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Deb, Sarah and I spent our time between patients today organizing the surgical instruments in preparation for the upcoming trip to Uganda. We sorted instruments into two cleft lip and one cleft palate trays, finished putting on the instrument tape, inventoried the trays and identified a few more instruments to procure. I wish these two lovely ladies were going on this trip…maybe next year.

Deb and I traveled to Ecuador together three years ago, and again to Kenya last fall. Sarah has gone on a cleft trip to Kenya each of the last three Octobers. Volunteers like Deb and Sarah are instrumental in organizing and executing these surgical mission trips. So many times we have been asked if we are paid to do this work. People are often shocked when they find out that no, in fact, we give up vacation time with our families to go. But, what a joyful, yet physically and emotionally challenging time it is.

Turns out, the folks in Alaska were also hard at work. While we were busy with instruments, Mishelle Nace and Liz Wood were occupied picking up more suture donations and organizing the master supply list for the Uganda trip. And Mishelle also rescued a cardiac monitor from a dusty shelf and is bringing it back to life–as a donation to the Kyotera Medical Center.

If you feel that you have a skill to share, please reach out. Volunteers are instrumental in the success of our trips, and the trips are instrumental in changing your life–just ask any of us.

Compassion is revolution, this is something I once read and have since thought much about. Working as a nurse for the last 14 years I see that compassion changes us, I believe that it is a true reflection of our genuine spirit. The part of us that cares deeply for others regardless of social status, education, religion, past wrongs, disease, or deformity. We all suffer, and to have compassion for others can allow us to break ourselves open to our own humanity and see the value each of has to contribute to this life.

I am proud to work as a CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthetist) performing all types of anesthesia for adults, children, and obstetric patients. My prior nursing career was primarily intensive care and some emergency room. Working at home in Alaska and around the US as a travel nurse has given me many opportunities to provide compassionate care to those in my own country.

Travel is in my blood and when an opportunity to be invited across the globe was given, saying yes seemed easy. Prior to University I traveled to Vietnam, the Philippines, and India for work-based missions. Since that time, travel has become more about adventure and pleasure than volunteer work.

I know we will be changed by the people we meet. These special families in Uganda who allow us to use our knowledge and skills to help alleviate some of the illness and disease that afflicts them and much of humanity, they are not alone.

For anyone who choses to donate to our mission we will bring with us not only our skills and education but the compassion many of us have for those with limited access to health care and surgery around the world.

What exactly will be my role in our medical trip to Uganda this April?  That is a thought familiar to me from when I went on a previous medical mission trip to repair cleft lips/palates in Indonesia some Aprils ago.  I know I want to help.  I know I can help.  What is not always clear before your arrive, is what is most needed at the destined site.  There routinely seem to be surprises in these situations and without fail, the need shows itself on a daily basis.

While in Indonesia, the need quickly became evident as our tightly woven days became longer as more and more patients were in need of services we could offer.  It was not uncommon that the least amount of time we had between any 2 meals was the abbreviated time between dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast.  Generators on standby to keep the OR running as long as possible past dark; medical staff trading off to keep the support flow going; surgical team members assessing, repairing, and teaching, to help as many children and local providers as possible in our tiny grateful village.

Going to an area not yet visited by such a traveling medical clinic presents a challenge in arrangements, supplies, and complex details.  We are very fortunate to have Liz Wood, as our organizing leader, in addition to a group of dedicated civic and medically minded volunteers –getting their paperwork in order, immunizations obtained, and dollars spent to make this trip a reality.  All understanding that one of the biggest “knowns” we can be sure of is that there will be a lot “unknowns” in our commitment to this service. But we also know, the rewards are not small.  We can take part in changing the lives of many through individual surgeries, providing services/equipment not previously available, and assisting the community with further medical education.   It is a win:win arrangement of which I am proud to be a part.

