Blankets for San Pedro

Every year a former PeaceHealth employee and her sisters hand-make and donate quilts to PazSalud to distribute to needy families and individuals from our mission communities.  This year I worked with Yessenia – our local coordinator from CIS who helped us with our General Medical Mission – to identify some folks in San Pedro Perulapán who greatly needed and appreciated this small gesture of friendship and solidarity with the people of El Salvador.  It was a joy to see so many happy, smiling faces at receiving something they will treasure for years to come.

Meeting the women and children of San Pedro Perulapan

Water filter training for San Pedro Perulapán

During PazSalud’s General Mission, our physicians identify patients with water-borne diseases and prescribe water filters for their use at home.  PazSalud purchases filters for these patients as well other locals then, working with CIS, they provide the training and follow-up needed to ensure the water filters are used and maintained correctly.

CIS water filter promoter, Luis, recently met with patients in San Pedro Perulapán to train them in the need for, the assembly of, and proper use of the Sawyer water filter and I attended to represent PazSalud and maintain our connection with the community.  PazSalud is committed to working with our mission sites long after our teams have left and providing low-cost water filters is one of the many ways we honor this commitment.

Luis training patients on water filter assembly, use and maintenance

Assembling the filter

Some of the filter recipients with filters ready to go

Special Order Glasses

During every PazSalud General Mission we screen hundreds of patients' vision and fit them with reading and/or distance glasses donated to us by various sources in the U.S.  Invariably we encounter patients who need specific prescriptions that we don't have among the thousands of pairs of glasses we bring to the mission site.  When this happens, the optician volunteering with PazSalud fits the patient with a pair of frames, obtains the prescription from the optometrist, brings the frames back to the U.S. and sends them to the laboratory they typically work with.  Through the generosity of the laboratory that makes the lenses and the efforts of the optician, the special prescription glasses make their way back to me in El Salvador where I get the fun job of delivering them to the patients.  Everyone was thrilled to receive their glasses and deeply grateful to PazSalud for the gift of better vision.

Post-surgery eye exams

After every eye surgery mission PazSalud works with a local ophthalmologist to provide two 'controls', or follow-up eye exams, for every patient to ensure their surgery was sound and everything is healing on schedule.  This year we were fortunate to work with Dr. Jule, an excellent physician who, along with his son, runs a private eye clinic in San Salvador where they saw our patients.

We completed both controls in June and I'm happy to report that our surgeries were exceptionally successful.  Many patients even see 20/40 in their operated eye.  Dr. Jule provided every patient with a careful exam and took the time to time to answer their myriad questions.  Some patients needed additional eye drops, some had their stitches removed and because of pre-existing medical conditions, some were slower to heal than others.  But the vast majority of our patients talked about their overwhelming joy at being able to see again for the first time in many years.

Dr. Jule's son examining a patient

Dr. Jule and a patient

Checking the healing process

Our patients in Dr. Jule's waiting room

Happy patients

An Atol Fiesta

Darren writes: 

Anyone who has ever served on a mission will testify to the remarkable humbleness, kindness and graciousness of the Salvadoran patients and volunteers at our missions.  One of the best parts of working for PazSalud in El Salvador is getting to continually interact with all those incredible people, many of whom I see on regular basis. 

During our recent eye surgery mission in Cojutepeque we performed a successful pterygium surgery on Maria Cruz (shown in the photo above).  One day she called me up to invite me to her house to drink atol, a typical, seasonal Salvadoran drink made from corn.  Because it's in season we also enjoyed some fresh ears of boiled corn-on-the-cob.  I made the trip to Maria's house with Yesenia - the indispensable local coordinator from both of PazSalud's missions this year - and her daughter Alison (shown below with the bowls of atol and fresh corn on the table).

Maria is poor and could not have afforded the surgery she received from PazSalud.  This was her way of saying 'thank you' for all PazSalud did to help her.  Here she is with family in the portal of her home, the place where company is always received in rural Salvadoran homes.

