Patient Post-Op Exams

We just completed all our post-operative exams and I'm happy to report that our eye surgery patients are doing remarkably well.  Thanks to the work of PazSalud's amazing surgical team in May and Dr. Jule's (our Salvadoran in-country ophthalmologist) incredible efforts during the mission and throughout their post-op care, PazSalud not only performed surgery on a record number of patients but their outcomes have been as successful as we've ever had.  As always, we will continue to monitor their healing over the coming months and address any needs that may arise.

Thank you again to everyone who contributed to the success of this mission!

Patients in the waiting room of Dr. Jule's office

Dr. Jule examining a patient

Some happy patients:

Special order glasses

During every PazSalud General Mission, our team of optometrists identifies patients who have specialized, often complicated glasses prescriptions that we can not fill from our supply of glasses  donated from the U.S.  In these cases, our volunteers will take their prescriptions and have lenses specially made for them in the U.S.

A very special thanks to Walman Optical who so generously made and donated the glasses and Michelle Toney from PeaceHealth Optical whose efforts made it all possible for me to recently deliver customized, special ordered glasses to enable them to see the world like they never have before.  The smiles on their faces tell you all you need to know about how happy they are.

Chelsea

Dolores

 

Jonathan

Patricia

Patient Pre-surgey Meeting

We just completed out second and final meeting on Saturday to prepare our cataract and pterygium  patients from Tamanique for the upcoming PazSalud Eye Surgery Mission on May 11.  The pre-surgery meetings are designed to go over the logistics of the event, address their concerns and provide them with an opportunity to ask us anything they want.  We're anticipating that we'll have 67 patients this year among which we'll have 48 cataract and 23 pterygium surgeries (some patients have more than one surgery).

A huge 'thank you' goes out to Maira, Rosa and Rosy for all the help they gave me in coordinating and conducting these meetings.

Rosy, Rosa and Maira fielding questions from the group

Rosa registering a patient

Maira conferring with a patient

Donation to local NGO

Thanks to a generous donation from some of our providers, I had the pleasure of passing on this much-needed equipment to a local NGO that provides subsidized and free eye care to poor patients in Santa Ana, El Salvador.  The were thrilled to receive the devices which will help them provide better, more comprehensive eye examinations to the population they serve.

Medical donations

After every mission, PazSalud donates surplus, unused medications to the local health clinics who are very grateful to receive the items, most of which are not available to them.

This is one of the many ways PazSalud demonstrates it's commitment to the communities with whom we work and show our appreciation for all the support they gave us to make our February, 2015  mission such a success.

Mission volunteers

Absolutely essential to a successful mission is close collaboration and coordination with local volunteers and once again we’re lucky to be working with a motivated and capable team of people from Tamanique.  The volunteer team assists us with myriad tasks during the mission and without them it would be impossible for us to provide the care we do in the rural areas we like to serve.  They identify needy patients for the mission, coordinate their transport to and from the mission site, they register patients, help them navigate the various stages of the mission, interpret for our volunteers and help with many, many additional tasks.

Their dedication and devotion to helping the poorest members of their community is inspiring and we’re proud to work side-by-side with them to create a healthier and happier future for Tamanique.

Maira, our local coordinator, explaining the mission to volunteers

Discussing the patient flow at the mission site

Our diagram of where the medical team members will be located

Autorefractor

Thanks to the generosity of our many donors, PazSalud was able to purchase a new autorefractor for use on all our missions in El Salvador!  This machine enables us to accurately determine the prescription glasses a patient needs as well as precisely measure various parts of the eye.

This amazing new piece of equipment will help us bring better vision to many, many Salvadorans who could never afford prescription glasses let alone a visit to an ophthalmologist or optometrist.  Thank you to everyone who helped make it possible!

Picking up the autorefractor from customs at the airport

The distributor setting up the machine

Testing it out