Good Sam Medical Mission: Narrowly Escaping Disaster Post For October 25, 2010

Last Tuesday my wife, Rhome and I were traveling, via pump boat, to Ormoc City to see a patient, the brother of a caregiver on Pilar. He is the sole breadwinner for his family and has been so ill that he could not work for the two weeks prior to our visit.
Super Typhoon Juan had made landfall over Luzon a day or so prior and had not completely cleared the Philippines. The typhoon itself had a diameter greater that the Philippines north to south distance!

When we left that morning the weather was a bit windy and the waves were two to three feet in height. There were clouds but no rain and no visible thunder storms. Everything was going smoothly until we were about 30minutes away from arriving at the doc in Ormoc City. Then, all of a sudden, the boat turned 90 degrees and we could see a fast approaching storm that had come up from behind us! Swells were now in the 6 to 8 foot range, it was raining very hard, the wind was at least 30 to 40 miles per hour, and we were now traveling parallel to the waves! This made it very easy for the boat to capsize! The captain was trying to outrun the storm and get the boat to a sheltered cove so that we could ride out the storm. naturally we were all completely soaked as was our luggage! By the grace of our Lord the boat did not capsize (although is did come very close to capsizing) and we reached the shelter of the cove.

We then had to climb down from our boat and get on a variety of small fishing boats that took us to the shore! We then had to hike up to the road and flag down a small passenger van and about 20 of us crowded in along with our luggage and traveled on to Ormoc City after the storm passed!

I am sorry that I did not get any pictures of our grate adventure but we were all quite busy preparing to abandon ship if it was to come to that! I guess you could say that this journey to make a “house call” is one we will long remember!

Since our last post we have been extremely busy seeing a multitude of patients as well as continuing to make progress with our meetings with the professors at Visayas State University on the island of Leyte! They have been most gracious hosts and partners in our ongoing efforts to replenish seed corn stocks for the island of Pilar, develop composting using a new technique that they have developed which, we pray, will lead to the development of an organic fertilizer business here on Pilar! We have always wanted to find a business model that would allow us to employ people here on Pilar, thereby helping to improve their ability to rise above the subsistence life style that they have had no alternative to for many generations!

Here is a picture of the mountains behind Visayas State University. It was taken during our last visit.

This is the entrance to Visayas State University.

This is the entrance to the Agriculture Department of Visayas State University.

The two pictures above are of Dr. Asio, on the left, dean of the Department of Agriculture at VSU and professor Berta Ratilla, an agronomist at VSU.

If our Lord gives us the grace to see this project bear fruit, then we will not only have helped raise people out of chronic poverty but we will also have succeeded in providing a less costly alternative to commercial fertilizer, and at the same time, begin to enrich the soil in a sustainable way! The productivity of the cash crops of corn and vegetables will also improve as will the nutritional status of Pillar's population!
Now, on to a sampling of our recent patients!

This is a patient that sells vegetables “door to door” on the island but has very poor vision, “ I can only see shadows” she said. She related that this first started when she was age 10! She is now in her 40’s. The final diagnosis was, as I feared, optic nerve atrophy, a permanent, untreatable condition! Had she received treatment early on, it could have been cured!

This is the patient after we had to tell her the unfortunate news! All that we can do now is to try to ask if someone in the US would be willing to donate one of the page sized, illuminated magnifiers so that she could at least read her bible and other books and see photos of her family! Can you imagine, seeing just shadows and selling vegetables door to door!

This is a young father who earns a living for he and his family simply by fishing from a small non-motorized boat! He complained of having fever, a productive cough, and difficulty breathing with heavy work. He was diagnosed with bronchitis and treated with medications and is now doing well!

This is a young mother who came to us complaining of frequency, urgency and burning with urination. She was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection.
She was treated with an appropriate antibiotic, encouraged to drink plenty of water and use vitamin C four times a day. She was asked to return if there were any problems and to come back for follow-up in a week.

Here she is a week later with her infant daughter and her mother! She was completely without symptoms and was completing her medications as instructed!
We shared a prayer of thanksgiving with them and encouraged them to continue growing in our Lord!

This woman had a facial laceration that was sutured after a through cleansing and a sterile dressing was applied. She was started on antibiotics and instructed to return if there were any problems and to return in 5 to 7 days for suture removal!

This is a 15 year old who was brought to us for evaluation and treatment for a chronic pain and a “lump” just below his knee! There was no history of any trauma and no evidence of infection.

Here is a close up of his knee.
He was diagnosed with Osgood Slaughter’s disease, treated conservatively and reassured!

This gentleman came to us seeking care for a toothache! He actually had 2 significant cavities and we were able to clean things up a bit and put in 2 temporary fillings. We were able to provide him with some ibuprofen for pain and ask him to return within a week so that we could take him to the dentist in Ormoc City for definitive care!

This is a young mother with her, less than happy, infant! She said that the baby had been having a significant cough, runny nose, some fever and was not eating as well as was usual an not sleeping well! On examination the child had a significant bronchiolitis. We started antibiotics, a mucolitic, Tylenol and bronchodilator nebulizer treatments. With in 2 days there was a marked improvement! The baby is now doing well!

This was our young patient during one of the follow-up visits! You can tell that, although she was improving, she was still not thrilled with her care!

These are 2 sisters who have a history of asthma and were having symptoms of asthmatic bronchitis and fever for 1 week when their mother brought them to us for medical care. The initial exam revealed marked wheezes and some rales bilaterally! We started them on Tylenol, a steroid inhaler, bronchodilator nebulizers and a mucolytic! They are now doing very well!

This very pleasant woman had a history of a persistent, productive cough, some fever, difficulty getting restorative sleep! Her exam was consistent with bronchitis. We started her on antibiotics, a mucolytic, increased fluids and bronchodilator nebulizer treatments! She is now asymptomatic and joined us in a prayer of thanksgiving for the Lord providing such care!

This is one of many (probably at least 20 to 30) patients that we have seen over the past 2 weeks or so for significant conjunctivitis! We treated her and most of the rest with ophthalmic steroid & antibiotic drops which required them to return to our home at least 3 times a day to receive treatment! They all responded well to the therapy and, hopefully, the epidemic is starting to subside!

This is a close-up of the above patient’s infected eye!

I will include photos of some, but not all, of the patients that we have treated over the past couple of weeks for conjunctivitis below this photo.

This is the young man that I mentioned in the beginning of this post! He is the only “bread winner” for his family! He is employed as a security guard but has been too ill to work for at least 2 weeks. His main complaints are of epigastric and right upper quadrant pain with some radiation of the pain through to his right shoulder. the second picture above is him being seen by a gastroenterologist. he is scheduled for a abdominal ultrasound tomorrow morning. Please keep him in your prayers! His name is Jo Jo.

This is a 15 month old boy who was brought in to us for treatment of a second degree burn to the inner aspect of his right leg just below the knee. He was riding astraddle of the gas tank on a motorcycle and during an accident he sustained this burn! We thoroughly cleansed the wound and debrided the burn. Then we applied a silvadine dressing and recommended that the child be seen the following day by a physician, as the family would be traveling back to Ormoc City then!
As you can see, the last few weeks have been filled to overflowing with adventure and blessing and protection by our loving merciful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! We enjoy providing medical care to all of those in need and look forward to every opportunity to share Christ’s word with them!
Until next time;
May God Bless Us, Everyone!