More from the Surgical Mission

Rod Butler sent us a sampling from his photos of the 2014 surgical mission, showing the group at work:

Above top, our volunteer nurse prepares patients for surgery; middle, surgeon Bruce and scrub tech in the midst of a cataract surgery; below, surgeon Tony with a patient.

And here is the surgical team, gathered at the Santisima Trinidad retreat house where the group stayed:

Darren sends the statistics for this hard-working group of volunteers:

• 58 surgeries
• 55 patients
• 48 cataracts
• 10 pterigiums
• 1 patient, two pterigiums 
• 2 patients, cataract and pterigium

Now that's a good week's work!

Surgery in progress

Susan writes:

Our 2014 surgery mission is taking place from May 10 - 19 at the National Hospital in Cojutepeque.  I'm not there this time, so I was thrilled that our good friend and most generous volunteer, Rossy Melara, posted photos from the mission on her FaceBook page. 

That's Darren, our PazSalud Coordinator, on the left; Rossy is in the middle, with Bruce and Terry on the right.  And here's a photo from inside the surgery suite:

I should be able to post more info about the week on Monday, when Darren and Kathy will have a bit more time.  This week, I know from five years' experience, they are completely absorbed in making sure that everything is done just right and in dealing with all the unexpected events that are sure to happen.

The patients this week were recommended for cataract surgery (or in a few cases to have pterygiums, growths from the conjunctiva, removed) by the examining optometrist.  Usually we only have patients from our General Medical Mission, held in San Pedro Perulapán, about a half hour's drive from the hospital, but this year we also have a number of patients from Estanzuelas who were recommended during a Bellingham Lions Eye Screening Mission.  This year marks an important first for us: for the first time, our surgeons will be using a Phaco Emulsifier - the equipment most often used for cataract surgeries in the U.S. - for many of the surgeries. 

Stay tuned for more news from the mission!

Before surgery

Darren writes:

After two group meetings/information sessions with our eye surgery patient candidates the next step for them is to complete the extensive series of pre-surgical exams at The National Hospital of Cojutepeque, the medical center hosting PazSalud for the Eye Surgery Mission on May 12-17.  Since we are only allowed to bring 5 patients per day for pre-exams and we hope to have 65 people participate in the mission, Yessenia - our local coordinator - and I have been slowly working our way through the group for several weeks now. 



Our days begin at 7:00 at the hospital when the group of patients meets with the social worker who helps them with the first step; getting a hospital file.  For many of our patients, this is their first time at the hospital, for some a first contact with Salvadoran doctors.  Connecting Salvadorans with their own government-sponsored, free health care system is one of the beneficial by-products of PazSalud missions.  Once the patients are registered at the hospital, the next step is to have a blood test, followed by a chest x-ray, an EKG and the taking of weights and measurements.  The days usually end by 1:30 with an internist interviewing patients to evaluate their fitness for surgery and so far everyone has qualified.  With a dozen patients to go we hope the streak continues.
 

Getting ready for surgery

After our second meeting with prospective patients on Sunday we now have 51 residents of San Pedro Perulapán confirmed for PazSalud's upcoming surgery mission in May.  It was another great meeting where we got to talk to them about the process, how to prepare and what to expect.  Most importantly, we were there to answer their myriad questions about the surgery and calm their fears and doubts about a surgical experience in a major medical center like Hospital Cojutepeque.  For some of our patients, this will be their very first trip to a hospital for anything, let alone surgery.

Pre-surgery meeting

Darren writes:

During the general mission in February, PazSalud screens potential candidates for cataract or pterygium surgery at our annual eye surgery mission.  This year in May we will be working out of the National Hospital in Cojutepque, a town close to San Pedro Perulapan where the majority of our patients live.

On Sunday, March 16th we had a meeting with our patients to talk about the process, the surgery, the requirements and to address their many questions and concerns.  Last year we found that having this meeting dramatically increased participation in the surgeries.   A special issue this year is that Cojutepeque Hospital requires our patients to have a series of pre-exams in order to determine their fitness for surgery.

