Friday - Last Day of Surgery

What a difference a day makes in the wards! It is a much less hectic and crowded place. Only a hand full of patients remain, as all the patients have been released except for today's surgeries. Families were busy preparing food, providing care to their children and there was even time and space for a jigsaw puzzle. Over the past week there has been little room for families to have a peaceful moment together. Five surgeries were scheduled for this morning, 4 cleft lip repairs and 1 tongue release. Fifty-one surgeries were performed in total this week. Only cleft lips surgeries are done the last day as these patients will just be in the hospital overnight. They can all be released before the mission team starts the long journey home. Mission volunteers will soon be departing for all ends of the earth which includes: Britian, Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, USA, Boracay, Cebu and Manila. The surgery schedule was only a 1/2 day today as the afternoon was spent packing the suitcases and blue boxes to be returned to the States. Most of the supplies that were brought over and some of the equipment was donated to the hospital. The hospital received a variety of donated items such as ceiling fans, blood pressure machines, surgical supplies, children's clothes, stuffed animals and 20 hand-made crocheted baby blankets provided by University Hospital in Denver. Hospital staff was so appreciative for the generosity shown by Uplift and we say "thank you" for all your help too!

Friday

Last night we went to dinner with the Bishop. He was very nice and it was fun. Toady we woke up and gave out more going home bags. Some of the before after pictures were really great. There were a lot of big changes. It was fun to see that. We helped the doctors pack up their stuff. It was fun but i think we are ready to get back to the States.

Governor Perez visits the Ward

We were very fortunate today, in that, Governor Sally Perez visited the Uplift mission at the Antique Provincial Hospital. She spent time with the doctors and nurses on the wards and spoke with all the patients that were repaired yesterday. We hope that she will be instrumental in future Uplift plans and missions.

Searching for Past Patients Continued

Joylyn Sampilo had her cleft lip repaired in 2006 and she is on the surgery schedule tomorrow for a lip revision. She lives with her family in a 3 room bamboo hut near the field that her father farms. He grows mainly rice and string beans. Joylyn is a very sweet, confident and animated little girl. She is 4 years old and sang a wonderful rendition of the ABC song that most of us learned in school. Her father told us how much Joylyn has changed since her surgery, before she was quiet and did not want to be with other children. Now she loves to spend time with friends and others that live close by.

Searching for Past Patients

Today was one of my favorite days. We went with Dr. Bernie, a Filipino doctor, to find the patients that had lip and cleft palate repairs during past missions. Now this is not as easy as you might think as there are no home addresses or street names so you have to be a bit resourceful. Unless you are with someone who knows the area, you will have to inquire at Barangay Halls (similar to neighborhood community centers) or with people you pass on the road hoping that you just might find the patient. Well we were fortunate in that we found 2 prior patients that had cleft lip repairs in 2006. We found Famela Niebla. She is a very quiet, shy little girl that lives with her family in a small cluster of huts. She is now 11 years old, lives with her mother, loves school and her favorite subject is English. The family was very gracious and prepared a little local cuisine.....boiled sweet potatoes and bananas.

Thursday

Last night we had dinner with the govenrnor. She was very friendly. I realized how much Philipnos love music. They sang and danced all night. This morning we went out to see some of the patiets from two years ago. It was really neat to see their houses. Both of the people we saw lived in little huts. The two girls who had recieved the surgery looked amazing. They both had huge smiles and one called out, "My American friends" as we walked up to her house. The families were extremely hospitible. They made us food at both houses. It was cool to see families who have so little offer us so much. Bernie, our guide told us that hospitality was a huge part of Philipino culture. Later we wrote more stories of the children. One child walked six hours by himself to get to the hospital.

Cleft Palate Repair

Many of the surgeries on Wednesday were cleft palate repairs. These surgeries generally take about 2 hours. During the surgery, the surgeon will close the hole in the palate and this is done by pulling the tissue together on either side of the opening in the palate. To get access to the palate, a retractor device is used as shown in the photo.

