Today was the first day for the medical team to minister at a clinic not far from Marble Mountain. It is located just off the original Da Nang – Hoi An road about 15-20 minutes from the Furama Hotel. Everything is changing here especially the intrastructure, and the drive should actually be 5-7 minutes but construction slowed us down. On the way there you pass the new 15 story Children’s and Women’s Hospital.
Larry Gregory of North Garden VA, Army vet, is Security/Patient Movers "Keeper of the Gate." No one gets upstairs except through him!
This morning 85 patients were triaged, and another 71 in the afternoon (156 total). That means the teams’ three patient examiners, Dr. Bill Jenkins of Millinocket ME, and Physician Assistant’s Marianna Mardeusz of Gainesville FL, and Hong Cong Vu (Jessica) of Greenville SC, each saw about 52 patients!
Dr. Bill's, VWAM's Team Physician, with a Patient
In fact the entire team put forth an outstanding first-day effort, even though some of them put in an eleven hour day. They began with breakfast at 6:30 and a team meeting/devotion at 7:30. Everyone was at the clinic by 8:30, with triage and pharmacy up and running in 15 minutes. Within the first 30 minutes patients were being checked, and all of it was made possible by the team security & patient movers who got control of the clinic right away. It is warm here, slightly humid, and cloudy with temps in the high 80′s.
PA Marianna with Translator Phuong and Patient
Some of today’s special patients were candidates for cardiac evaluations (One child’s heart surgery is confirmed), several minor surgical procedures and a couple of major operations are being considered, there is a possible brain tumor that will be evaluated in Hue, and numerous tests, lab work, x-rays, CT and/or MRI’s, and ultrasounds being done right here in Da Nang.
PA Hong Cong Vu - Jessica - with one of her Patients
One of the saddest cases today involved a Mother and child facing not only an abusive Father/Husband at home, but the child is in need of heart surgery. The Mother was afraid to go home at the end of clinic this evening, while the daughter was going to spend the next few days with her Grandmother. The Mother/Wife doesn’t have any money and hardly a drop of food in the home. We were able to get her food, and counsel her on what to do with the police, etc. Finally, two of VWAM’s Vietnamese team members counseled and then prayed with her before she left. She cried a lot.
The Woman being prayed for by her Sister and Brother in Christ!
The team will actually arrive at the clinic by 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, so as to be able to complete its work a little earlier and return to the hotel sooner than the 6:45 p.m. it experienced today.
Please come back tomorrow to read more…
Chuck in Da Nang