Fire Sessions : Episode: 5

Guest: Dr Modupe Elebute-Odunsi, Founder/CEO Of Marcelle Ruth Cancer Care and Specialist Hospital

On the 5th edition of Fire Sessions, my guest was Dr Modupe Elebute-Odunsi, Founder/CEO Of Marcelle Ruth Cancer Care and Specialist Hospital.

Dr Modupe has been practicing Medicine for decades, and coming back to contribute to the betterment of the healthcare system in Nigeria is truly commendable. Having her share her story was truly inspiring.

“How is Marcelle Ruth?” I asked as the show began, to which she responds “We are good. It is a dream come true. It is a lot of work but we are gratified, and it feels like the right thing to do right now” she said.

I am grateful I am alive. I had my battle and she was having hers too. I saw her after being wheeled from the intensive care and I fainted.

Being passionate about Medicine, Dr Modupe’s earliest memories of wanting to do medicine was when she was 4. She recalls having a clear vision of going to visit her grandmother in the hospital. She was taken there by her dad and it was Lagos University Teaching Hospital. Her grandma’s bed was beside the window and her leg amputated. As a 4 year old, Modupe says it was traumatising. She realised as an adult that her grandma had diabetes and one of the complications of diabetes is having problems with blood vessels in the lower limb, which could result in patients having their legs amputated, though with recent development, she says there are things to do to ensure you don’t get to that level of amputation anymore.

“I remember standing there thinking I would love to do anything that would make grandma better. Beyond that, I come from a medical background, my parents were both Professors in Surgery and Medicine, and I am sure that played a role in my career path too.” Modupe tells me.

On her choice of area of specialty, when Modupe was in medical school, in her 4th year, because training in medical school means you spend time in different departments, she got fascinated with haematology, especially knowing that Nigeria has the highest incidence of the sickle cell gene, and just thinking she could help by ensuring appropriate diagnosis is carried out mattered a lot to her and influenced her area of specialty.

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“From making diagnosis, I can go to the clinic or emergency room to look after them thanks to the diagnosis, and till tomorrow, there is nothing more powerful. I recently had a case where the patient was diagnosed of acute leukaemia. Thanks to having the equipment, looking down the microscope and diagnosing on the spot, which allows us to make critical decisions, as a Haemato-Oncologyst, this is truly fulfilling, especially knowing that we can have all of that and more in one place, thanks to Marcelle Ruth.” She said.

Modupe Elebute did 4 years internal medicine so she is a Physician. She also had 4 years training in haematology, and then during her specialty training, she worked in different hospitals acquiring different aspects of haematology. She loved looking after the cancer aspect of haematology and found that fulfilling.

Being here in Nigeria, she admits that the hours are long and the journey has not been easy. She says it is a big sacrifice and living apart from her two youngest children in the UK hasn’t been easy.

Though Elebute worked at the two biggest teaching hospitals in London, St Georges and Kings College Hospital, where she was a consultant, senior lecturer, post graduate trainer and was very successful, but the more successful she got, she says the further it took her away from clinical medicine.

My greatest joy is to sit in front of patients and look after them. Marcelle Ruth has also given me the opportunity to train doctors, nurses and staff

In her last role while in the UK, she was asked by the department of health to set up a centre at King’s College hospital for a rare condition that she had done a lot of research on. This was an amazing career, but she missed why she went into medicine, which is clinical medicine.

“My greatest joy is to sit in front of patients and look after them. Marcelle Ruth has also given me the opportunity to also do something that I like, which is teaching and training doctors, nurses and staff in general.”

I asked her why she chose to come back to Nigeria to set up Marcelle Ruth, and she says, turning 50 a couple of years ago, she was very particular about what she wanted to do per time and at that time, she wanted to do more for her people.

“I was very busy and even had two nannies, but I knew I had to spend time with my children, and so I took a semi career break and spent about four years at home, though I was still doing my private practice, I did a lot of work for an NGO called Build Africa, which built schools in Kenya and Uganda, and that gave me flexibility to be at home with the children, to be more engaged in their lives and honestly, when I look back, I could not thank God more for that decision.” She stated.

During that time, the thought of setting up Marcelle Ruth in Nigeria began to crystalise in her mind, she began to seek advise and all.

Much later, Modupe went to a dinner party and sat near a gentleman who asked what she did and she told him. She also shared with him how she took a career break, but hoping to go to Nigeria to set up practice in cancer care.

Later on, he engaged her on the topic and when he was leaving, he gave her his business card and asked her to call him, and then come with her husband to see him.

I was very busy and even had two nannies, but I knew I had to spend time with my children, and so I took a semi career break

She looked at the card and saw he was the Head of Life Sciences for KPMG Advisory in the UK, his name is Chris Stirling. She went to see Chris with her husband and they helped put together what they should be doing, what the gap was, and where she should be concentrating on, using the gap and training.

Setting up in Nigeria doesn’t come without its challenges which she agreed to. They found a perfect site in the middle of Victoria Island in Lagos for proximity. However, the challenge was in terms of ensuring the patient is priority and luckily for them, she says they got that right.

“At Marcelle Ruth, we have three receptions. If you are coming for chemotherapy for instance, you don’t have to sit in the same place with someone coming for radiotherapy or surgery. Secondly, the biggest challenge is finance, and that was tough. We planned to find investors and partners, some we thought were the ones, but I am glad we did what we have done. My husband had a very particular mindset at the end which was that, the best thing was to do it by ourselves, which was a huge sacrifice. I agreed with him totally and I can say that the sacrifice was worth it. It took us three years to get to where we are, and we are grateful.” Elebute narrated.

On her fire session, she says it brought to her the fragility of life. She had her youngest daughter premature, she was born in 26 weeks and because Modupe had been so unwell, the baby wasn’t growing in the womb, and she had to be delivered quickly so she weighed 750 grams, whereas, normal babies are more than 2 kilos.

She was really tiny and was in an incubator for about four months before she could be taken home. Modupe became more unwell because she had Pre-eclampsia because she was 42 when she had the baby, but it became really severe, she went into kidney failure and passed out after she was wheeled to where her baby was.

She found out later that the whole St George Hospital ran helter skelter but she eventually ended up in intensive care on life support and kidney support machine. At her moment of unconsciousness, she saw this total white space with outlines of people, she heard muffled voices but was struggling and didn’t completely understand what was going on.

When she gained consciousness was when she realised that throughout her unconsciousness, she was on life support. “I am grateful I am alive. I had my battle and she was having hers too. I saw her after being wheeled from the intensive care and I fainted. She was so tiny. The Dr in charge of her said she bled into her brain, she was on high level of oxygen and they needed us to know that she may not see. Today she is an amazingly outstanding child with great scores in school. I am truly grateful to God” She said.

Such an inspiring story. To be saving lives as a doctor is one thing, to be in need of the service you render to others is another. I enjoyed my interview with Dr Modupe and I wish her well in all she does for herself, her family and humanity.