Honduras 2013 Fourth Blog - An Emotional Day at the Clinic

Today was an emotional one for me.  One of my student docs got a patient that really hit me hard.  He was a 13 year old boy who had lost his leg when he was eight years old. He got hit by a car and lost his left leg above his knee (this means almost no chance of prosthesis since it would need to be an artificial knee too).  Anyhow, his right knee was now hurting.  And he was having difficulties using his crutches due to the right knee (the good one) pain.

He was brave during the whole procedure.  I performed it and my student doc assisted me.  This was done since speed was a factor because the young boy could only bend his knee for a short while without pain and due to his age, as he was very anxious and crying.   All in all, he did well with the procedure. We also referred them to the local physical therapy place in town that the foundation built. Hopefully they will go next week.

I gave his mother 100 Lempira, which is a good sum for them.  She thanked me profusely.  I had to borrow this from another doc as I had only a little local money.  I told her to buy him something nice.  As they were leaving one of the translators told me that the woman with him was not his mother but is grandmother.  We caught up with them right before the door and I asked her where his parents were.  She said the father was almost unknown as he left before his kid was born.  And when he lost his leg his mother (this women’s daughter), took off illegally to the US and wants nothing to do with him.  It was all I could do to hold back tears.  I gave her the rest of the local money I had in my pocket (about 50 Lempiras) and wished her well.  She gave me a big hug and thanked me for everything.

This is why I come to Honduras- making a difference in peoples’ lives; one person at a time.

Honduras 2013 Third Blog

Friday started off as a normal day. We went to the clinic to start seeing patients at 8am.  We finished at 10:30am so that we could go back to the hotel to pack up and leave to Roatan for the weekend. We have to go to LA Ceiba to fly over to Roatan, a small island off the coast. SO first it’s a three hour ride to LA Ceiba airport.  On the way there, it started to rain. Once there we waiting about 90 minutes before getting on the plane.  Then we just sat there.  This was in a small, propeller driven, 19 seater plane. There were no pilots on board- one could see this as it is an open cockpit. It was very hot and humid in the plane.  Fortunately they left the back door open, so I so stood by it to get some air.  It was raining so we were just hanging out on the plane.  I asked a ground crew member what was happening and he just pointed at the cloudy sky and shrugged his shoulders. Finally I ran back to the terminal and asked what was happening.  They said that the airport was closed and that we could all wait in the terminal.  Why they did not tell us that before, who knows.  Back in the terminal, we met up with the other two clinic members who were on the planes after ours. We waited almost three hours. At one point they brought out a jet (the other planes were propellers until and after 30mins said the plane was ready but that the airport- tower- was officially closed. SO it was back to the hotel and check into it and had dinner and hopefully go in the am

.

PS all this movement and going back to the hotel (where we do not have reservations) and getting dinner is not easy as we are a group of 75 people. And cancelling our reservations in Roatan. Plus we had a restaurant reserved for Roatan that the foundation has a dinner for everyone.  All that needed to be cancelled.

PSS
The next am (Saturday) the airport was still closed.  So after going out to the airport early, just in case it opened, we made a group decision to stay in La Ceiba and cancel our weekend get a way in Roatan. So no diving for me and a few others. C'est al vie.  La Ceiba has a mall, movie theater and a gym. While some went to the mall or a movie, I and several others went to the gym. We all then spent the rest of the day catching up on e-mails and conversations with the others.  Sunday we all returned to our respective clinics to start again on Monday.

Honduras 2013 Second Blog

Sunday we drove three hours to the mountain town of Olanchito, where the clinic is located.  Fairly rural town of 40,000 but with the surrounding mountains and valley there is a population of 120,000 altogether.  Only about 10-15 roads in town are paved, so travel, even by car, is slow once you get here.

We went to the hall that will be our clinic and unpacked the boxes (some sent by us and some left here) to setup the clinic.  Our rooms are basically poles that we put together and sheets from the polls.  This all took about 3 hours. You can see from the pictures here that we start with a bare room and end up with a clinic.  Plus getting all the supplies that go in the rooms organized (syringes, needle, sharps containers, tables, sheets, etc.) to be prepared for the am.  Afterwards, we went to an open air restaurant for a good meal and then back to the hotel for a much needed rest.

Honduras 2013 First Blog

Leaving my practice for two weeks is always hectic.  Not only am I gone for the two weeks, but the office gets very busy prior to that.  Anyhow, after an overnight flight to Miami, I arrived to receive a hug from my mom. I could fly directly thru Dallas, but choose to go via Miami just so I can see my mom. She lives about half an hour from the airport. At 87 she is still very 'young' and vibrant. She swims or walks six days a week in the pool for 30-40 minutes.  And volunteers at hospital (22 years+) one day a week.  And plays bridge four times a week at a Bridge Club. And more. I guess I get my energy from her.

