Canvasback Wellness Center in the Marshall Islands Journal this week..... (fb)

STORIES FROM THE ISLAND: the indonimable team Indomitable - that is the word that describes our Super Orthopedic Team. This is an account of how one Indominable PA who helped to change the lives of two Indomitable Patients. I met Bess Buchanan in 2010 on the U.S. Army Base of Kwajalein. We were privileged to be able to stay on the base while conducting our first Orthopedic Mission on the island of Ebeye. Bess worked at a Physician's Assistant at the base hospital. She and her medical colleagues were extremely skeptical of our team being able to do total knee replacements at the Ebeye Hospital. "It just couldn't be done." Since that time, she has become a good friend and has hosted many a Canvasback team dinner at her home. So, when the chance came for Bess to join this year's mission to Majuro, she enthusiastically gave up a ski vacationwith her husband to join us. This indomitable PA is an amazing practitioner whose compassion and concern overflows for her patients. She immediately identified Mazia Bajo and Tommy Langilur as total knee replacement candidates who would have to fly from Ebeye to Majuro for surgery. Traveling to Majuro wasn't the only obstacle - in order to qualify for this surgery, we require that our patients have their diabetes under control and that they have an HA1C of less than 8. She took a personal interest in both patients to help them meet their goals. "Mazia Bajo and Tommy Langilur have been waiting close to 20 years for the procedure. Mazia is the lead custodian on the army base which requires him to ride his bike or walk from one work site to another. All who saw him knew how painful it was for him to walk. Yet, his smile never faded, he never complained. He had to stop riding a bike 2-3 years ago because his knees no longer worked, and he could not move the pedals. For the last 2-3 years he has required a great deal of co-worker assistance to complete his job collecting the water samples around the island. Both Mazia and Tommy worked so hard to get their blood sugar under good control. Their options are limited because in the Marshall Islands, they cannot use any of the newer diabetes medications that are available on the market and they do not have the option of a continuous glucose monitor that Americans can have. They are not available. Thus they have to do it the old fashion way, with long and short acting insulin shots. It is much more labor intensive for them to do all the finger sticks and insulin injections but I am so proud of both of them…. Getting it done! Tommy has dropped his HGBA1C 5 points in just 4 months…. A really remarkable achievement for anyone!" These two patients beat all odds to have their knees replaced. The very next day, they were walking - and when the going got tough on the second day - they kept on smiling and powered on with indomitable determination to do the Jabwa Stick Dance once again. They actually became our Total Knee Replacement ambassadors and encouraged other patients who were experiencing pain With a huge love of Jesus and a desire to share the gifts and talents that we are privileged to have, this amazing Orthopedic Super Team changed the lives of so many patients. They performed 28 total knee replacements and 11 other orthopedic surgeries, saw 145 patients and provided 62 clinic procedures in 1just 10 days! “Both Mazia and Tommy support large extended families on Ebeye. Thus when you help one Marshallese worker, you in essence have helped every member of their large extended fami (fb)