I met Dr. Tim  Woodward in January 2012 when we inaugurated our new CBM Amazonia boat.  He came with Bill Crawford, a patient of his, from Jacksonville Mayo Clinic.  During the short trip Dr. Woodward said he would like to return and bring a surgical team to help us sometime in the future.   I really never thought this idea would become a reality, but it did this past March.  Dr. Tim brought a team of three from the Mayo Clinic:   Dr. Steven Bowers, Dr. Marquetta Knight and himself.  Dr. Tim worked on the boat with Dr. Woody Wilson, CBM President, as we visited Amazon villages and treated almost 400 individuals.  The other two Mayo Clinic doctors worked with Dr. Barbara Patridge, CBM Vice President, Michael Haubner a paramedic and CBM Treasurer and also Di Carter, a surgical Tec from Greencastle, Indiana.  You can see from the following article where and how the surgical team worked during this trip.  This article from Di is also on our website with pictures.   An article about the medical boat trip is now also on our website with pictures.  Thanks to Dr. Woodward and the Mayo Team for sharing their lives and gifts with our CBM Amazon Ministry and the villagers of the Amazon.

We are now excited and anxious about future trips with the Mayo Team that has already been confirmed for 2016 and 2017. 

Earl Haubner

 

JOURNAL  # 2 – MARCH  AMAZON  BOAT  TRIP – 2015

Amazon Boat Trip – Surgical Team – March 2015

By Di Carter (Greencastle, IN)

My flight came in earlier than anyone in our March Amazon boat trip. I had the privilege to get to know the whole staff and hang out with them for 3 days all by myself. I should add that I am Brazilian so I was able to communicate.

At the airport, I had two lovely people waiting for me from the boat. Nete (Governor of the boat) and San (the captain of the boat) had a huge smile as soon as they recognized who I was which made me feel right at home. As a side note, the first thing you will experience once you get to Brazil is that the people want to feed, care, and love you. That is right! They have a beautiful heart. I connected with Claudia and it was like we were sisters. I believe you will find all the right people on your future trip as well. They are like angels sent from heaven.

We had a one hour car ride to get to the boat, and then I got into a smaller boat to get to the bigger blue boat. The boat we stayed in was beautiful, and the rooms had air conditioning. Everything was very clean, organized, and I fell in love with the Amazonian people and the river. There was so much life around us.

I didn’t stay on the boat as much as the mission team did. I was part of the surgical team, and I believe we were the first full staff surgical team. We were made up of one surgical technologist (Di), one paramedic (Mike), one anesthetic (Marquetta), 2 surgeons (Dr. Bowers – General surgeon) & (Dr. Barb – OB/GYN surgeon)

First I want to talk about the hospital. Our first day at the Sao Sebastiao Hospital, which is located at Sao Sebastiao village, was chaotic, mostly because it was our first time at a hospital that didn’t have a physician. Yes, you heard that right. The hospital was led by nurses. If you are medical personal, let me tell you one thing: Get involved with CBM. You will be on a mission trip that will change your life forever. The nurses of Sao Sebastiao were incredibly helpful, smart, and most of all they were ready to give their souls to make sure we had all that we needed. God truly was there in the midst of it all. God was delivering promises and answering many people’s prayers though our work. It was hard to understand all the miracles that were happening on three days of triage, surgery, and many hours on our feet. More specifically, we were on our feet 14-16 hours for almost 4 days straight. Please don’t let these numbers scare you. It’s a mission trip, and it will be a lot of hard work, but trust me that God will give you strength. By the second week all the missing pieces start to come together, and you will understand your purpose on this earth.

Going back on my first day at the hospital, my dear Brazilian friends: Carlos and Gilson took me to the hospital. At this moment I had no idea what I was about to see. I was inside of a small hospital with a PACU, ICU, and only 2 O.R. rooms. One of the O.R. rooms didn’t have an air conditioner, and it was hot, but we were able to manage, barely! Our first day was all about organizing all the supplies, instruments trays, and getting the staff up to speed. I was glad that I was Brazilian, and I was able to speak and understand what everyone was saying. Mike, who is  Earl Haubner’s son, speaks English as well, and was a huge help with the staff and even worked as a scrub. It is hard to explain all that happened at the hospital, but I can tell you that your time there will be honored by all the people that you help by your service. I feel blessed to know all the staff and my surgical team members.

It’s time for lunch!! Every day the hospital prepares Brazilian food, which was beans, rice, pasta, vegetables, salad, and a choice of meat. The kitchen always has fruit juice available and ‘farinha’ which is Yuca in dry powder form, and you can mix that with your food. They also make delicious desserts, and it was YUMMO!!

I believe we triaged more than 300 people, and at the first hospital we did 37 surgeries in 3 days. Our daily schedule was waking up at 530am having breakfast (Local fruits, bread, tapioca, coffee, and cheese) at the Ronaldo Pastor’s house, where we stayed while we were at the hospital mission. We were at the hospital from 7am – 10pm. We had a quick lunch break, and a quick 15 mins break. It was hard work, but God provided all we needed and especially patience to continue his work. The people truly need us and at the same time I felt as if I needed them as well. Every day I got closer and closer to the staff as if they were my co-workers back home. I am just so thankful for our O.R team because they were exceptional and they worked so hard to get all of the surgeries done.

After a couple days break on the boat with the others missionaries, we went to a new town called Urucara. Then we stayed at a small hotel, and were able to have a little more free time to get to know the city. It was beautiful to see the Amazon River every morning before we went to work. The simple village life was splendid and I felt stress-free during my second week of work.

Urucara Hospital was very organized, and they did have a physician, who led the hospital with grace. His name was Dr. Talmaturga and what a pleasure he was to work with. He was very likeable, personable, and smart. He made our schedule and took care of all of our needs. So thankful for his presence and that God was looking out for us when he placed Dr. Talmaturga and his excellent staff to work with us one on one. On this hospital we did 25 surgeries in 3 days which equals 62 surgeries total over 2 week period.

Special thanks goes out to our anesthetist: Marquetta. She definitely worked twice as much as anyone else in the O.R. She was our angel, and we couldn’t have done anything without her smile, and she was ready to do whatever it took to get the job done. I will never forget Santana asking me to translate a prayer specifically for Marquetta. Even though I was translating, it was if there was no language barrier at all. 

My partner in crime was Dr. Bowers, and what he accomplished was absolutely amazing.  He never rested until he made sure all his patients were taken care of. Thank you for being there for me. We all appreciated your sense of humor, and needed a joke here and there. You made the O.R. environment so much easier with your wonderful attitude.

My ‘go to person’ was Dr. Barbara. This lady definitely has God on her side because she brought almost the entire O.R. with her. I have no idea what would’ve done without a cauterization machines! Thank you for your dedication and for being there for me during my second week of surgery at Urucara Hospital.

Last but not least, (Mike) It is hard to describe you. You made me a stronger human being, and you taught me endurance and how to appreciate life a little more. I believe you are a scrub tech now and all you need to do is get certified. Great job!

As my sister, Marquettam would say “God is good” and I would say, “All the time.”

A huge thanks to the boat staff because without their dedication we wouldn’t have been able to eat, sleep, and have a place that felt like home.

With tears of joy, I wanted to thank Earl & Ruth for all you have done for 47 years and continue to do with so much love and Jesus name. One of my favorite verses is: ‘Love one another as I have loved you’ and you both live by this verse. Muito obrigado por tudo que esta fazendo pelo o meu povo brasileiro!! Agradecida demais….. voltarei! 

Di Carter

(CST/CBSPD)