Speech Therapy

Most everyone knows and has seen how disfiguring an unrepaired cleft lip can be; but many people do not realize the impact an unrepaired cleft palate has on speech. It can be difficult to understand people who have not had their cleft palates repaired. Even with a repaired cleft palate, speech therapy is frequently needed to improve speech. Uplift is very excited to have a speech therapist on this mission. Theresa Snelling is making her 1st mission. She is seen here working with Jennie Furio and her mother. Jennie's cleft palate was repaired in 2006. They came to the hospital just to see Theresa as they heard there would be a speech therapist. Theresa said "that Jennie would really benefit from additional speech therapy as would many of the other patients that she has worked with this week." Generally it is easier for younger children to improve their speech after the reparative surgery than adult patients.

Gift Bags Bring a Smile

Mission 2008 includes a small Youth Corp. John Moyer and Jordan of the Youth Corp and Megs are seen here with the gift bags made by Filipino American children in Colorado. These goodie bags are given to the children when they are discharged from the hospital and bring at least a small smile (as many are sore from surgery) from the children. This beautiful little girl had a cleft palate repair and will soon be going home with hope for improved speech and a bag full of new toys due to the generosity of many Uplift donors.

Wednesday on the Wards

Our elite ward nurses......Captain Annie and Theresa!

The wards.......what a hectic place! There are no people better equipped to handle the chaos than Lizzie, Annie (both hailing from Britian) and Theresa Sands. They remain cool and calm which is hard to do in the ward due to the humidity, the number of patients with their families waiting for surgery, the lack of air conditioning and only a small number of fans. There are one and sometimes 2 families per bed. That means that there can be upwards of 6 people per bed. Both the Brits have been on several Uplift missions so very little really flusters them. On Wednesday, they cared for 14 patients with repaired lips and/or cleft palates. Today they will be providing care to an additional 10 patients who will undergo surgery. The cleft palate repair patients stay in the hospital for 2 nights while the lip repairs remain in overnight only.

Lizzie and Annie got some time away from the office yesterday and attended a case presentation given by the nurses graduating from IloIlo Doctors' College in April. Annie said "how impressed she was by the nurses preparation and depth of knowledge displayed during their 5 hour presentation".

Wednesday

Last night we went to dinner with the Rotary club of Antique. They were very welcoming and the food was very good. It was the president of the Rotary clubs birthday. They made him a cake and sang happy birthday to him. This morning we went up and gave out going home bags. It was fun to see the parents so excited, the kids were still out of it. We went and helped screen a new patient today who could not make it on Monday. He brought his school principal to interpret for him. He woke up at 2:00 am, walked five hours, then drove two more to make it on time. Later in the day we started writing up the adopt a child stories. They were really interesting. We learned a lot about some of the kids that already had their opporations done.

Tuesday in the Operating Room

Dr. Jeff Swail performing a bi-lateral cleft repair.

For someone who has never been in the OR, in a conscious state, it is intimidating. You are so concerned that you will touch something or bump into a machine providing life to the patient undergoing surgery. That is how I felt on Tuesday morning as I entered. What I found was a more welcoming and extremely interesting place. There were 2 ORs with 2 tables each. So that means that 4 surgeries can be performed at the same time. At each table there was the Uplift surgeon, nurse or PA, anethesiologist, a number of nurses circulating in and out of the room and Filipino doctors and nurses working along side or observing. Every person and machine had their place and function. Uplift volunteers were working side by side with Filipino doctors and nurses and sharing their knowledge and experience with their Filipino counterparts. There was a great energy in the rooms!

I was impressed with how the doctors have come prepared for the long hours in the OR. Surgeries were performed while listening to thier favorite tunes.......from time to time you can catch them tapping their toes and swaying a bit to the "OR beat".

