Improved Quality of Life

This 48  year old woman presented to clinic today with crippling rheumatoid arthritis. She was a normal healthy young woman, when after childbirth, the pain in her joints began. Over the years, her disease progressed to a point where she is in constant pain, and can not perform normal activities of daily living. She described her quality of life as extremely poor, not even being able to hold utensils or a bowl to eat from. Her hand x-rays were a dramatic picture of what is going on inside her joints. Her external hands and feet are severely dis formed from progressive worsening disease. At first, even  the slightest manipulation of her hand joints caused her to wince in pain, thus we were not sure we could try to help her. After a few injections of lidocaine into one hand, we started the process of manipulating her joints. As I held down this very close to screaming woman, Bac Si Ha continued to work on her hand. After about 10 minutes of what looked like an excruciating experience, the woman had more control of her hands, even being able to squeeze a grip. She said she hasn't been able to fully grip with her hands in years.. The pain was awful, so we decided to schedule a follow-up visit in a few days to treat her opposite hand. As she left the clinic room, she picked up her handbag with ease in her newly functional hand. (She had to carry the handbag by squeezing it between her arms prior to our treatment.) Even though she went through this painful experience, I believe her quality of life is beginning to improve. Hopefully she will return in a few days, so we can continue to work on her.

Debilitating Rheumatoid Arthritis

The last patient of a very long day arrived in a wheel chair, pushed by her mother. Her knee joints were so damaged that it prevented her from flexing or extending to any appreciable degree, thus confining her to a wheelchair. She was being examined while 2 other patients were being treated. When it came time for her treatment, she refused any lidocaine injection due to fear of needles. Unfortunately for the work that would need to be performed on her, it would be too painful without lidocaine, so we had to turn her away. Not 5 minutes go by, as we were cleaning up for the day, the door slid open and she tentatively agreed to take the lidocaine injection. Overhearing everything as were we treating her, Bac Si Ha said "I will make this patient walk again"!
She took the treatment like a champion and was able to tolerate the painful manipulations to her knees. Today, her range of motion has improved slightly, but she will be a follow-up patient for many days to come. We will treat her until we leave Ben Tre and train the clinic staff on the proper stretching techniques that will have to occur daily for a successful outcome.
Hopefully the pain from the lidocaine and treatment will be nothing compared to the quality of her life if the treatment succeeds!!! Stay Tuned!!!

Too little, Too late

This 19 year old patient presented to our clinic barley able to walk. He was taken into the medical room and examined by our team. So far this year, it is the most severe case of scoliosis we have seen. After further interview, the patient was a normal 15 year old child, when almost suddenly he developed severe back pain and the beginning of debilitating scoliosis. Cause is still unknown. He has very little access to the health care system and has been progressively worsening over the past 4 years. Through careful injection and manipulation, it turns out that he is beyond our repair. The pain was too bad and the spine was severely fused.
After discussing with Bac Si Ha, if this patient would have sought better medical treatment sooner, he could have been saved from years of a painful existence.
Our team tries our very best to assist every patient that arrives at clinic, however, even we have limitations to the success of our skills. What little we could do for him, unfortunately, would not change the course of his life. My prayers go out for your strength and perseverance.

Tragedy, Determination, Hope

This young man arrived at clinic with several amputations. Both arms, and right leg. His story is one of tragedy. His source of income was a tool sharpener for many years supporting his family. His elderly neighbor was having difficulty with her electrical power on her roof. Being the kind person he is, he offered to help with her power. While he climbed onto her roof to fix her power, he was suddenly electrocuted and 3 of his limbs were burned beyond repair. After years of painful surgery, he is left missing both arm and his right leg. Needless to say, his only source of income was terminated abruptly and he has not been able to provide for his family for years.  The shear determination of this young man brought out the strength and energy our team needed to help get his life started again. Our team was able to fit him with a right leg prosthetic. The look of smile and hope was thank you enough!!! Our hope is that this is the beginning of a new life for him and his family. He will still struggle daily, but with our assistance, he can search for a new source of income and strive for new hope!!!

Ben Tre Clinic

Today began the first of 20 days providing free medical care to orthopedic patients. Our day began at 6:30 am, leaving the hotel for clinic. We were embraced by the clinic staff, the leaders of the Association of the Poor, and of course, the patients. Every 2 days, our students rotate through different areas of the mission, including intake, medical clinic, physical therapy, prosthetics, and pharmacy. I am so very proud of the seamless way our team transitioned from training to actual clinic. The day was at least 100 degrees with humidity I could not describe. What started out as light blue scrubs, immediately turn to dark blue. We successfully treated 96 medical patients and fit 25 prosthetics. Not bad for the first day.
Then after we arrived back at hotel, at 8:00pm for a quick meal, a portion of our team was asked by Bac Si Ha to treat patients at the hotel. These patients traveled from Cambodia for this treatment, and we never say no until the last patient is completed. I write this with eyes half open, after completing our first day at 10:30pm!!!

3 very special people

It would not be a trip to Vietnam if I didn't see 3 of my favorite people. Many of you who have followed my previous 3 blogs know the 3 above individuals. 1. Nguyen: Met her in 2013 when she gave me the biggest kiss after introducing herself "My Name is Nguyen". Now eacah year her Mom points me out and we make a point to get our photo.
2. Cha Truc: The very young and very energetic Priest who always welcomes our team. I met him in 2012, and if I'm lucky will see him in September 2015 in Philadelphia, as he is visiting to see The Pope.
3. Thai: I met Thai on my first visit in 2012. He captured my heart with the most angelic singing voice. It was a star filled evening, the perfect night to be serenaded by my young, talented friend. His voice is still amazing and hasn't gone down any octaves, but soon, maybe next visit.

I've seen those children grow over the years and it makes my heart grow when they recognize me!!!

Charity work at Cha Truc's Church

Each year as part of the charity portion of the mission, we visit a poverty stricken school, and this year we again went to Cha Truc's (Father Truc's) Church. We traveled for close to 11hours the night before to prep our care packages of new school books, pens, pencils, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and candy. As you can see, this year Thanks to an anonymous donor, we were able to provide new school bags with Temple Pharmacy Vietnam Mission on the front. These children are some of the poorest in the region, and alittle goes a long way. For example, a months tuition is about $2.00 USD. An amazing smile of thanks and gratitude comes to their faces, knowing that they don't have to share 1 set of books between 5-6 kids next year.