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January, 2012 Medical Mission: This first HAM mission to Haiti of 2012 ran from January 7th until the 14th. The team was led by HAM board members Dr. Leslie
Mihalov and Dr. Janine Flood and included HAM veterans Judy Bradley, Nurse Terrie Hostetter, and Dr. Marlie Dulaurier. Due to increased violence in Haiti around the holiday season, it was decided that for the safety of the team they would be better served by staying in the the Port-au-Prince suburb of Petionville with HAM's long time friend, Carolyn, and commuting to the clinic daily. Future missions this year plan to return to living at the clinic, assuming violence returns to more reasonable levels. You can read posts and see pictures sent directly from the team in the field, below.
Sunday, January 8th: 
Here is the picture of the team ready to start the week. The weather is beautiful: sunny with a lovely breeze.
"We are staying at Carolyn's this week since the cholera program is
still open at our clinic which necessitates leaving the security gate
unlocked all night. Carolyn has been a gracious host as usual and we are
all very comfortable. Charles went the airport this morning and picked
up the luggage that didn't arrive with us. It had arrived on the early flight...just like they said
it would, better than the US!
We spent part of the day
adding to the Haitian economy by shopping for food and a few other
supplies.
After a delicious lunch we sorted all the medications and supplies
for the clinic so we are ready to hit the ground running tomorrow.
Its wonderful to be back amongst our friends!"
Pictured from left to right: Dr Leslie, Dr Marlie, Charles, Dr Janine, Johnny, Ronald, Nurse Terrie, and Judy
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Monday, January 9th:
We went to bed last night under a beautiful full moon and woke to
sunshine and the usual sounds of Haiti; roosters, shoeshine bells and
children laughing among many other sounds and smells. The truck is
running great we had no problems with traffic. We arrived
to find the clinic clean, organized and teeming with people.
Janine unpacked her autorefractor and was thrilled that it made it
through the flight unscathed. Thanks to the donation from Dr. Jonathan
Warner she was able to examine many patients accurately and efficiently.
Patients were given eye glasses, treated for
glaucoma and arrangements made for cataract surgery for two
women. With the help of Judy and Terrie, Janine was able to see lots of
patients. Charles took charge using the new equipment.
Marlie was busy seeing the pediatric patients, including numerous very
little babies with wheezing and breathing problems (just like home).
Luckily she brought her own nebulizer machine to be able to treat them!
Leslie did the anesthesia for Dr Jacques for several surgeries and in
between cases saw clinic patients. Unfortunately, we are still seeing
patients with complications from injuries due to the earthquake. They
both saw more malaria patients than usual so
plan on using the bug repellent generously.
The cholera program is still needed unfortunately and we found seven
patients getting IVs there today. Tomorrow we plan to go the General
Hospital in downtown Port au Prince where Leslie and Marlie will see
patients and do whatever else they need.
More tomorrow,
Leslie
Soline and Sola Dr Janine seeing a patient Dr Jacques, with Dr. Leslie assisting
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Tuesday, January 10th: Today was an interesting day for the team. We all went to the General
Hospital. We began with meetings with the Medical Director of the
hospital, Dr Pierre'. He was very gracious and allowed us full access to
his hospital. Then we went to the Pediatric ward
and Pediatric Emergency Department. Both are in temporary spaces and
look very different from our last visit there. The previous Pediatric
ward was destroyed in the earthquake and the image of it was overwhelming. The temporary space is very
crowded and hot. Marlie and Leslie worked the rest of the day in
the Pediatric ED with the very capable Pediatric residents (many of
whom spoke English!). Most of the children were extremely ill with
infections and dehydration, etc. They put in IVs, drew
blood for lab tests and examined new patients. The system there
requires the families to go purchase anything the child needs first
before treatment. So a dehydrated baby had to wait until the father went
and purchased the IV supplies (including gloves and
needles) before they could actually treat the patient.
In the afternoon Marlie and Leslie were introduced to Dr. Louis Franck Telemaque.
