had COVID-19, they will tell you the symptoms do not stop when you test negative. And we’re not sure how long after they tend to last,” related our featured Frontline Worker.
According to her, “Getting vaccinated means that you will be able to possibly avoid hospitalisation if you get COVID-19. Vaccination means that if you get COVID-19 and require oxygenation supplement, you will most likely be able to walk out of the hospital alive.”
But there are even more plausible reasons to be vaccinated that have been presented by Chanderballi. “Getting vaccinated means that we can return to serving the thousands of Guyanese who have had their medical appointments delayed because of risk of cross-infection. Getting vaccinated means that the hundreds of Guyanese who had their surgeries delayed will be able to have it done before they become sicker and surgery is no longer an option. Getting vaccinated means that medical resources and medical personnel that were pulled from critical areas to work with COVID-19 patients will be able to return to meeting their communities’ needs. Getting vaccinated means that you care for yourself and your fellow Guyanese,” said Chanderballi as she observed that to date, billions of people across the world have taken the vaccine but “millions have died from COVID-19, not from the vaccine.”

FORMATIVE YEARS
Born Ramona Rajshree Chanderballi on November 4, 1991, she grew up with her mother,
Rayoutie Chanderballi, and grandparents, Bridgemohan and Padmawattie Chanderballi. As she reflected on her upbringing she shared, “my grandpa, who we call Nana, was a labourer and farmer and my Nanie (grandma) and mom used to help him sell at the market.” According to Chanderballi, her Nana, whom she loved, passed away in 2011 from coronary artery disease.

Decked in PPE.

Despite being her mother’s only child, she has some fond memories of her childhood. “I grew up with my cousins on my mom’s side who are like my siblings; Angela is the oldest, then me, followed by Renita and her little brother Ramario.”
She also recalled attending the Windsor Forest Nursery, Windsor Forest Primary and The Bishops’ High School, before attaining her tertiary education at the University of Guyana (UG). Her decision to choose a science focused career path, she intimated, was influenced by three of her mother’s brothers.
But there were initially some uncertainties when she decided to choose her career path. As she recalls it, “I actually got into Lower 6th Law at Bishops’ and by the end of the school year I realised that it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I’m still grateful for that year and the classes with Ms. Maison because it’s significantly helped me with our Health Act and with future projects in my field.”
Soon after completing secondary school, Chanderballi commenced an X-ray Technician Training programme that was conducted by the Ministry of Health which helped to prepare her for the pursuit of the Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Medical Imaging at UG. She is also a graduate of the Guyana Program for Advancing Cardiac Care (GAPCC)/Adult Echocardiography Education Program through the Institute of Health Sciences Education (IHSE) at the GPHC.
While it was her uncles’ influence that pushed her into the realm of Cardiac Sonograpy, Chanderballi admitted that there were other key things that helped to nudge her in that direction. For instance, “I watched my Nana and uncle (Nelson Rampersaud) die from heart disease and cardio-toxic heart failure. My family has a strong history of heart disease. I’ve also watched the changes and advancements in cardiac care that my Nana and uncle didn’t get access to and I’m honoured to be able to provide those services to our patients. My only regret is that they’re not here to see me accomplish so much. They were both influential and huge advocates for my education. And they were the biggest fans of me and my cousins’ educational advancements,” she shared.

IMAGING TECHNOLOGY
Cardiac Sonographers also known as Echocardiographers or Echocardiography Technologists, are health care professionals specially trained to use imaging technology to help physicians diagnose heart problems in patients. They operate ultrasound equipment that provides moving 2-D or 3-D images of the heart and its chambers.
According to Chanderballi, “We are involved in nearly every disease process and help doctors to make critical decisions like how soon patients will need surgical interventions like heart valve replacement. We track patients with congenital heart defects from their initial diagnosis to their pre-op clinic to their post-op follow up and then their annual check-ups. We also provide ultrasound guidance for minimally invasive interventions like pericardiocentesis where the doctor would drain fluid from around the heart. We are a part of the team you’ll see when you come in with a heart attack or stroke. We’re involved in tracking oncology patients through their chemo and radiotherapy treatments, as well as dialysis for kidney transplant patients.”
With the arrival of COVID-19, Chanderballi was required to become a dedicated member on the Post COVID-19 care team. In this capacity, she helps post-acute COVID-19 patients recover so that they can return to their normal lives. Added to this, she is able to see “Heart Clinic patients return and do well. Seeing our cardiac surgery patients, like valve replacement and bypass surgery and corrective congenital heart surgery patients, come in for their e

chos that were delayed because of the pandemic and having excellent results because they were following doctor’s orders over the phone. Seeing our oncology/cancer patients be able to resume their chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments after they’ve had their cardiac clearance from us and seeing our patients come in for their transplant pre-op work up so that they can finally get their surgery.”

GAME CHANGER
According to Chanderballi too, COVID-19 has been a game changer when it comes to adaptability. She recalled, “We went to bed one night with one patient testing positive for COVID-19 and woke up the next day in a pandemic.” Being in medical imaging and working with ionizing radiation has helped her to adjust to wearing PPE. And, since this has been one of the first global pandemics in recent times to depend heavily on medical imaging for treatment and management, she said “as medical imaging professionals we’ve had to learn to become advocates for our field.”
According to Chanderballi, who has been a Cardiac Sonographer for the past three years and worked as an X-ray Technician for about five years prior, it is important that efforts are made to ensure that patients with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome are dealt with in an efficient and effective manner. “If we don’t get a handle on this, we’ll end up with a large portion of our population ill from post-acute COVID-19 syndrome. And it does have significant cardiac manifestations such as arrhythmias and myocarditis which we are seeing in the data.”
Even as efforts are employed in this regard, a disappointed Chanderballi confessed, “It was shocking to learn how very little the world knows about us and how even less they understood what we did. We do not simply take pretty pictures of the body. We aid with medical diagnosis, treatment and management, and in some cases, image guided interventions.”
However, she is not fazed by this but is rather focused on what must be done to cripple the ever-evolving COVID-19 virus. In so doing, Chanderballi was among the first local healthcare workers to be vaccinated and is eager to receive a booster shot to add to her layers of protection. Even as she waits and encourages others to be vaccinated, she continues to faithfully, “wear my mask when I’m out in public and especially around people. I sanitise and wash my hands as often as I can. I wipe down my phone when I get home with a disinfecting wipe. I reduce the number of persons I’m in physical contact and I’ve used video calling because many of the persons I talk to don’t live in Guyana, so making more video calls versus meeting up was an easy transition.”