Jan 31 to Feb 11, 2011

Volunteers: Asha Bale, Ziad Sifri, Devashish Anjaria, Kevin Clarke, David Livingston, Leonard Mason, Alison Baker, Cathy Blaskewicz, Socorro Rogers, Mae Tingson, Irene Banares, Emilia Wawczysck, Margaret Rathbun, Marcelino Potian, Vishnu Hoff, Debbie Livingston.

Our Surgery Mission to the Philippines was the first trip to this country for most of us. Guided by our Philippino volunteers, we left from JFK airport and flew on a 24 hour flight to Cebu, Philippines, with a layover in Seoul, Korea. Before heading out to the countryside we spent a day at Plantation Bay Resort in Lapu-Lapu, where we enjoyed the ocean and sunshine and had a brief chance to adjust to the time change. The next morning we flew to Bacolod and then had a visit with Governor Alfredo Maranon and his staff in the capitol building. Bacolod is on the island of Negros, whose primary income comes from agriculture- Sugarcane and Rice. The Governor's hometown is Sagay, and he graciously hosted us for the two weeks of our stay, supporting our surgery mission. At the Governor's office, mutual thanks were offered by both the Governor and Dr. Sifri, who was representing ISHI.

After our brief visit to the Governor's office, we proceeded to the hospitals to do our triage of patients for the two weeks. One team went to Escalante (Vincent Gustilo Hospital) and the other to Sagay (Alfredo Maranon Hospital). The local doctors had pre-triaged for us, so we were able to see and schedule our patients for surgery rather expeditiously. Our anesthesia team found the two anesthesia machines in Escalante to be unusable, so we made arrangements to bring the machine from Sagay for use during the first week. That evening, Mayor Yap of Escalante City hosted a welcome dinner for our team- The hearty welcoming of the team was demonstrated by speeches by many of the towns officials, a lavish meal (including the local delicacy- Lechon), and local singers' performances.

Our two week stay was at Kauswagan Center, a guesthouse for visitors to Sagay City- Comfortable and clean and thankfully had hot showers!

Our first week we performed surgeries in Escalante. Upon arrival we were pleasantly surprised to see many of the hospital staff wearing ISHI T-shirts! We ran two rooms and were able to accomplish about 80 operations. The Outpatient department was turned into an outpatient surgery area, which had about 6 tables, used to remove various lumps and bumps. Local surgeons also participated in the mission and were quite busy in this effort. The hospital also hosted various students from different nursing schools, so we had an opportunity to teach and instruct them as well. We learned that the nursing students had to observe and participate in procedures in order to fulfill requirements for graduation, and that with our volume of surgeries during the mission, this was a perfect opportunity for them to get involved! Drs. Anjaria and Sifri gave the students and hospital staff a lecture on "Evaluating a Trauma Patient"- They showed a video and donated some ATLS books to the hospital library; all of it was very well received.

After the workweek in Escalante, we opted for a weekend of rest before moving to the hospital in Sagay. Our team members enjoyed a weekend in Bacolod, and Cebu before returning to Kauswagan once again for the second week of duty. Chinese New Year had begun, and some of us were able to enjoy a street festival in Bacolod in celebration of this.

Our second week, we were joined by Dr. and Mrs. Livingston, both first time ISHI volunteers. The hospital in Sagay was definitely smaller than the one in Escalante- about 25 beds. However the enthusiasm and helpfulness of the staff was equally the same! When we arrived we were again greeted by staff members wearing ISHI t-shirts! We were able to complete another approximately 50 operations during our time there. One patient came into the ER with a spontaneous pneumothorax, which Dr. Mason treated with a chest tube. The pleurovac was a bottle of water with a vent in it! Worked just fine!

One day when we finished our operative schedule early, we took a tour of a sugarcane factory- Sugarcane is a huge crop in this region and the sugar processed in these plants is exported all throughout Asia.

Our last day at the Hospital we were requested to give the trauma talk again, so Dr. Anjaria stepped up and gave a nice talk to an enthusiastic crowd. That evening, Mayor Cueva of Sagay City hosted a dinner for us at Kauswagan. We were treated to a live band and a night of dancing, and the Mayor expressed his appreciation for our team's work and dedication to patient care in Sagay City.

On Thursday, we finished our morning rounds and were treated to a day at Carbin Reef. This beautiful island in the middle of the south pacific disappears during high tide and then reappears during low tide. A fabulous afternoon of swimming and snorkeling was enjoyed after which our team packed up and headed back to Bacolod. That night at the Governor's Dinner, a wonderful video was shown to us documenting our visit and mission. Additionally, a patient came to the dinner to express her heartfelt thanks to us for coming to the Philippines and performing surgery on her. She was in tears expressing her thanks and so were we when we understood the huge impact we had made on each of our patients. On our last morning in Bacolod we visited Mambukal Mountain resort. Hikers saw seven waterfalls, while non-hikers were able to enjoy butterfly gardens, sulfur springs and a local spa.

As we headed out to the airport that evening, we were all pretty tired, but overwhelmingly happy with the work we had done and the memories that we have made. Our volunteers donated their time, and skills to help patients halfway across the world for no other reason than pure altruism. Our team is dedicated to improving the lives of patients by offering operations that would otherwise be unavailable to them. Our surgeries restore quality of life for many patients, and are even lifesaving for some. We are happy to have made a difference in the Philippines!