Just a short note here to let folks know that we are heading back to Santa Rosa del Sara, Bolivia in T-minus 18 hours. Just a short, one week MMI project this time. It will be my third time to Santa Rosa which has a special place in my heart as it was my first Bolivia project location (in 2010). I get to take Wendy with me again this time, but the girls are staying behind with my parents – So nice to have them in our neighborhood now. We are truly thankful for their help this week.
I am excited about our team this time around. We are joined by Lindsay Lorenz, PA-C who lives here in the Manitowoc area and works in multiple emergency departments in Green Bay. She has surgical experience as well, having worked with us in my office in the past. She honestly has so many skills, I’m not sure where she will do the most good. We also have Dorothy Grossheim, RN from our Same-Day Surgery department here at Holy Family. She will fill a much-needed role in preparing patients for surgery and monitoring them afterwards. That rounds out the Wisconsin Contingent.
We also have a West Coast part of our team. I’m excited to work again with Dr. Stanton Smith, another general surgeon practicing in Klamath Falls, OR. We worked together last year in Santa Rosa and had a great experience. Stan gets to bring his wife Valerie this time as a general helper. We will also be joined by “Freddie” Buhr, a recently retired nurse who has known Dr. Smith for quite some time and who has always wanted to go on a mission project.
From Ohio, we will have Dr. Roberto Kong joining us again. Roberto is an anesthesiologist practicing in Dayton, Ohio (GO BUCKS!) and this will be our third Bolivia project together. He was with us in Santa Rosa in 2010 and in San Juan in 2012. He is an extremely compassionate, conscientious, and skilled anesthesiologist. I’ve seen his MacGyver skills in action, but he is probably looking forward to working with the new anesthesia machine HFM donated last year (I’m pretty sure he’s still bringing his duct-tape and chewing gum, though. Just in case…)
A late registrant is Dr. Henry Bush, a family practice doc working in Puerto Rico. He will be working with our clinic outreach team out in some of the smaller outlying communities in Santa Rosa county.
We are in the final packing stages right now – a mad dash of Suitcase Tetris as we try to push each bag right to the weight limit. I have managed NOT to lose my passport this time around and I think I have all the paperwork ready to go. Not bringing any heavy equipment this time, so that should make clearing customs a little less “Bourne-like” this time around.
We get to stay again in the “Hotel Ochotu” again this year – a cozy little enclave three blocks from the hospital and perpetually under construction. I recall them also having intermittent AC and electrifying showers. To prepare, we have decided to have our home’s roof re-done as we leave – we are now pre-accustomed to construction noise and shouting en-espanol late into the evening. Our electricity also goes out on occasion.
Not sure how much I will get to blog while we are down there. We tend to work late into the evenings on short projects, and as of 2012 the hotel did not have internet. In fact, the only internet access in town was at a quaint little internet café downtown. It was basically a 100 degree phone booth with 8 workstations (486 PCs on dial-up), seven of which are occupied by sweaty gamers at all times. The place is named “Need for Speed,” which is more of a plea for help than anything. I am not sure if it will be available this year as I hear it is serving as the outsourced headquarters for Healthcare.gov. If I am unable to post from the project, I’ll try and journal anyways and then post them when I get back to the airport next Saturday.
Well, I’ve gotta go. More packing to do and I’ve got a seven year old girl trying to use me as a jungle-gym which will make fir intolerskjnble typos and unredablk blgs.
Hasta
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