Yesenia, our local volunteer coordinator, organized the meeting.  We brought in Don Lito, a former PazSalud patient from San Rafael Cedros who received cataract surgery at Cojutepque Hospital in 2011, to talk about his experience and answer specific patient questions.

Rosa Aguiar, a community organizer from Comasagua who helped register the surgery patients and who will work with us in May during the mission, talked about the process of prepping and having surgery and the follow-up care.

A good fit

Darren writes:
A very special to thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the PazSalud medical mission in San Pedro Perulapan so successful.  The countless hours by the the US and Salvadoran volunteers paid off as we were able to see a record 1,647 patients in 4.5 days and deliver much needed care to an under-served population.  Congratulations to all and thank you to all the wonderful people we met along the way.

Susan adds:
This huge open space was a "best ever" location for our mission.  We've been in everything from a municipal child-care center (tiny!) in San Rafael Cedros to a spacious school in San José Villanueva, but our friends at ACOSAMA kindly allowed us to use their big auditorium where we could set up everything - four separate clinics, the optic shop, the pharmacy, space for breaks and lunches, and plentiful space for waiting patients - under one big roof.  How we wish we could bundle up the auditorium and take it with us!  But then we wouldn't have the fun of watching Kathy and Darren map out alternative ways to fit our big mission team into a new and challenging space.  

Congratulations and thanks!

Here's our great clinic space in San Pedro Perulapan.  This huge auditorium space easily and comfortably held all our clinics and most of the waiting patients with plenty of room to spare.  We wish we could pack up the auditorium for next year, but ACOSAMA - the non-profit organization that kindly welcomed us into their space for the week - probably has some other uses for it.

Darren writes:
A very special to thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the PazSalud medical mission in San Pedro Perulapan so successful.  The countless hours by the the US and Salvadoran volunteers paid off as we were able to see a record 1,647 patients in 4.5 days and deliver much needed care to an under-served population.  Congratulations to all and thank you to all the wonderful people we met along the way.

Mission Accomplished!

We can say, with some pride and a great deal of satisfaction, that we completed our General Medical Mission to San Pedro Perulapan on Valentine's Day, February 14th, after seeing 1,647 people, many of them in two or more clinics.  The week was full of memorable moments - Kathy Garcia enjoyed more than her usual quota of babies to cuddle:

Rosa Aguiar, our team member from Comasagua, El Salvador, signed up a record number of patients for cataract surgery - 81 (we wouldn't be able to handle that many cases, but the list typically shrinks between sign-up time and show-up time):

Ray Moore, Supply Chain Contracts Manager in his PeaceHealth life, took breaks from looking for optical prescriptions to delight children with a magic book that opened onto either blank pages or drawings, depending on....well, that part's the magic.  Ray's kneeling at the center of the photo. Sr. Andrea Nenzel, left, and optician Jackie Kersten, right, are enjoying the show:

Cecilia Jacobson, also part of our Optical Shop team, enjoyed the new look of one of her young clients:

 Dr. Adriana Linares, who mentors new resident physicians, found a possible future student in this little guy with his firm grip on her stethoscope:

The joyful moments continued during our weekend of sightseeing, shopping and relaxation.  The funniest came at the airport, at about 6 AM, when Sr. Amalia Camacho, aided by Dr. Charlotte Ransom, left, finally fulfilled her wish to eat Pollo Campero - for breakfast:

There are thousands more special moments to be shared with family and friends and colleagues in the coming weeks and months, moments from a memorable week. 

Getting ready for the mission

With only two weeks to go before the general mission, the entire team is in high gear prepping every last detail needed to create a successful medical brigade.  

In San Pedro Perulapán we will be working inside a large spacious auditorium - here it is -

and on a recent trip to El Salvador, Kathy and I put together a rough schematic of how the operation will be set up.  What started off as some cut out post-it notes on graph paper eventually transitions to tape, marker and post-it notes on poster board.  

With a pretty solid blueprint in hand we held a meeting with our local volunteers as our coordinators Iris and Yessenia walked the team through the overall patient flow, volunteer stations and responsibilities.