HoChiMin City

Spent yesterday getting over jet lag acclimating to the 90 degree temp and seeing a few of the sights. Found a Hindu temple that I had seen on a previous trip. In fact it was only about a block from my hotel.




It is sandwiched between several taller buildings and only the very ornate entrance tower lets you know it is there. It was built by immigrants from southern India
It honors the goddess Miriamman, who is the goddess who protects against smallpox.




Iam at this time I am unable to add photos. Hope I can correct that.

Is There a Doctor on the Plane?

We are about 2 hours into the 15 hour flight to Hong Kong and just finishing our lunch when the announcement comes that they are looking for a doctor. I must confess that I have very mixed emotions when that happens. If someone is having a heart attack or something like that, I feel pretty unprepared t deal with it. Anyway, as I had told my seat mate what I did I could not escape.
Lucky it was just a pain problem due to a tooth abscess and it was easy for me to recommend some stronger pain medication that was in the medical box. The rest of the flight was uneventful
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Genesis

Genesis and her Mother

Meet Genesis and her Mother.   She is an eleven year old who was born with a congenital heart defect and a cleft palate.  Her heart defect was repaired when she was an infant by a team from New York.  However there was no team that would repair her cleft palate.  According to her family she is a very good student, but found school difficult due to her speech.  She wants to be a doctor and asked her family once again to bring her to a team that did cleft surgeries.  Normally children with heart defects are considered hig risk, but she had been doing well, had regular check ups with the local cardiologist.  Our pediatrician, Bob McGrath is also a cardiologist and he felt that she was no higher risk than any of the other children we operate on.  Her surgery was done the first day and inspite of some bleeding after surgery she has done well and even this early her mother notices some improvement in her speech.  She will need speech therapy to learn to use her repaired palate, but I am sure she will do well.  At her post op visit she still wants to be a doctor.

Will Work for Mangoes

Today we given mangoes by the families of 3 of our patients.  In total there were about 60 of the fruit or 5 per team member.  Thus it seemed appropriate to learn a bit more about the fruit.

Part of our mango gift

The following is taken from Wikipedia.



The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world.

Mango is now cultivated in most frost-free tropical and warmer subtropical climates; More than a third of the world's mangoes are cultivated in India alone second being China.

Mango peel and sap contains urushiol, the chemical in poison ivy and poison sumac that can cause urushiol-induced contact dermatitis in susceptible people.^[19] Cross-reactions between mango contact allergens and urushiol have been observed.

In mango fruit pulp, the antioxidant vitamins A and C, Vitamin B₆ (pyridoxine), folate, other B vitamins and essential nutrients, such as potassium, copper and amino acids are present. Mango peel and pulp contain other phytonutrients, such as the pigment antioxidants – carotenoids and polyphenols – and omega-3 and -6 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

The mango is the national fruit of India,^[46] Pakistan, and the Philippines.^[47] The mango tree is the national tree of Bangladesh.^[48]

In Hinduism, the perfectly ripe mango is often held by Lord Ganesha as a symbol of attainment, regarding the devotees potential perfection. Mango blossoms are also used in the worship of the goddess Saraswati. No Telugu/Kannada new year day called UGADI passes without eating ugadi pacchadi made with mango pieces as one of the ingredients. In Tamil Brahmin homes too mango is an ingredient in making Vadai Paruppu on Sri Rama Navami day (Lord Ram's Birth Day) and also in preparation of pachchadi on Tamil new year day.

The left picture shows a nice way to eat the mango.

Thus we received a gift that was not only healthy, but contans a lot of history.



A Weekend Away but Never Off Call

As we finished a successful week, we headed up the coast for some R&R.  The place we picked out is the Punta Sal resort which is about 120 miles north of Piura. We traveled through some very arrid country where the only thing we saw was number of oil wells and some goats.  Arriving at the resort in time for lunch.  After checking in everyone headed to the beach.  After dinner some stayed up to dance and some went to bed to catch up on sleep.
Sunday morning the weather was clear and more time was spent by the beach or the pool.

Our beachfront cabins

A beautiful full moon

The team doing some power shopping

Just as many of us were getting ready to leave there was a frantic call from the pool area for a "medico".One of the women had dislocated her shoulder. The team was mobilized and under the direction of Ian we were able to put things back in place.

After the shoulder reduction

No one really wanted to leave, but we still have many patients on the schedule for next week.

The First Week

We have come to the end of the first week and are now ready to relax for a day and a half at the beach.
We helped 28 children to lead more normal lives by correcting their deformities.  In addition to many cleft related caces, there was a teenager with a severe burn on his neck, some hand burns and a congenital hand deformity.
The weekend will be at a beach resort soaking  up a little sun and recharging our battgeries.

Carlos Volunteer Extraordinary

When we arrived the first day for clinic we were enthusiastically greeted by a gentleman that I recognised from three years ago.  He was in his volunteers smock, looking very professional.  I decided to find out more about him.  At first he did not want to talk about himself, but we worked on him and finally got the story.
He was born in Peru 75 years ago of parents with a Chinese background and married a woman from Japan.  After working many years in Peru in buisness administration, he moved to Japan until he was ready to retire.  To get his pension for time worked in Peru, he had to return. That was about 8 years ago and he has not yet cleared the paperwork.
To keep from being bored at home he started volunteering at the hospital.  He had received much help from others during his life, and he felt it was time to give back.  To quote him "A person who doesn't live to serve, doesn't live".

Carlos

He does many things for us including getting lunch.  Helping with the children and families. 
He also likes to work with the volunteer groups because he knows most of are are here to help and not for our own gain.
I for one am proud that he chooses to work with us.