Surgeries Completed

It is Thursday afternoon and the pediatric ward is abuzz with our final patients
and their respective parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc. Many are wearing
fish hats from the Minnesota State Fair which Gander Mountain very nicely donated.
All kids are holding either a doll or teddy bear made by Dollies Making A Difference.
They have a white-knuckle grip on their recovery room bags which also include
books, toothbrushes, a washcloth, beanie baby, a baseball cap nicely donated by
Zephyr and several other items. Thank goodness for the Liberian
peds nurses, as well as Victoria and Patience, the CSI tag team up there.


                               

                                                         
                                                              Father& son checking in for surgery

Young patient with a gown loving made
by Carol Miller. Carol makes our gowns,
nonos and recovery room bags.

All surgeries were deemed a success. Our final number of surgeries is 100. Lynn
Randall led the effort of packing up the supplies area. Mary Johnson the OR; Katie
Stewart and Julieann Swanson the medical records area;. Anna Koppel pre-op, with
everyone else helping wherever they were needed. One father and mother stopped
by, their daughter had been discharged -to deliver a framed thank you note to a
couple of CSI team members who had made a significant  difference in the states.

In addition, a huge shout out to everyone at Duside Hospital, from Executive Director,
Joye Phillips to Dr. Lawrence Sherman and all of the many many staff who have been
hijacked to do nothing but help us in very possible way. It is exceedingly inspiring.

 Joye Phillips, Executive Director Firestone Duside

  
 Dr. Raj Sarpal, CSI Anesthesiologist       Tracey Ryersee, CSI OR Nurse

                                   
                           Dr. Dave Andrews allows a patient to keep on the crown
                           he received during  pre-op during surgery

                                   
                                                           Delicious dessert made by the
                                                           Firestone Guest House Staff

Tuesday at Duside Hospital with the CSI Team!!

T

Today's surgeries are over and it was a super successful day. Everyone worked
very hard.

Shown here are pediatric patients who weren't CSI patients,but who love the
Gander Mountain muskie hats and the tv and videos donated by CSI.














Also shown is our patient Othello, a 22 year old young man who has been unable to continue his education because of a huge tumor that grew on the side of his face. He was mocked mercilessly by his schoolmates. Shown here is Othello looking at himself  in the mirror for the first time after surgery.







This girl became pregnant at age 14 and is now 15. Her mouth was burned by drinking  a poisonous liquid. Here she is shown with her 10 month old baby who is lying waiting  for her mother to get better.






Shown here is the wonderful Amy working in Post-Op tending to a woman who had a huge tumor on the front of her face which had literally taken over her entire face. It had distorted
her face completely. Dr. Eric Moore did an amazing job removing the tumor.

Dr. Dave Tetzlaff coordinated the donation of 300 pairs of shoes from Soles 4 Souls.

CSI Partner Michael Silvio and happy patients. Special thank you to Dollies Making a Difference for their donation of dollies and bears.

Poster that advertises our mission

Liberia Day 2 and 3: Sunday and Monday

First, wow what a full day of screening we had from the crack of dawn until the end of the day Sunday. We arrived at Duside Hospital first thing in the morning where patients had begun lining up at 3 in the morning. Surgeons Eric Moore, Dave Vandersteen, Janelle Fox and Dave Andrews screened 107 patients and they will operate on close to 90. Medical records created a chart(yay Katie Stewart and Julieann Swanson): vitals were taken (yay Victoria Vandersteen, Anna Koppel, Patience Kankeh, Mary Bye and Amy Hassenstab:pre-op physicals were performed by pediatricians, Paul Melchert and Dave Tetzlaff. CSI Board member Con Nguyen and videographer Nolan Morice took some fabulous video of the entire situation as well as gathered wonderful patient stories. Logistics co-lead Leon Randall(with Con Nguyen) unpacked and moved furniture and did all he could to get us fed, as well as back and forth from the hospital to the guest house. As clinical lead Lora Koppel floated everywhere and answered 348 questions. Fantastic Jill Moore and Margaret Boone helped set up the OR's and then went above and beyond putting together all the patient recovery room bags. Mary Johnson, Jodi Pelkey, Tracey Ryersee and anesthesiologist, Raj Sarpal also did OR set up. Firestone executive Don Darden was in full gear at the balloon machine making all the kids ecstatic. Of course Lynn Randall and Dan Chow were getting the anesthesia organized. On top of it all, hospital administrator Joye Phillips was doing just about everything from organizing logistics, moving furniture and even making a few beds!! At the end of the day back at the Guest House we were treated to a lecture by Ed Garcia, Managing Director of Firestone Liberia who recounted what life was like in Liberia while he was here during the onset and surges of the war in the 1990's.Also, Liberian born and Denver-practicing attorney, Gerald Padamore, who represents many multinationals including Firestone and the Liberian government spoke about Liberia's history vis a vis the United States. The medical records team with the help of some other noble volunteers cranked until after midnight getting the charts organized, sorted, photos attached etc. It is now midday Monday and the first day of surgery is in very full swing. 4 operating tables are being used constantly, with Duside's Dr. Sherman participating and learning. I have been moving from mother to grandmother to father to brother to aunt- whoever is the kind soul who has brought in the patient- capturing the stories of the journeys that have brought in the patient-capturing the stories of the journeys that have brought them here. 7 year old Ruth's mother sells used clothes and has spent her child's entire life trying to find someone to repair the cleft palate she was born with. Ruth is very bright and in fact is in the grade ahead of her twin sister,despite her problems speaking. Her mother said, "It breaks, my heart that the children at school make fun of her. They say, "we can't understand you- you talk through your nose, Ruth." As a result Ruth is now begging her mother to let her drop out of school. Sally Lannin

