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March 3,
2003
Ever
have someone pull a quarter out of your ear? This
humorous sleight of hand is a well-known source of delight
for many people, especially children.
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The visit of a Canvasback ear, nose and
throat team to Pohnpei in February, 2003, turned up surprises
of a non-humorous sort when doctors pulled foreign objects out
of the ears of several children, including pebbles, erasers,
and even several dead cockroaches!
While it is not unusual
for children to put things in their ears, the cockroaches were
definitely uninvited guests. Most of the children who came to
the clinic had multiple
chronic ear infections resulting in
perforated eardrums. These holes in
the membrane protecting the inner ear not only cause loss of
hearing, they open the door to further infections from
water
contamination through swimming and bathing.
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Dr. Jim Reese pulled
out an inch-long cockroach from the ear of
this young teen. Later on, two other children
were brought in with hearing problems . . .
and two more cockroaches were
retrieved! |
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The team had their hands full for the two
short weeks they were in Pohnpei.
By often working 12-hour
days, this tireless group of
dedicated volunteers was able to treat more than 400 patients
and perform 70
surgeries. Sadly,
there were far more patients than
they could treat. Nearly 40 patients are on a waiting
list for Canvasback's next E.N.T. mission to Pohnpei. In
all, nearly $200,000 worth
of care was delivered to the island
people.
A hard-working
team of volunteers plus island medical staff, from left:
James Sadoyama, M.D.; Donna Reese; James Reese, M.D.;
Lauren Petford, R.N.; Mary Lou Hawley, Pohnpei Chief of
Primary Health
Care; Winston Likaksa, Pohnpei Medical Officer; Simao Nanpei,
Director
of Pohnpei State Health Services; Steve Haskil, R.N., Jacque
Spence,
Canvasback Co-founder; and Randy Waring, M.D.
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Fishbone Tales
Another interesting case was that of the
librarian and English teacher of the
Pohnpei SDA School. Josie had swallowed a large fish
bone the week before and it had lodged in her throat.
She had seen three doctors but no one had been able to remove
it. When the team met her at the school, she had an IV
access in her arm, because she couldn't eat or take her
medicines by mouth.
The bone was stuck deep in her
esophagus, and Dr. Jim Reese didn't think he had an instrument
long enough to get it out. But the team trusted that God would
take care of it, and sure enough, when Josie came to the
hospital, Dr. Reese was able to remove a 1-1/2 inch fishbone
from her throat. Josie was overjoyed! |
Dr. Reese
had removed a fish bone from a patient on a
previous mission, so he came prepared with the proper
instrument. Still, the bone was lodged so far down that he
wasn't sure he would be able to get it out.
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But there
was more. Josie later returned to
the clinic to reveal an enlarged parotid (saliva) gland
which the doctors were also able to remove making
her one very happy woman. |
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Is it Cancer?
A
serious concern arose when the team examined a
two-year-old boy named Keanu. His mother brought him to
the clinic because she was very concerned about the large
swellings on his neck. On examining him, the Canvasback
doctors suspected that he had lymphoma, a type of cancer.
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Research revealed that
the local doctor had examined Keanu
back in November 2002, and performed a biopsy because he
suspected cancer too. Tragically, the biopsy was never sent
off to Honolulu for diagnosis because the airlines considered
it "bio-hazardous material" and refused to take the specimen
on board.
The team was so concerned about Keanu
that they made arrangements to bring the biopsy back to
Honolulu for analysis. Without a biopsy report, the islands
would have to send the boy on an expensive trip to the
Philippines for diagnosis. |
The whole team fell in love with little
Keanu, and prayed to be able to help him. |
Thankfully, the biopsy report was negative. It
turned out that Keanu had "cat scratch fever," a condition
easily treated by antibiotics. With that word, months of
worry and fear ended for his parents, who were greatly
relieved.
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Medtronic - A Company With a Heart
Although most of
Canvasback's missions last only
a few weeks, they require many months of
advance preparation--making travel arrangements, procuring,
organizing and packing supplies, assembling lists of patients
screened for surgery, etc. For the E.N.T.
mission, as in all of them, God’s hand was seen long before
the team left home.
Here's one example. For this E.N.T.
mission, we needed to procure a long list of supplies, including
specialized items like ear tubes and tonsil cautery equipment. In
November, our medical coordinator Lauren Petford, R.N. remembered a
medical supply representative she met in Jacksonville, FL, who had
donated E.N.T. supplies two years earlier.
She called and told him about our upcoming mission needs and he
referred her to a company called Metronic that specializes in
E.N.T.
products.
Lauren sent a request to the
company and the company support supervisor got very excited about
the project. So excited, in fact, that a group of employees even
went in on a weekend to package supplies.
They sent
several trays of brand new instruments and
also loaned some expensive
equipment needed for specialized surgeries.
Medtronic generously sent more
supplies than needed for one mission,
a real blessing since Canvasback is now preparing
to send an E.N.T. team to the Marshall Islands later this
year.
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Assisting Other Island Ministries |
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Ayesha Fuka is a medical officer
and wife of local pastor in Yap. After years of working in the
island hospital, Ayesha left to begin her own self-supporting
clinic. She charges only $2 per visit, and depends heavily on
donated medicines and supplies to carry on her work. Most of
the island women go to her.
This month,
Canvasback was very
pleased to be able to bless Ayesha with $7,000 worth of medicines
and supplies for her clinic.
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Medical
officer Ayesha Fuka has
a heart to meet the physical and spiritual needs of
her patients. |
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