From: Manny Cacdac, MD., The ShuntMan

Subject: Shunts for 18 Hydrocephalic

The SPSA one-man surgical mission to the Philippines from February 4th to the 10th, 2008, was a tremendous success. A total of 18 children with hydrocephalus were shunted. 4 VP shunts were left as the babies had medical problems and can't undergo general anesthesia. The shunts will be put in by the local neurosurgeons/and residents. I wish to acknowledge and extend my thanks to Integra LifeSciences, Inc., for donating the shunts, otherwise this mission would not have been possible. The funding for the hospital and operating room charges were shouldered by GMA/Channel 7 Kapwa Ko Mahal Ko Foundation, c/o Ms. Connie Angeles and the SM Foundation, c/o Ms. Debbie Sy. Tremendous networking and in-roads were made during this trip with several facilities for future venues of surgical missions like this. Many thanks to the Medical Staff, OR Staff, Nursing Staff and Anesthesia Staff of the following: East Avenue Medical Center, where most of the procedures were done, The Philippine Childrens Medical Center, and the Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital. With their help and cooperation, we were able to give these poor children a chance to live and maybe grow up to be productive citizens. Many thanks to Ed and Baby Puno for their hospitality, and lastly to Debbie and Harley Sy, whose efforts and support made this underatking possible. For all your thoughts and prayers...I thank you very much.. God Bless... Manny

The volunteers to the SPSA Surgical Mission to Legazpi, Albay Province, December 6-13, 2007, pose for a posterity photo during its humanitarian visit to the town of the Perfect Cone, Mayon Volcano, where they ministered to health needs of the people in the rural areas. This was the region devastated by typhoon "Reming" in November 2006 where thousands died from mudslides. This year's mission performed 176 major surgeries, 170 minors, and 37 eye cases, with a total of 383.

"More Pictures "

 

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SPSA Surgical Mission Returns to Samar
By Edward E. Quiros, M.D., FACS

           For the second time in a year, the SPSA surgical mission returned to Calbayog, Samar, December 7-14, 2006. Invited back by Congressman Reynaldo Uy and Calbayog City Mayor Mel Sarmiento, SPSA’s Surgical Mission co-chair Manny Cacdac and Pacing Dorado, accepted the request to “finish up” on the surgical cases left from the mission’s first trip to the province January 14-21 2006. There were 548 surgical procedures performed during the first mission, however the sheer number of cases were just too overwhelming for the surgical team to finish in 6 days. Coming back was the mission’s mopping up left over cases and more.

The surgical mission team flew to Calbayog immediately after the last day of the Philippine College of Surgeons Annual Congress where some of the SPSA missionaries participated as speakers. A warm welcome and reception awaited the group as the chartered plane landed at the city’s small airport. Shortly after the members of the team were assigned to their lodging facilities, the work immediately began with unpacking and sorting out the boxes of medical supplies sent earlier and screening of patients for surgery at the three hospitals in the city- the District Hospital, St. Camillus Hospital, and Calbayog Sanitarium.

Coming in after Typhoon Durian in late November and which obliterated villages around Mount Mayon, Typhoon Utor swept into the island of Samar the day after the SPSA surgical mission team arrived. Battering the island with gusts of up to 150 km (94 miles) per hour and heavy rains, the power lines were knocked off, rendering the city of Calbayog without electricity. The hospitals operated with emergency generators which at various times gave out leaving operating rooms in the dark, holding back operations in progress or canceling a number of surgeries. Except for those establishments and homes that have emergency generators, the city was basically dark at night. The city mayor provided back-up generators for the hospitals where the surgical team were performing the operations.

Despite the inclement weather and inconveniences of not having the electricity during the duration of the mission, the team of surgeons and support staff finished up with 540 surgeries- 185 majors, 71 eyes cases and 284 minors.

Reflecting on the mission, Drs. Cacdac and Dorado, together with Congressman Uy and Mayor Sarmiento, agreed that whatever havoc may have been wrought by typhoon Utor was well overcome by a successful mission well-planned and carried out this second time around.

Calbayog Mayor Mel Senen Sarmiento (third from the left) is pictured above at the dinner he and Congressman Renaldo Uy hosted in Manila on the eve of the surgical mission in Calbayog, Samar. With him are (l-r): Edward E. Quiros, M.D., FACS, SPSA Past President and Editor of The Philippine Surgeon, Oscar M. Laserna, M.D., FACS, SPSA President, and Philip S. Chua, M.D., FACS, FPCS, SPSA Past President and TPS Editor Emeritus.