He is the Chief of Surgery at General Hospital and was Dr Jacques chief
when he did his residency there. They learned that the earthquake
destroyed 4 out of 5 ORs
so it is very difficult to take care of the patients and train his
residents. We discussed the possibility academic partnerships with
residency programs in Ohio. The ultimate plan for the hospital
is to completely raze it and build a new one. Both the
American and French governments are participating in the planning and
apparently have different ideas as to how it should be done.
The trip to and from General Hospital gave us a chance to see the
progress made in rebuilding downtown Port au Prince. Many buildings that
had been completely destroyed had the land cleared and some new ones
built in their place. Many tents remain, unfortunately
and the palace is still in ruins.
We also made a stop at Comite Artisanal Haitien to purchase art to bring back for gifts and future art auctions. Our final stop was at the Olaffson to have dinner. They happen to be holding a large business conference there on the topic
of re-building Haiti. We were lucky enough to enjoy the music provided for their dinner! Leslie
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Wednesday, January 11th: We had a change of plans today. We had originally planned to go back to
General Hospital to work in the Pediatric ED but since tomorrow has been
declared a national holiday and Day of Remembrance for the victims of
the Jan.12, 2010 Earthquake we thought it was better to go to Dumay to
see patients.
We were glad we did because there were many, many patients waiting to
be seen when we arrived.
Janine operated a very busy eye clinic with the help of Terrie making
sure all had blood pressures taken and Judy doing the vision screening.
It turned out to be a good idea to have all the patients' blood
pressure checked because Terrie identified several
patients that required a doctor visit for high blood pressure. They
also found that our bus driver, Ronald was very good at logistics,
moving patients to where they need to be. They maintained a smooth
operation this way!
Marlie was kept busy with a menagerie of pediatric patients, suturing
wounds, draining abscesses and treating respiratory illnesses. Leslie
saw patients in between surgical cases. Dr Jacques is able to perform
the surgery for these patients in an out-patient
setting when Leslie can provide the anesthesia that would otherwise be
very expensive and out-of-reach for most of these families.
On our way back to Carolyn's we visited our friend, Serge to purchase
metal works. Once again, we felt that we were happy to contribute to the
economic recovery of Haiti.
Tonight, we hear church choirs singing and chanting in preparation of
tomorrow's memorial services. It makes us all take pause and remember
those who perished in the terrible earthquake two years ago.
pictures:
1. not a happy customer
2. one of Leslie's favorite patients today
3. Marlie's favorite patient
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Thursday, January 12th: Two years ago today, Haiti was changed forever. Today we remember the
innocent people who lost their lives in the powerful earthquake. Today
is a day for continued mourning for some, for re-telling the story
for others and for looking to the future with
hope for many more.....
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Friday, January 13th: We had a full day at the clinic today with many follow-ups from earlier in the week. Marlie
had a little 4 week old baby she was quite worried about on
Monday. Just as instructed, she came back to see her today. Her mom got
very ill after the birth
of her baby and required surgery. After recovering herself she found
that she had no breast milk so mom was stretching the powdered
formula she given to last longer. Unfortunately, that meant only feeding
her baby 2 ounces 3 times a day. When the baby
was seen on Monday she was ill with a respiratory infection and was
malnourished and dehydrated. She was treated then given more formula and
instructions to try to breastfeed again. Today she was much more alert,
breathing more comfortably and not dehydrated.
Needless to say, mom was very happy. Leslie and Dr. Jacques also saw
several pre-op patients who will come back for surgery in April.
Janine, Judy, Terrrie and Charles ran a very busy eye clinic. They diagnosed several more patients with glaucoma
and started them on treatment. Janine also fitted several patients
including staff members with new glasses. Glasses are very important
to many in Haiti.
In the early evening we joined Carolyn at the US Embassy to enjoy a
get-together at the Marine house. It was interesting to meet young
people from around the US who are living in Haiti. We then had an
wonderful dinner meal at Canne a Sucre across
from the Embassy. We felt it was only fitting that take Carolyn and her
friend Linda out for dinner as she has been a most gracious host. She
opened her lovely home to us (with hot showers!) all week and we were
very comfortable.
Tomorrow we will head back to Ohio and the cold and snow. Our weather this week has been perfect, lots of warm sunshine during the day and beautiful Caribbean breezes all evening. Leslie
Below: We close with some of our cutest patients of the week:
  
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January 2012 Mission