Joseph Diana returns for his 3rd Surgery

This is Joseph in 2007, the day before his 2nd surgery. This is Joseph on Tuesday morning, waiting to have his 3rd surgery. Many of the volunteers that have been on more than 1 mission to San Jose remember Joseph Diana. He is here again this year for surgery; his 3rd surgery performed by Uplift Internationale. His is a difficult case requiring several surgeries. He came for his 1st surgery in 2006, his second in 2007 and his third was just finished this afternoon. "He is such a great little guy! A quiet and thoughtful little boy, but I notice a big difference since I saw him last year. He has confidence this year and he had none of that in early 2007." He has come each time with his father, mother and her sister. They are so thankful for Uplift and the help provided to their little boy. He now can look forward to things that little boys do!

Waiting for Surgery on Wednesday

These little boys and girls are scheduled for surgery on Wednesday. Many of the children scheduled have been at the hospital since Sunday. They traveled far, so the hospital is accommodating them in the wards. Since the children came with their families there can be 4 or 5 people in the wards for each child scheduled for surgery. The families have brought their daily life along with them so this makes for a high level of energy in the wards. Mothers are caring for their children, talking with each other and serving food. Children are making new friends, playing together and with some of their new toys provided by Uplift. When you enter any one of the 3 wards that we are using you get this feeling of enthusiasm, hopefulness and a little bit of anxiousness.

Get Well Cards and Gift Bags for the Patients

All of the patients prior to being released received gift bags full of stuffed animals, crayons, toothpaste, tooth brushes and other small toys. The patients were elated! The bags were made by a Filipino American children in Colorado. Included in the bags was a disposable camara so the family can take pictures of the children as they recover. The camaras are to be returned to Uplift and the patients will receive duplicate pictures. Patients also received a "Get Well Card". This little boy could not take his eyes off the card and just kept pointing to his before surgery photo.

Tuesday morning rounds continued

There were two particularly touching patient stories this morning. Andrew and his father (seen talking to Dr. Jamie) were full of "thank yous" for the doctors this morning. Andrew had his lip and cleft repaired yesterday afternoon. He had a submucous cleft which is a very small hole in the palate. His father said that his speech had already improved. Theresa Snelling, a mission volunteer and speech therapist, said that a significant change was possible as the hole repaired was small.

Trisha's mother was interviewed by a local television station this morning while waiting for her daughter to get the OK to go home. She became teary eyed as did the other mothers as they talked about what a difficult time their children had a school. She was so thankful as she feels confident that these painful times are now behind her daughter.

Tuesday morning rounds

The surgery team made rounds 1st thing on Tuesday morning. They visited the 8 surgery cases that were performed yesterday. The ward was quiet; but all of the parents were visibly very pleased though the patients not quite as smiley as on Monday but filled with hope for a future full of smiles and whistling. These patients will be discharged by noon today and will take only liquids for the next week and will be back in a week to see Dr. Rick and have their sutures removed.

Dinner at Villa Julieta

What a nice way to end a very busy day! The team was invited to Villa Julieta, the family home of Vice Governor Sally Perez for dinner. We were greeted by Sally and her mother. We enjoyed a delicious Filipino meal under the stars in a beautiful setting. All of us were very thankful for the hospitality shown to us by Sally. It was an early evening as surgeries start on Tuesday morning at 7:30am.

Tuesday

Today was a really uplifting and interesting day. We showed up at the hospital and went up to the recovery room to see the patients who underwent surgery yesterday. We gave them going away bags with toys and a before-after picture. We also gave them a camera so they can take pictures in a few weeks when the swelling goes down that they send to us. A local TV station came to interview a few of the patients and their families. One mom broke down crying because she was so happy. It was really neat to see them be that appreciative. In the afternoon we got to see some of the doctors perform their surgeries. It was really interesting. We learned about the procedure and how it all works. It was an entertaining day for us.

Day one at the Antique provincial hospital

photos

Monday - Screening and Surgery Begins

The day that many of us (volunteers and hopeful patients) had been anxiously awaiting! The screening process started at 8am. When we arrived at the hospital a crowd had already assembled in anticipation. With the help of the local support staff, the process quickly became orderly and efficient.

The patients and their families were lined up outside the facility, the Antique Provincial Hospital, and a number given to each patient. While the patients waited to be screened, the outreach volunteers distributed stuffed animals, coloring books and crayons, and some bling, that is, brightly colored beads.....a favorite with all the people no matter how young or old. Even a friendly game of jacks was played!