Mishelle

Putting a surgical mission trip together truly takes a village. Often people ask about the details so I thought I’d include some of the logistics here. For this trip, we have Liz Wood–Hallelujah!!! Liz is very experienced as an ER and OR nurse who has traveled with and organized numerous surgical mission trips around the world. She also has an incredible knack for procuring donations–including her latest coup– a Valleylab cautery machine! We are excited about that, though pondering how to pack it. I think she already has five large suitcases stuffed with items such as gauze, IV tubing, syringes, needles, IV start kits, endotracheal tubes, and patient gowns just to name a few…

I’ve also got suitcases in my office with anesthesia medications, antibiotics, surgical instruments, a cardiac monitor, intubating laryngoscopes and suture. My instrument sets are wrapped in wraps made by Kim Rispoli (who I have not had the pleasure of meeting).  Her sister, Deb Gritzbaugh, connected us. Deb marked all the instruments with color coded instrument tape to keep the trays separated and organized properly–Deb is a retired OR nurse who has traveled to Kenya and Ecuador for cleft trips. This was done after Juliana Bertucci painstakingly cleaned off old instrument tape (the tape is color coded to the sets, so they are easy to keep separated). That project took hours, and involved a small cut to her finger–no worries, she’s fine now. Paul Bertucci (Secretary, board member) set up the domain name for the website, is making some adjustments to the monitor we’re taking to allow use of multiple types of blood pressure cuffs, and has been involved in editing Bylaws and other documents. He also customized my Woodson, a stainless steel instrument used for cleft palate surgery. Jim Fielding of Orthomed, Inc., helped me fill out my cleft lip and palate instrument trays, customizing a tongue retractor for the Dingman and donating another instrument. Mishelle Nace is collecting information and bottles/nipples for feeding babies with cleft lips/palates, until they are surgically treated. She is  gathering bottles for dispensing acetaminophen and antibiotics post operatively and organizing teaching materials for Ugandan medical staff. Mark Simon has procured 4 pulse oximeters from Americares that we will take with us and plans to do training sessions with the hospital/clinic staff on their use. Clay Van Leeuwen is bringing instruments and additional suture necessary for the surgery. Sarah VanderZanden has been collecting financial donations, coordinating supplies and secured a donation for much of the Dermabond (tissue glue) we need! MAP International donated some of the needed suture.

Nina Bertucci has been writing and collecting information for website content. Jennifer Searls (board member) has put together a beautiful website in 36 hours after tactfully offering to do so when she saw what I had struggled to put together–Thank you Jennifer! She is instrumental in planning out our communications, editing media and documents and cheering me on for the past 10 years until I finally formed GMAST. Elisa Burgess, who has traveled to the Philippines on several cleft trips, and Emily Hu have been collecting methylene blue which is used to mark out the incisions prior to surgery. Ed Bleynat (board member) has reviewed Bylaws, financial policies and other legalistic items. Several of our supporters have clicked the DONATE button and supported us financially to offset the many expenses that add up for a week of specialized surgery. Many, many people have clicked to Like us or to Share our stories to spread the word. All of the team members have had to submit volumes of paper to the Ministry of Health in Uganda to become licensed, as well as having had to pay the licensing fees. We’ve all had to update our Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Hepatitis, Meningitis, Influenza, Tetanus vaccines if we didn’t already have them. We’ve all gotten prescriptions for malaria prophylaxis as well. The list goes on…and I will try to update it and recognize everyone. Please ping me if I’ve temporarily forgotten to mention you!

Thank you to an amazing village that keeps growing–bridging the gap between what people need and what they have, one smile at a time.

The upcoming trip to Uganda will be my first medical mission. I’ve always loved to travel but often wish I could experience new cultures in a more meaningful capacity. More than just being a tourist on the sidelines, I’d like to give something in return. It wasn’t until I had graduated with a degree in nurse anesthesia and gained a few years of experience in my career that I felt like I had some skills to contribute on a mission trip. After months of searching for volunteer organizations that would be a good fit me for, I found myself confiding in my friend and fellow CRNA, Nicole McCune, about my dreams to volunteer. Coincidentally, she had similar aspirations and introduced me to her friend Liz Wood, who has organized and lead many surgical trips. When we heard that anesthesia providers were needed on the Uganda mission, we excitedly/nervously signed ourselves up!

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