 

SPSA Surgical Mission | Calbayog City, Samar Island, Philippines
December 7-14, 2006

The SPSA returned to Calbayog City, Samar Island on December 7, 2006 for a second surgical mission this year, the first one being held in January, 2006, where 548 surgical procedures were performed. The surgical team consisted of 49 members, including 24 surgeons of varied specialties, 5 anesthesiologists, 2 internists and 2 nurse anesthetists, wives and volunteers. The mission team left Manila on December 7, 2006 and saw 1000 patients that afternoon who had been pre- screened by the local physicians for the surgical mission. Surgeries were performed at St. Camillus Hospital, Calbayog District Hospital and Calbayog City Sanitarium. The group was divided into three teams each with one team leader. A total of 540 surgical procedures were performed (185 major surgeries, 71 eye surgeries and 284 minor surgeries). In spite of the adversity of a typhoon that produced torrential rain and wind, including loss of electricity for five days, the mission continued and was a tremendous success. The hospitality of Mayor Mel Sarmiento and Congressman Reynaldo Uy, who sponsored the surgical mission, was second to none with a grand feast in the town plaza on the last evening of the mission. Below is a roster of all the missionaries, including their specialties. The team leaders, Dr. Manny Cacdac and Dr. Pacing Dorado, greatly appreciate the humanitarian endeavor of all the participants, their concerns, their efforts and their volunteerism which made this a most successful surgical mission. - Manuel Cacdac, M.D

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ROSTER OF MEMBERS

                                                         

OPHTHALMOLOGY TEAM
Philippines

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Calbayog, Samar, Mission 2006

Headed by one of the founding members of the SPSA, Dr. Godofredo T. Ng M.D., FACS, and his wife Anita, the Carolina Medical Mission has been ministering to the health needs of Filipinos in the various rural towns in the Philippines since its inception in 1995 six to seven times a year. The CMM has a voluntary staff of about 60, half consisting physicians and dentists, 25% nurses and allied health professionals, and 25% lay volunteers. Dr. and Mrs. Ng joined the SPSA medical in Puerto Princesa, Palawan in December 2004. The group above shows the team in Miagao, Iloilo, in its 2005 mission.

Starting 2007, in addition to its regular general surgery program, CMM will be offering dedicated cleft surgery service, as a special project, through grants from SmileTrain Foundation of New York City and private benefactors. The first two venues for this new specialty service are Taguig, Rizal, Metro Manila, and Pinamalyan, Oriental Mindoro. .

Pedro J. Obregon, M. D., FEU '60, (second from left), originally from Iloilo City, Philippines, is East-West Medical Director of the Medical Ministry International, a humanitarian group that sponsors surgical missions around the world, several times a year since 1995. His wife, Judy, is his Co-Chair. Part of the 18-member surgical team led by Pete is pictured above. From left to right: Lydia (Ecuadorian), Recovery Room Nurse at Milagro Hospital in Milagro, Ecuador, Pete, Maria Flores (Ecuadorian), Head Nurse of the O.R., Dr. Luis Roman (Ecuadorian), general surgeon, Judy, Dr. Shelly Sethi (Baylor-trained Cardiothoracic Surgeon) from Mansfield, Ohio, and Armin Kellermeyer from the Netherlands, a general helper.

Countries they have served included: El Salvador, Mexico, Jamaica, Haiti, Honduras, China, Africa, Romania, Zimbabwe, New Guinea, Ukraine, Thailand, Nepal, Mozambique, Swaziland, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Mongolia, Madagascar, Burma, Tanzania, Ghana, and Bolivia. In the Philippines, the cities were Iloilo, Bulkidnon and S. Cotabato.

SPSA past president and former chair of its surgical missions, Mel Simon, M.D., FACS, receives a recognizition award for his team from Mandaluyong City Mayor Neptali Gonzales, for their surgical mission under the "Operation We Care 2006" of the Rotary International, February 5-11, 2006.

The other surgeons on this mission were: Drs. Rafael Zaragosa, Godofredo T. Ng, Bayani Ignacio, Manuel Roco, Jesse Corres, Rodolfo J. Canos, Jr., Pedo T. Simon, and
Edgar O. Valle.