Anchor's away

started on aug 20, 2011

anchor's away

we got news that there is a possibility that a hurricane/tropical storm will hit Haiti sometime tomorrow night.  This led to the decision to take down the MEDCAP site, and pull anchor to sail south until Tuesday.  No one really knows what's going on or what will happen.  Everything is TBD.  Basically, we are planning to come back to Haiti after the storm clears (if there is a storm).  We will continue the mission as planned, however, if the storm turns out to be a hurricane then the mission may potentially turn into a disaster relief mission.  The Comfort is equipped with a 1,000 patient bed capacity, 80 ICU beds, 12 operating rooms, Interventional Radiology, Endoscopy, Dental, and Opthamology suites, CT scan, and more.  The team from Project Hope includes three Orthopedic Trauma surgeons, a general surgeon, a Certified Registered Nurses Anesthetist, Internal Medicine physician, a pediatrician, and and critical care nurses.  No one wants to see Haiti go through the same casualties it did from the earthquake in 2009 so we are all hoping for a calm effect.

Malaria prophylaxis - feels a bit like "one flew over the cuckoos nest".  someone has to witness you taking your malaria med everyday.  I had to change my sched from night to days with my med because they check it during morning muster.  Apparently, the last time the Comfort was in Haiti, a few people were infected with malaria and that's why they have been very strict.  

So far we have provided 10 surgeries in one day.  Three of the ten were pediatric patients.  One girl had a piece of wood stuck under her eyelid that caused abrasions in her eye that Optho removed  She did well (see pic below).  When our peds nurse received the call from the PACU, we were told that the child was a "brat".  Let's think about this -- a 5 year old girl who has never had proper healthcare, probably barely saw a physician in her life, was taken on a humongous ship filled with Americans who do not speak Creole, takes her to a room full of lights and had a stranger open her eyes and poke around it.  This was a frightened child, not a "brat".  Kids on these kind of missions go through the same trauma of being passed around, poked, cut, bandaged up and mostly without explaination.  There is no Child Life Specialist on the ship who could explain the procedures to them in a way they can understand.  Their parents may not even understand the process of the surgery.  Everything is new and scary. 

Another patient was a 9 year old with Familiar Juvenile Polyposis - a syndrome that presents as multiple polpys in the gastroinestinal tract.  She had polyps removed in 2009 (probably when the Comfort was last year for CP 09).  The surgeons successfully removed 3 colorectal polyps but since they are re-occuring, she will need a follow up and polyp removal in the future.   

Aug 23 - we are on the way back to Haiti after word that Hurricane Irene made a right turn, and skipping Port-Au-Prince.  We are finishing the mission as planned and so far there is no word that we are extending our time in Haiti.  

Aug 24 - back in Haiti and it seems like there's no damage done or need for a disaster response.  We boarded some of the patiens who are scheduled for surgery for the next few days. The plan is to perform surgeries that were scheduled for the days we were in sea and compensate for time loss by extending the OR day.  I will be at a MEDCAP (Medical Civic Assistance Program) tomorrow. 

picture from the flightdeck - home of the helos.  the boys behind me are playing football.

dinner - cabbage, potato, watery tomato soup... beggars can't be choosers.