In the screening room the patients visited each of the stations for evaluation that included family history, vitals, pediatrics, surgery, photography, dentistry, anesthesia, admissions, scheduling and speech therapy. The room became a cacophony of sounds including 2 languages, giggling, and of course some crying.

A total of 58 patients went through the screening process in about 4 hours. Eight lip and/or cleft palate surgeries were scheduled along with1 tongue tie release for this afternoon. The patients were from 1 1/2 to 20 years old. Surgeries started at 1:30pm with 4 operating tables. Many of the volunteers were happy to see several return patients that had lips repaired in 2006 and were back to have the cleft palates repaired.

Three of the scheduled patients came from Guimaras, one of the many small islands in the Philippines. Robert Garcia, the owner of St. Joseph's School, made it possible for these children to make the trip and have a chance at a new smile. We are also very thankful to Robert for his generosity, he provided one of the vehicles that transported the team from Ilo-Ilo to San Jose upon our arrival on Saturday.

Screening Day

Today was a very busy day for the outreach team. We woke up early and headed to the hospital where about 70 kids were waiting to be screened. We tried our best to entertain the kids while they waited in the humid heat. We gave out coloring books, crayons, markers, jacks, play dough, stuffed animals, and mardi gras beads. The kids loved the stuff. We were amazed by the kids and their families. They said thank you for everything, and they were so nice and welcoming to us. The thing that they loved the most was pictures. We took pictures of the families and printed them out. When we gave the pictures to the families the parents were extremely excited to have a photo of them and their child. After we were all done with that we got to meet some local college kids. They knew a lot about American Culture. We talked about Michael Jordan, Bon Jovi, Tupac, and Carmelo. It was a fun and tiring day for all of us.

Arrival and Set-up in San Jose

On Thursday February 21st, 18 people departed from Colorado for Mission 2008 in San Jose, Antique, Philippines. In addition to personal luggage, we checked 13 balikbayan sized boxes in royal blue covers with UI logos, 3 suitcases and 1 anesthesia machine. The group made stops in San Francisco and Taipei before arriving in Manila. After 18 weary volunteers and all the cargo cleared customs uneventfully, we met remaining team members in the domestic terminal. The group arrived in Iloilo 1 hour later for the final leg of the trip from Iloilo to San Jose, Antique. The caravan included 3 trucks for the luggage and boxes, 2 large vans and 2 vehicles to transport the team for the last and longest leg......a 3 hour bus ride over winding mountainous terrain. A short stop was made for a familiar American favorite, Pizza Hut pizza and cold San Miguel beer. Finally at 9:00 pm Saturday (15 hour time difference from Denver) and 39 hours later the group reached their destination! Due to the size of the group, we are staying in 3 different hotels - The Pinnacle, The Centillion and The Adelaide. After a much needed rest, the group assembled at the hospital at 11 am to set-up and tour the facility. Families had already arrived in anticipation of screening day, many of which had traveled long distances and several hours in hope of being selected for surgery. The ward was full; there were 15 children with their families that included other siblings, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Spending time in a provincial hospital requires planning as the family has to provide their own food and bedding. It is unusual for the families to arrive this early! Normally the patients do not arrive until Monday morning, screeening day. This is a good indication of just how hard the local support staff has worked to get the word out in the community about our mission activities and to provide the support needed to get the patients to the hospital. As usual we are overwhelmed by the hospitality and careful planning of the community to facilitate the mission. Special thanks to the Lions Club of San Jose for the tasty fish and sphagetti lunch.

Orientation Day

Today we went to the hospital to take a tour, unpack boxes, and get ready for all the patients tomorrow. The tour of the hospital was quite an eye opening experience. People were on beds in the hallway because of the lack of room for them. We visited the ward where potential patients were waiting to be screened. There were 15 already even though we don't screen them until tomorrow. We passed out coloring books and gave the stuffed animals. It was fun, and we are excited to start working tomorrow.