Tim's Philippine Medical Mission

Western Pangasinan District Hospital
Alaminos City, Pangasinan

Sponsored by the Alaminos Rotary Club.

The Philllipine Minnesota Medical Association travels regularly to serve the medical needs of the poor in the Philippines. This year a team of 70 doctors, nurses and specialists, including our son and daughter, came to help the people of West Pangasinan, located about 5 hours north of Manila on the west coast of Luzon Island. They arrived on Saturday and started on Sunday and worked through Friday. The West Pangasinan District Hospital donated their facility to the mission work for the week and the Rotary Club hosted the group with housing, transportation, food and warm Filipino hospitality.

The hospital where the medical mission was held. Sorry I didn't take pictures of the lines of people (over 500 treated) that came to receive care and treatment.

DAY ONE  FOR US

 What a special joy to be together with Tim and Marnie (our son and his wife) and see them serving others with the Philippine Minnesota Medical Association. A wonderful team of cheerful medical professionals that gave their time and talents to help hundreds of people here in the province (state) of Pangasinan, Philippines. We were given some gowns, hats and masks and Tim said, "follow me".

 Containers of medical supplies were shipped early and setup by an advance team. No small task!

 We followed Tim into the operating rooms to see him at work for the first time. Something we have never seen before. Tim is skilled in what he does and is a natural leader that others look to. He gives clear directions, handles crisis without fear and finds a creative solution to keep things running smoothly. They told us he was "unflappable",  "extremely resourceful" and "an excellent doctor who is a joy to work with".

He makes time for everyone, even walking down the halls he stopped to evaluate a patient.

 Marnie and Sue staffed the front desk, answered questions and maintained a constant flow of patients moving through the surgical rooms.  Everyone had bouffant hair for the week.

 Mom and I were dressed in blue, with hats and mask ready for any emergency... or should I say ready to observe Tim and the Docs handle any emergency.

  Here Tim is administering a spinal block.

 He was called out for a second opinion and to evaluate an unusual EKG.

Little children with cleft lips were surgically repaired and released the same day. The parents of these little children couldn't find words to express the feelings of gratitude that filled their hearts.

As we left the first day we passed through a large group of people waiting for their turn to receive the compassionate medical care of the doctors from Minnesota.

DAY TWO

We came back the next day, which was Friday - finish up and take-down day. Marnie did a great job of staging the patients and moving them into the right surgical rooms and keeping track of the patient status. Tim was in the surgical rooms administering anesthesia, evaluating patients, consulting with the doctors, solving equipment problems (McGyver came up more than once), and dealing with egos, emotions and exhaustion.

After the surgeries were completed the work of packing began. Here Tim was working with a doctor to go through a checklist of things to do and locate and pack all the equipment for shipment to Bataan for their next mission in a couple of days or box things that will stay at the hospital.

Once the direction is given the members of the mission team sprang into action.  They were exhausted, but kept at it even in the heat. 

This autoclave needs to cool down a little more before it can be packed.

This is one of the wonderful husband and wife teams that came.  He is a great doctor and she was patient and cheerful and worked with Marnie in patient status and flow.  Some great people with big hearts and expert skills.

The first bus has left and the really hard workers that endured to the end remain for the second bus that is over an hour late. Lots of smiles, hugs and tears from the team as they reap their reward for the wonderful service they have rendered to the people of the Philippines. About 500 patients were seen and treated, including over 100 life-changing surgeries.

Mom and Dad couldn't be prouder of their son and daughter. We were delighted to see them at work and serving others in such a special way. It is the coolest time of the year, but it was still hot. Long days, short nights (3-4 hours sleep), no hot showers, long drives to and from "hotel" and hospital were the discomforts, but they were all swallowed up in the friendly hospitality of their hosts, the smiles and gratitude of the patients and the joy of working together with others to serve others in need. All that I spoke with said they were addicted to the mission service experience and would be coming back on another mission.

Am I Handsome Now?
One of the patients that came was a little boy from church. He had a growth on the side of his nose that disfigured his little 7 year-old face. He was nervous about the surgery, but trusted his life to the skilled medical staff of the mission.

After the surgery, this little boy asked his mother in the recovery room, "Am I handsome now?" You know that his mother had talked with him to prepare him for the surgery. She said, "Yes, you are handsome now."

The little boy described the proceedure to his mother. "They put a mask on my face and I breathed sweet smelling air and I fell asleep. When I woke up I was happy and handsome!"

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We were stopped in the hallway by another couple. They told us that they head about the clinic though our announcement in church and brought their baby son to the medical mission to have his cleft lip repaired. Their baby looked wonderfully normal even after only a few hours after the surgery. They were so grateful.

This may not be a part of our ecclesiastical mission, but it is certainly a part of our family's work to serve others in need. We love our family and express our love and gratitude to them for their selfless lives of giving service to others in need. A special thank you to Tim for sharing this powerful experience with us. We love you Tim!