11 Jul
Coming Home
There are 10 of us crammed into the “ambulance” as we speed through Port-au-Prince this morning dodging the fires that still burn in the streets. We are one of the few vehicles on what are normally jam-packed roads in the city. AMBULANCE is written on the side of the van which gets us through several street blockages. Coconut trees, power lines, scorched trucks, shattered street signs and burning tires block many of the boulevards. The store fronts and banks have shattered windows and dented siding from the rocks that are strewn across the roadways in front of them. A solemn reminder of the events yesterday. The air is filled with smoke. There is the occasional but too frequent sound of a gun going off. Ahead there is a huge fire in the middle of our route and people are running wildly. Michel our chauffer reels the ambulance backwards and finds another way. The hardest thing for me to see were the faces of the people. They are angry and tired of the burden of life in Haiti compounded by the proposition of increased diesel expenses that will make it impossible for some to purchase this commodity that is critical to their lives. The increased fuel prices have been rescinded but the burden of living in Haiti remains. This is the darker side of a country in turmoil and distress. Fortunately, this is a rare occurrence. One I have not experienced in my nine years of visits to Haiti. At no time did I feel unsafe. The people know why we are here and offer us their embrace and friendship. On the other side of the unrest is the beauty and resilience of a 15 year old who is sitting up in her hospital bed smiling, taking only Ibuprofen for pain the day after her thigh bone was reassembled in a 2 hour surgery. The power and the love of the family who is supporting a woman who is recovering from an eight hour surgery to rebuild her arm. Laughing with them the night after the surgery she pauses and talks about her dreams of becoming a nurse. While in Haiti, Ange called me to thank me and to let me know she had passed her nursing exam. Our first to graduate from nursing school, she is now working at the only cancer treatment program in Port-au-Prince. Kerline is our second to graduate (July 1st). More to come. I believe we rebuild one brick at a time. With each trip to Haiti our team touches a few, teaches a few, collaborates with a few and eventually our world gets smaller while our bubble of influence and love gets larger. We are making a huge difference on so many levels. Glad to be on my way home. Love Bull
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9 Jul
Day 3 in Haiti
Today has been a day of rest and unrest. We are safe in the compound around Adventiste Hospital resting after a long and stressful day yesterday. The streets of Port-au-Prince are filled with burning tires and the air is black over the city. In the distance we can hear occasional gunfire and protesters screaming. A fuel price hike has sent some of the people to the streets in protest. Internet is spotty and we are not getting much information. All flights out of Port-au-Prince were cancelled today as the violence shut down the airport. There has been no threat to us and I don’t expect any. Our patients are recovering well and thankful for what we have done for them. Today they begin their return to their normal lives. Rose was very anxious to see pictures of the tumor we removed from her arm. She is glad to be rid of it having carried it around for two and a half years. Love Daly is in some pain after her surgery but grateful nonetheless for her new leg. I am thank-full it is over and ready to return home. Tomorrow I am hopeful we can get to the airport and head home. Thanks again for your support. Love from Haiti. Dr Bull
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9 Jul
Day 2 in Haiti
At eight o’clock tonight, Rose was wheeled out of the operating room, tumor-less. It took us 8 to 9 hours to complete the surgery. As far as we can tell, we removed all the tumor and if so she has the chance to have a functional arm for the rest of her life. She wants to be a nurse and perhaps now that will be possible. She still has a long recovery ahead of her. It will be 6-9 months of healing and rehabilitation. She is resting tonight in her bed. Her husband waited patiently for the entire procedure and her three-year-old daughter was with her grandmother. All were relieved when it was over. While Dr Zuckerman and I were in surgery, Drs Hippolyte and Nelson completed to surgery on Love Daly, rebreaking her leg and reassembling it to its normal length and shape. She will be able to walk again in the next few days. It has been a long 3 months for this young girl who orphaned, lives with a friend of the family. She also now begins the road to recovery. At 15 years old, she is in the third grade and looks forward to returning to school. I sit in wonder at the remarkable gift that we can to offer these patients. Our support from home is critical in providing not only the funding for these cases but also the moral strength to do the work. We are an eclectic group from different parts of the country with very different backgrounds and skills assembled here for a short but very important job. It is only through your help that we can do this. Thank-you. With Love from Haiti Bull Durham
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6 Jul
Day 1 in Haiti
The team has arrived at Adventiste Hospital in Port-au Prince. Rose is resting with her family in the hospital awaiting surgery tomorrow. She is nervous and excited for the opportunity to be rid of the mass that has enveloped her arm for the last two years. Dr Lee Zuckerman is prepared to tackle this tumor and all of our equipment made it through customs. At 9 am tomorrow we will start a long day of reconstruction. Our second surgery will be to help Love Daly walk again. Our Haitian colleague, Dr Hippolyte has brought her to us. Love Daly is a 15 year old female that I met for the first time today. She is an orphan who lives with a cousin in Port-au-Prince and was in a motor vehicle accident in early April. After weeks in General Hospital she was sent home with a broken thigh bone that has left her leg shortened and bent. Unable to walk, tomorrow we will rebreak the leg and reassemble it to its normal shape. She should be walking again in a couple of days. NAVMC is funding the surgeries for both Rose and Love Daly. Today we helped treat a 6 year old who’s legs were bent to the point she could barely walk. Under Dr Scott Nelson’s guidance, the team assembled an apparatus on both legs that will straighten her legs over the next 9 months. A miracle for this child! These patients are some of the few who are fortunate for the opportunity to get treatment and we are fortunate to offer it to them. Keep your thoughts with us tomorrow as we tackle these problems. As always thank-you for your support. Without it, we could not continue this work. Love Dr Bull
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5 Jul
Ultrasound Machine
In March, NAVMC’s board approved $2500 toward a new ultrasound unit for the clinic in Palacios, Centro Medico Humberto Parra. The unit just arrived and they shared some great photos of the staff posing with it. This ultrasound will not just be used in the care of pregnant women. Ultrasound in Bolivia is used to diagnose many of the ailments we treat like uterine fibroids, cholelithiasis and ovarian cysts. Having a machine in the clinic means our patients will not have to travel great distances to be diagnosed. NAVMC is happy to partner with CMHP to offer better care to our Bolivian patients. Que padre!
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5 Jul
July Fourth in Haiti
The tumor on Rose’s right arm now is the size of a large cantelope. Despite the size and the open wounds it has created, her hand function is near normal. Tomorrow she will be admitted to Adventiste hospital in Port-au-Prince and on Friday we hope to remove the tumor and save her hand. Sitting on a plane to Miami, I am a bit nervous that we will not be successful but we have a very strong team. Dr Zuckerman is an orthopedic tumor surgeon and Dr Nelson a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who has been working in Haiti on a regular basis for 9 years. I am honored to be part of the team and am hopeful that we can reconstruct for Rose a functional hand. She is grateful for this chance. Absent our assistance she would eventually succumb to complications from this. This has been a five-week project for the NAVMC team and we have had advice from 20 different specialists across the country. Orthopedic surgeons from Canada obtained a sample of the tumor and tissue specialists from Miami have helped to identify the tumor. Specialists from Boston to California have weighed in and provided their recommendations, none have seen this type of tumor reach this size. Here at home it is usually diagnosed as soon as a patient starts to feel pain in their arm. We have a surgical plan and we have received surgical supplies from Arthrex and Acumed, companies that make the devices we will need to rebuild Rose’s arm. NAVMC is providing the funding to finance the surgery. I am thankful to live in a place where we have access to medical care. Happy fourth and thank-you all for your support. Bull Durham
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