Videographer, Nolan Morice

Videographer Nolan Morice, Co-founder of Line Break Media in Minneapolis which produces marketing and films for "all causes seeking justice", is volunteering his firm's time by filming for CSI in Liberia. Here he "lends" his expensive camera to an orphan who pretends to make a video. Highlighted in the lens is the writing from the Firestone truck, our sponsor who provides transportation, housing, food and sponsorship for our time here.

                                    Medical Records Volunteer Julie Swanson with a new friend

                                                  Waiting for a soccer ball!!
                                                       

Photos From Frances Gaskins

Reading the book, "On the Day You Were Born"

                                        RN Mary Bye doing a puzzle with an orphan girl

                                                  

                          Medical Records volunteer Katie Stewart distributes soccer balls that 

                          Have been signed by her students at Crocus Hill Preschool in St. Paul.

                          We want to give a special shout out to Crocus Hill School which

                          moved locations this year and donated 30 + boxes of "No longer

                          needed but really appreciated at the orphanages CSI visits" goodies

Tour of Monrovia and Orphanage Visit

Saturday afternoon the group split into two groups, one going on a tour of Monrovia taking in the urban grit of Liberia's capital city. The other visited teh Frances Gaskin Orphanage. We had the opportunity to distribute soccer balls which were donated by CSI Partner Michael Silvio;puzzles, dolls, signed soccer balls and books donated by Crocus Hill School, a preschool in St Paul; de- worming pills and dumdum suckers.

Dr. Dave Tetzlaff coordinated the donation of 300 pairs of shoes donated by Soles4Souls.
Debra Frasier (author of the terrific children's book,"On the Day You Were Born) donated crowns and books. There was even a tent celebrating Children's Reading from the Minnesota State Fair.
Off to bed to get ready for an early morning of screening at the hospital! Everyone is very excited as word is we have a very full day of very needy patients.

Rest and Recovery Day for the Team

 Dr. Dave Tetzlaff, Ambassador Deborah Malac, Katie Stewart, Victoria & Dr. Dave Vandersteen.

Today was a "recovery day" but in reality the team is doing so well nobody had to take a nap.
One group started bright and early visiting Monkey Island which now is home to many gorilla-sized primates which were used for HIV testing by the US in its quest for a vaccine.
 Everyone gathered at noon for a very special VIP presentation by the US Ambassador
 to Liberia, Deborah Malac. She greeeted us with a warm welcome filled with thanks for our efforts.

Our Liberian team has arrived

The team arrived at Monrovia's Robertson Field in  two shifts last night, all in great shape. Firestone officials were at the airport to meet us, whisk us through customs (only one suitcase is AWOL supposedly arriving sometime Saturday)
The Firestone Guest House staff prepared a wonderful welcome dinner with many senior Bridgestone and Firestone Liberia staff as well as senior hospital executives.
Thanks to a donation by CSI Partner Michael Silvio of 50 soccer balls we got out the hand pumps and blew up 20 to distribute on Saturday
Three other team members are due late Saturday. It is very, very warm and the sky looks heavy with impending rain which we are secretly hoping for. There is something magical about falling asleep to the sound of rain pelting the metal roofs.