The pictures here are of me and my mom and brother. My brother lives in Florida and drove her to the airport. All three of us had a nice leisurely breakfast at the airport hotel overlooking the runways.  Then it was on to Honduras.  I arrived on time at 3pm but my luggage was an another story.  After taking a short flight to LA Ceiba (our headquarter town), I met up with the group.  It is always nice getting together with colleagues that I have not seen in a year and meeting the new doc too.  My bags arrived at midnight, which was a relief. This morning I was able to go down to the water and go for a swim in the 80 degree ocean.  At 1pm today, Sunday the 24th, the Olanchito (my clinic town) group will leave for the three hour drive up to this mountain town.  More later.

Honduras 2012

Dear All,

In March of this year I again volunteered as a physician with the Hackett-Hemwall Foundation (HHF) in Honduras. Every year, I look forward to donating my time in this third work county. The foundation takes over 100 physicians and volunteers each year to Honduras. These physicians come from the US and around the world not only to treat the local people but to be taught the art of Prolotherapy. We also invite several Honduran Medical Physicians who are doing their residency training to join us.

Prolotherapy is an injection technique that requires skill and training. The two weeks begins with an eight hour day of lectures in which I gave a one hour lecture on the knee. Then we move off to each of the three towns to set up the clinics. The HHF has three clinics in Honduras and I was the co-Director of the Olanchito clinic, a small town in the mountains where we use a local community center as our clinic.

Every day there are many people lined up waiting for us as we arrive at the clinic at 8am. we see between 60-90 patients a day. People come from all over to have their joints treated. In one of the eight individual 'rooms' (loose term since in my clinic we have sheets hung from metal tubing as the framework) there are two 'student' physicians and one supervisor physician. The other co-director and I either supervised in one area each or moved around the treatment areas to help out wherever we were needed.

The days go by fast. Each day at noon we take a break and give a one hour lecture and a demonstration of treating an area of the body. By 5:30 or 6pm, after seeing between 60-80 pts, the day is done. It is then off to dinner and back to the hotel for the night. The mid weekend we go over to a resort island off the coast of Honduras for a break. Then it is back for another week's work. All in all, the experience is always very enjoyable and rewarding.

Treating those in need and teaching others is very special for me. The patients come from near and far and sometimes take days to get to us. They then line up early and wait many hours to be treated. Honduras is one of the poorest countries in all of the Americas and the people subsist on very little. Every year, they are always very grateful for all we offer. Seeing how we can make a difference in their lives is something that I cherish.

The HHF (www.hacketthemwall.org) is the nation's leading educational and teaching organization for Prolotherapy. It is run by two very special and dedicated people: Dr Jeff Patterson, the Medical Director and Mary Doherty, the Director of Operations. Their commitment to the foundation and to the Honduras Project is unparalleled. I am very proud to be associated with them not only in Honduras, but as an instructor/lecturer at the only US based Medical School course on Prolotherapy held annually at the University of Wisconsin Medical School.

If you would like to donate items or volunteer, please see below.

Yours truly,

Peter A. Fields, MD DC
The Athletic Doc^SM and Ironman Triathlete
Board Certified Medical Physician and Chiropractor
Prolotherapy/PRP/Bone Marrow-Stem Cell
Orthopedic & Sports Medicine/Integrative Health

Donations and volunteers are always welcome.

If you would like to volunteer your time or have any other questions please contact Mary Doherty at: mdoherty@wisc.edu
There is also a page on their website to donate:http://www.hacketthemwall.org/HHF/Donate_to_the_HHF.html
They have 501(c)(3) non-profit status with the IRS so donations may be tax deductible.

Common things that are needed:

Basic medical supplies - gloves, bandages, syringes, needles, alcohol swabs, gauze, surgical instruments (hemostats, forceps, scissors)

Non-prescription drugs that will not be expired until after March 2013.  (we cannot take expired medication or opened bottles/boxes):  Acetaminophen (Tylenol), aspirin, rehydration packets, etc

Basic School supplies - crayons, paper, pencils, pens, rulers, spiral notebooks, markers, scissors, glue, etc. Wheelchairs

All supplies should be shipped to: Hackett Hemwall Foundation - Honduras project c/o Chet's Car Care Center 2020 Aberg Avenue Madison, WI 53704

To read more about my trip go to:http://fieldsmddc.blogspot.com/

Click here to see photos from my 2012 trip

The Final Week

The rest of the week went smoothly. The docs that where being trained in Prolotherapy where more confident in their injections techniques and therefore needed less supervision. We let them work up patients on their own and call for us when they felt that they needed help or to show them something. We treat lots of knees, backs, shoulders, necks and all other joints too.That's because Prolo works! One of the docs with us from Puerto Rico was interviewed on local TV about Prolotherapy. Our dentist, Dr Disbel Mansilla, was interviewed about the dental side of things.

