Guyana Watch clinics attract 3,000

Aug 01, 2010 News

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–    find critical pediatric heart conditions

The Guyana Watch Medical team has wrapped up its 18th mission to Guyana with their last clinic in Windsor Forest.
In just one week, the team managed to see 3,192 patients at seven clinics across the country. The doctors and medical staff examined, treated, referred to appropriate specialists and dispensed drugs to hundreds of persons every day for an entire week.
When they arrived in Guyana on July 23, they only held still long enough to have breakfast and drop their bags in their hotel before they were off. That very same day they set up a clinic at the Shaheed Boys Orphanage in Alexander Street, Kitty.

The organizers arranged to have the children and residents of a number of orphanages and special homes bussed to the Shaheed Boys Orphanage so that they might see the doctors there. Among the lot that were at that first clinic were girls from the Shaheed Girls Orphanage in Oleander Gardens, as well as children from the Hope Children’s Home, the Mahaica Children’s Home and residents from the Cheshire Home in Mahaica.
The children were examined for any number of common complaints – from pains to breathing issues and heart murmurs. Anything that merited treatment within the doctors’ capacity was dealt with on site. If there were any kids with suspected heart troubles then they were referred to the Pediatric Cardiologist on the team, Dr. Henry Issenberg.
There were also dentists on hand, two of whom were from the Cheddi Jagan Dental School and another two that were a part of the team. They did extractions and fillings for the kids who needed them.
In the wake of the treatment, all of the children left the clinics with a supply of children’s multivitamins, a toothbrush and toothpaste. For those who needed it, medication was provided and topical skin treatments were dispensed where necessary.
In that one afternoon, almost 170 children were able to see a doctor and the dentist if they needed to.
Despite all of the hassle of travelling and undertaking the clinic at the Kitty, the very next day  the team traveled to Patentia, West bank Demerara where the medical squad set up clinic at the Patentia Secondary School.
In the days that followed, the team soon fell into a rhythm that saw members leaving the hotel before seven in the morning, loading up with all of their equipment and supplies as they jumped on the bus and heading out to the various clinic locations all the way from Corentyne to Anna Regina and Timehri.
Children and their patients as well as other adults numbered in the hundreds as residents at the locations came out to avail themselves of the services offered. The clinic at Patentia alone saw 684 people coming in for treatment.
At Anna Regina and Timehri, the team saw 250 and 411 persons respectively. Two more days took them to Berbice as they met with residents on Corentyne. On Thursday, they were at Bath Settlement. At their final clinic at Windsor Forest on Friday last, the doctors looked at 514 patients.
At the start of the visit, President of Guyana Watch, Tony Yassin, said that their aim was to reach some 3500 people and at least six orphanages. According to Mr. Yassin, there are a number of agencies who assisted in the effort as well, chief among these being the Guyana Office for Investment (GOINVEST) and the Ministry of Agriculture.
He noted that in each location there were also persons who volunteered their time and helped to set up and take back down the clinic as to provide lunches for the volunteers.
He also pointed out that the supplies which were left over after the doctors were finished on Friday will be donated to a number of countryside clinics but the bulk will be given to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

THE PEOPLE

The Mission was not about numbers. Rather it was about people. Each team member had patients who touched them so much.
A chat with the team’s Pediatric Cardiologist, when the team was at Bath Settlement, revealed that there were at least 20 heart cases at that point. One of the patients he examined that day was five-year-old Pulmattie Singh.

According Dr. Issenberg, her condition is called Tetralogy of Fallot, which is a heart defect that manifests with multiple issues. Among these is the inability of the body to supply a sufficient amount of well oxygenated blood to the patient’s extremities; it results in what is sometimes called ‘Blue Baby Syndrome’ where the child’s digits and lips are blue from insufficient oxygen. Pulmattie is no stranger to the Medical Watch team either. It was Guyana Watch that took her to India when she was just eight months old to undergo a palliative procedure that according to Dr. Issenberg extended her chances of survival.
However, that procedure should only have been a precursor to the operation that would have corrected her condition.
Five years later, Pulmattie has not had the next surgery and the effects of her condition are telling. Where she weighed five kilos or just about eleven pounds when she had her first surgery, the little girl weighed in at ten kilos or just 22 pounds on Thursday. Her fingers and toes are blue from the lack of oxygen and the digits are also clubbed (excessively rounded), a common disfigurement that afflicts patients with certain kinds of heart trouble.
Her lips are also blue due to lack of oxygen.
Dr. Issenberg noted that he would be recommending Pulmattie as one of the candidates for operation. Her family will still need to get started on raising funds of their own to assist with the costs of travel and accommodation.
According to Mr. Yassin there were more than 50 cases evaluated specifically for heart conditions by Dr. Issenberg. Of these, 26 apparently need surgery. Thus far, he noted, at least 21 children have had echo-cardiograms and full examinations done.
He said that the results have confirmed that these children all need heart surgery overseas.
Two other team members, Roy and Melissa Vega, a husband and wife team who both focus on child health care, revealed that the care they give goes far beyond their brief outreach project. Roy specializes in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital while Melissa works as a Physician’s Assistant in Neonatology at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. The couple has spent years engaged in community work in the Bronx and Queens, New York where they both were born and raised.
While at the clinic at Windsor Forest, they had the opportunity to examine a little girl who was suffering a serious case of cleft palate. They took pictures of the little girl which they said they were taking back home to see if they could arrange surgery for her.
The Vegas’ are on their first trip with Guyana Watch and just like the rest of the team, the desire to help has them going above and beyond what was required of them.

THE TEAM

The team members are an eclectic bunch, most of whom had heard of Guyana Watch from other colleagues who were on previous missions. There were 13 doctors from a number of hospitals, most of them concentrated in New York.

There were husband and wife teams like the Vegas’ who also brought along their two teenage sons as volunteers. The support staff was made up of the children of a number of the medical staff, many of whom were planning to go into medical careers later.
The younger volunteers worked in the pharmacy dispensing drugs and taking patient information before the patients got to the doctors.

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