This is my 8th trip to Haiti since living on the hospital
porch for the 6 months after the earthquake.
Sometimes intermittent visits can be quite encouraging since even slow
progress can show dramatic improvements.
The volunteer housing has been upgraded to a bunk house on the front of
the property, new air conditioners are cooling the operating room and
considerable construction has been completed in the private and new pediatric
wards.
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| New Private Ward |
Each
time I return I am again reminded of the importance of our long term presence
here and the dire needs of our patients.
Several weeks ago I was emailed about a 14 year old girl who had
fracture dislocation of her spine. In
addition to being paraplegic she was hardly able to sit up due to the severe
angulation and pain in her spine. Kati’s
father died several years ago and then her mother was killed in the 2010
earthquake. She was living with some
relatives in a house that had been condemned due to earthquake damage when a
wall fell on her last August. Her friend
was also in the house and suffered an amputation of her leg. When her uncle found out that Kati was
permanently paralyzed, he abandoned her at a local hospital. An
operation had been performed by a visiting doctor but this had only made the
situation worse. Fortunately some workers
at a spinal cord rehab unit adopted her.
A recommendation had been made for her to go to the United States to have a surgery to
straighten her spine, but they were grateful to hear that the same quality
operation could be performed right here at Hôpital Adventiste.
Due to
the severity of her deformity, the previous operation and the time since injury
the spine straightening operation was somewhat of a formidable task. Her preexisting paraplegia dramatically
reduced the stress of the operation, and Lucia’s prayers were appreciated by
all as we carefully mobilized the vena cava and aorta around the front of the
spine in order to completely straighten her back.
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| Spine fracture dislocation before surgery |
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| Straight spine after surgery |
Tonight,
an 87 year old man who was in a car accident, arrived in our emergency room
with an unstable tibia fracture and some severe lacerations that required an
urgent operation. We were able to treat
him with a SIGN nail and we just finished at half past midnight. We have an amazing team consisting of Alan
Sull MD ortho resident from Loma Linda and Jeff Nepple MD ortho resident from St. Louis. Tomorrow, Dr. Ian Alexander who is a foot and
ankle specialist will be arriving. Tim Gerke and Leah are ICU nurses from Portland who are still with
our patient in recovery room. And as
usual Lucia and Maria came over from the Dominican Republic.
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