Charity

I arrived home safe and sound late Friday night.  Saturday was spent relaxing with Fatima and the kids.  The culture shock of walking around Manhattan this weekend compared to the last two weeks was eye opening.  The excess that most of us take for granted is what has struck me most.

Sunday my wife briefed me on her email campaign and I saw the large response that we’ve received.  The ripple effect that has been sparked because of this trip is a sign that people have the desire to help, they just need to be reached.

Now I’m back in the office where we’ll

I’m writing this while waiting to board my flight at the airport. The next team of Plastic Surgeons, from our efforts to organize, arrived at the hospital today. I briefed them about our service and Dr Silvio Podda will show them the ropes until he leaves. We’ve received a large response from our asking Plastic Surgeons for help, and have rotating teams scheduled through mid March thus far.

Our 6 hour drive to the airport was somber due to the terrible news received this morning. Right now I’m a bag of raw emotions and just want to get home to my family.

This morning I was notified that our helicopter pilot and owner were both killed in a crash last night. We got very close to them during the several hours in the air over Haiti the two previous days. They both showed a lust for life and for helping others. They organized and delivered food and medical supplies to many of the small villages that we landed in.   Jim and John gave their lives helping others from the air.

May they rest in peace.

When flying out of Haiti yesterday our team was faced with a difficult situation. The chopper returned for us with 2 of the 4 seats occupied. After some phone calls and thinking we agreed that we, the 2 MDs, would return and our friend Craig would go by truck with a driver that we met. It was a very unsettling feeling saying good bye to him so far from the border.

Craig’s email was working and we communicated throughout the late afternoon and evening. As midnight approached he neared the border which closes here at 7pm.

I’ve gotten to know two nuns who are caring for a patient of mine at an orphanage in Port of Prince. Every 4 days they drive the 2 hours in traffic each way. On Monday they told me of the trouble a sister convent of theirs was having with earthquake victim’s wounds. We exchanged information and Silvio and I said that we would try to help. We contemplated driving and as we were making are final plans we were informed that a volunteer had shown up and donated his helicopter and his pilot for our use. 20 minutes later we were in the air.

The atmosphere in the hospital has relaxed a little now that 40 of the sickest patients have been transferred. We used the day to do 15 cases, and to go through the largest ward and address the less critical wounds. Walking through the patient areas constantly amazes me of how strong these people are after going through this tragedy. Most smile when we approach their bed and say “God bless you,” when we leave. My new Plastic Surgeon is Dr Silvio Podda, who is a star. We instantly became friends and have embraced this experience of getting ahead of these wounds.

The last 24 hours have been a blur. Yesterday 25 Plastics cases were done by us, the total OR cases numbered 38. These are big numbers for a 5 OR facility, with a 100% volunteer staff from all over the world. People are performing at the highest levels possible, under very extreme conditions. Today another 17 cases; to date we have not had a failed or infected skin graft.

Our 40 sickest surgical cases were airlifted out to other hospitals today in gigantic Navy helicopters. Hopefully this will decompress our ICU and allow us to address some of the less complicated wounds.

Too tired to write last night, but what a great day yesterday was. We’re starting to see the fruits of our labor. 44 patients were found to have stabilized their wounds and are out of immediate danger of limb amputations as a result of their surgeries. We moved into a house that Vanity 4 Humanity rented for the influx of doctors that will be coming down over the next weeks to months. Even better,  the skin grafting machine has arrived and has already been used. This machine will drastically decrease OR times allowing us to do more surgeries.

Today my team and I did 12 cases. The patient’s wounds are being operated on every 48 hours to keep infections at bay. So far, so good. Everyone’s moral on the Plastic Surgery service is high because we’re seeing success from all the hard work. Today 4 Plastic Surgeons arrived, 2 from Boca Raton (Dr Anthony Dardano and Dr Louis DeLuca) and 2 from Guatemala. They jumped right in and started helping. It’s great to be meeting people from all over the world while working for a common cause.

Today was busy as the other Plastic Surgeons headed home yesterday. I operated on 7 patients, 1 of whom was a 3 month old girl with a deep wound from being trapped under her dead mother’s weight. We are organizing a group of New York Plastic Surgeons to begin traveling down here in pairs starting next week to continue this work. As of yet I do not know when that will be, and have decided to stay on here until help arrives. Each day that these wounds are left open they grow more likely to become infected and result in an amputation.