On Wednesday evening, after dinner at Erica’s Café, we had a farewell party. Erica had arranged to have a DJ. So we all ended up dancing for a while with the encouragement of Disbel, who is avid dancer. She would go around and get people up one by one when they were just sitting around. Plus Erica had all kinds of hats for us so it was a good time for all. After the dancing we did karaoke, and I even sang “My Girl” for mi novia (girlfriend).

Thursday we only worked for two hours in the am and then had to leave to get back to the main town, La Ceiba. Once there we all did a bit of gift shopping and then got ready for the final evening party for all three clinics. It was held at the main hotel where we all stay in that town. After drinks and appetizers, we all went into a room where Dr. Jeff Patterson, director of the Hackett-Hemwall Foundation, spoke for about 30 minutes about the foundation, our trip and acknowledged a few of the pertinent people. As co-director of the Olanchito clinic, I was asked to say a few rods. Disbel, as the second week dentist, also was asked to say a few words. Then we all went outside poolside, for the final dinner and to say goodbye to the new friends that we all made over these two weeks and to the old friends that we sometimes only see once or twice a year.

The next am we all made our way to the next town, San Pedro Sula, where the flights leave back to the US. Disbel and I flew to Miami to spend another 24 hrs with my mom and brother. This is always a great way to end my trip. The next am I went for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean (nice warm water) and while Disbel ran on the beach. We then went back to my mom’s for a brunch. My aunt Shirley came by and we got to show her, my mom and brother all the pictures of our trip. Then it was a 5 ½ hr flight back to Los Angeles.

This is my sixth year and it always gets better. The people of Honduras have so little and appreciate whatever one can do for them. They are very grateful and thankful for whatever we can offer. The feeling one gets form doing this is without words. Thank you all for taking the time to read this.

All the best,

Peter A. Fields, MD, DC
“The Athletic Doc" and Ironman Triathlete

PS Anyone wanting to contribute items (clothing, school supplies, or whatever) I only ask that they either be dropped off at my office or shipped directly to Wisconsin for the January shipping down to Honduras.

PPS

If you or anyone else would like to volunteer time with us next year, please let me know and I will start the process of getting signed up. Anyone is encouraged to volunteer and many high school and college students love the experience it gives them.

Mid weekend break in Roatan

For the mid weekend, we get a break from Prolotherapy.

The flght over to Roatan was only 15 mins. Disbel Mansilla, DDS (my girlfriend) and her assistance were supposed to meet us in LA Ceiba. She and her dental assistant are coming down for one week to run the dental clinic in Olanchito. They missed a flight so will be arriving on Saturday. After getting everyone together at the island airport, we took taxis to our respective Hotels. Most of us stay in the West End, a very laid back town on the island. I stay at Coco Lobo, a small group of bungalows. There are only about 8 rooms. I have stayed here for a few years. The room I get looks directly at the ocean from the balcony. The other docs are scattered throughout the West End at various inns (there are no large buildings here; mainly one or two story buildings with no more than 10-15 rooms- mainly small bungalows).

Friday night we all attended a dinner party at a café that is outdoors and on the water. This is given by the foundation (Hackett-Hemwall). It was a good time to see the other docs from the two other clinics and catch up with colleagues that I see only once year. Sat and Sun, I organized scuba diving for those that wanted to go. The island is well known for scuba diving and there are many good dive sites there. I did dives two times on each day. My girlfriend and her assistant (Erin) flew in on Sat afternoon.
Disbel went diving with me on Sunday. Both days the diving was really good. We saw lots of turtles, a hammerhead shark, a barracuda, several moray eels and lots of fish and coral.

The rest of Saturday we spent just hanging around and chilling out. Sat night we went with a small group of docs to a new restaurant. Sunday after our two dives, we took a water taxi to another beach on our side of the island. There is an all inclusive resort there. One of the docs from Italy was staying there. About 20 of us met him there and hung out.

After a nice two day break we all got picked up by cans at 5am Monday am for the return flight back to the mainland and then a three hour ride to your clinic (the others went to their respective clinics).

More soon,

Peter A. Fields, MD, DC
“The Athletic Doc" and Ironman Triathlete