Final day in Iloilo

Final day in Iloilo… speech screenings were done by our speech team. They found beautiful results from Mission 2009 patients who had palates repaired. They also instructed parents for ongoing therapy

Thank you celebration

We were hosted for a beautiful dinner by the Rotary Club of Central Iloilo City. A good time was had by all… we could not have had better hosts! Thank you thank you thank you to RCCIC!

Packing/Inventory

After surgeries were complete Friday afternoon, the team inventoried our supplies and equipment, packed everything up and said goodbyes. With the blessing of the Chief of Hospital, Dr. Prem Parcon, the equipment will be stored at Iloilo Provincial Hospital until the next mission.

After Surgery

After surgery, patients returned to the chapel to recuperate. If only the lip was repaired, they went home the day after surgery. If palate surgery was done or they were not medically ready for discharge, they stayed in the chapel for an extra day. There were lots of grateful parents on the ward… relieved that their child made it safely […]

Fabricating a palate obturator

One palate obturator was fabricated for a 22-year old young man who was not a surgical candidate. Where the palatal defect is small enough, a retainer-type appliance can be made to cover the hole in the palate; thus improving speech and eating capabilities. Dr. Willa, the Iloilo Provincial Hospital Dentist, not only extracted many teeth for the surgeons, but also […]

Waiting for surgery outside OR

After screening, many patients were housed at a local pension house because they traveled long distances to get to Pototan. They returned to the hospital the afternoon prior to surgery and were admitted to the hospital. If there were further labs or X-rays necessary, those were done, and the families then moved to the Chapel to await their surgery. From […]

'Brownouts' in Pototan

While in Pototan, we experienced “brownouts” every day. Usually, when this occurred, the hospital generator kicked in within a couple of minutes. However, on Wednesday late afternoon, the generator was not working, and the hospital electrician had gone home. He was called, and immediately returned to the hospital, but we were about 30 minutes without power. The anesthesia machines are […]

Pototan OR/Supply Storage

The surgical teams consisted of four surgeons, 3 anesthesiologists, one CRNA, and multiple nurses. We were fortunate to have the participation of several local doctors and nurses, some from Iloilo; others from Roxas City and Kalibo. Mike Hollenback ran a tight ship in the OR, and although the days were very long, in the end, 59 patients received surgery. The […]

The Chapel Pototan

The “ward” in Pototan was an open air chapel… a beautiful space which was inspiring…. even more so when used to accommodate our surgical patients. There were pre-op patients on one side and post-op on the other. While some were recovering from surgery, others were anticipating their operations. Meanwhile, the Outreach volunteers provided needed diversions in the form of games, […]

Successful Mission 2010

Congratulations for a very SUCCESSFUL medical mission 2010 this year. Roxas has 66 and Pototan has 59 children with new hope and higher self-esteem from our team. Great job guys! I got up at 3:30 am to send off most of the taghoy team to the airport flying out of Iloilo this morning at 6:30 am. See you all next […]