Vets With A Mission Blog

As I wait for the arrival of the second medical mission team of 2012, I know they are excited about their departure this coming Wednesday. Joette and I are enjoying a little down time here at the Furama, which will be the team’s base of operations, but we’ll gear-up for their arrival starting on Tuesday.

Chinh and I have meetings with the staff at both clinics, and another with the Chairman of the Hoa Hai People’s Committee concerning a playground project sponsored by All Nations Christian Fellowship in Vancouver, Canada. Joette, with the help of Steve Scott, VWAM’s Nurse Coordinator, will organize and inventory all equipment and medicines later in the week. Also, she and Quyen will go shopping at the Metro and a Pharmacy for team supplies. I fly down to Ho Chi Minh City on Friday morning about the same time the team arrives. Chinh will meet them as they come out of baggage claim, and I’ll join them a few minutes later. The early routine is as follows.

First, I get them to the hotel for refreshing-up. A shower followed by lunch is welcomed after that long flight from the US. The remainder of Friday is unscheduled to help team members recover from jet-lag. The next day, Saturday, will be the first team meeting, and after that they get their second day to adjust to the new time zone. Sunday morning we have a service after breakfast. Then the team departs for the airport at 1:15 p.m. and a 3:00 p.m. one hour flight to Da Nang. Repeat team members will be impressed with the brand new terminal here (It even has a Burger King!). The hotel bus picks-up the team, they check into their rooms, and we have a meeting to prepare for work the next day.

This medical team is set to work Monday through Friday at Hoa Hai Clinic. They will have a long R&R weekend Friday through Sunday before working three consecutive days at the second clinic, Hoa Quy. Thursday will be their final day in Da Nang with the team dinner in honor of our Vietnam vets is this evening. Everyone flies to Saigon on Friday, March 30, for international flight connections home except me and Joette. We have some VWAM business in Ho Chi Minh City and will head to San Francisco on Sunday.

Please continue to check the Blog for news about this team and their efforts to bless the people. That’s what the “Good News” asks us to do, and we’re going to do it!

Chuck In Da Nang

To say this has been just another medical mission team trip would be an understatement. Last Thursday, March 1, team member Ken Lord of Williamsport , TN, had a heart attack. Here’s what happened and read how God’s hand was on Ken and VWAM.

This trip could have been anywhere in Vietnam or Cambodia, but it came to Hue where we have a good reputation and history of cooperation with Hue Central Hospital and their Cardiac Institute because of our Children’s Heart Surgery Sponsorship Program.

Ken’s heart attack could have happened in Hong Ha 40 kilometers away or 65 kilometers farther in A Luoi. Both locations are an exhausting drive and hours from Hue, where the hospital is located. But his heart attack happened the day after we returned from Hong Ha and the day before we left for A Luoi.

The night before Ken’s attack Dave Jester, VWAM Medical Director and an ER Physician, examined two heart patients (Vietnamese) in his hotel room. Heart conditions were on his mind. Then he and Nurse Steve Scott ran into Ken in the hotel lobby the following morning. Their subsequent discussion and queries with Ken led them to put him in a taxi and go straight to the hospital.

There the ER immediately took him into a room and notified the Cardiology physicians. Within three hours Ken went from hotel lobby heart attack, to ER, to lab tests and a diagnosis (He definitely had a heart attack), and to undergoing his procedure, an angiogram with stents.

With the team leaving the next day for its second clinic in A Luoi, VWAM had a team member volunteer (Gary Jacobson of Lake Havasu City, AZ) to remain behind to help Ken. Our friend Mr. Cu and his Mandarin Café took care of all his meals.

Anyone who has been on a medical mission team knows how important crowd control and team security is. When we lost Ken and Gary, it was a blow to the efficient and secure operation of the team/clinic. But when we arrived in A Luoi at Bac Son Clinic, the compound was conducive to only one person supervising crowd control and security. It worked because of the physical layout of this particular clinic.

Our four van drivers, all Vietnamese, knew we were short-handed and stepped up to the plate! Each filled-in a security role and/or helped in triage. It was no coincidence that two of the four we’re our most experienced drivers/team members.

VWAM had the funds on hand to support Ken and his procedure until he could recover enough to get to the bank and subsequently pay his bill. It has come in under $5,600 for “Everything” and he was officially discharged yesterday (Wednesday, March 7).

Ken feels great, looks good, and has quite a story to tell his wife Martha and family when he returns to the US tomorrow (Yes, they all know what happened here). He is fit as a fiddle and cleared for travel.

If you Google Vietnam news, Hue, Ken Lord, you should be able to get a link to the stories that appeared in two local papers here. You won’t be able to read it unless you know Vietnamese, but you can see the pictures. Ken has been interviewed on tv, and can’t walk anywhere around the city without being recognized! It is a wonderful ending to a very serious event that could have turned out much differently.

Forty plus years ago the Vietnamese tried to kill Ken Lord, but last week they may have saved his life.

The Lord certainly blessed Lord…

Chuck in Hue City

The last day at any clinic is a mixed bag of emotions. It’s not any different for the Americans and the Pa Co here at Bac Son.

PA & Army VN vet Fred Belau with Patient

The team, although they are a very efficient and productive group now, are getting tired. This morning most of them slept later than any other day. As you know, the guest house has met their basic needs, but the rest here is not without many interruptions. In spite of that, they saw over 249 patients today (and probably 8-10 more), and gave it their all until the very end.

Patients in the Waiting Room

The people know this is their last chance to see a doctor for months, maybe a year or more, until VWAM returns. That’s because the people are poor, and they don’t have money to pay to see a physician. So, it’s understandable that they get a little testy and desperate knowing we’re leaving today. If they don’t get to see one of our patient examiners, it’s difficult for them to accept and greatly saddens many team members.

Definitely Not Testy Patients!

Earlier this morning VWAM sent 8 patients to Hue Central Hospital in one of our vans. Our driver knows what to do, and one of our interpreters is in Hue waiting for them. Each patient was given funds to get the process started, and tomorrow or Wednesday Chinh will settle up their bill for hospitalization, surgeries, meds, etc. and do any follow-up as needed. At A Luoi District Hospital, over the last three days, we’ve sent almost 40 patients to them for lab work, x-rays, and ultrasounds.

Ensign Foundation Heart Surgery Sonsorship: L-R Ricki Lacefield, Kristin Van Valkenburg, Ly with 5 year-old Thu, Alicia Morris & Viola Gorham

In the Hue group was a five year-old boy who will have a life-changing heart operation funded by the Ensign Foundation. Another woman has Beriberi and is in danger of dying, so her trip will be a life-saver. There was a Thyroid procedure, gallstones and gall bladder surgeries, two hernia operations and what looks like a cardiac evaluation. Again most of this was funded by the Ensign Foundation and the remainder by team members!

The Ladies of VWAM at Gift Presentation to Clinic Director (In middle hands folded)

This coming Thursday is “International Women’s Day.” It is a BIG deal here and women are honored on this day throughout Vietnam. In celebration of this special event, the women on our team gave $200, and their gift was matched by VWAM. This $400 gift was presented to the clinic director (Herself a woman) to sponsor renovation of the OB/GYN Room (See above).

The View Outside of the Gate

In addition to patient examinations, referrals to Hue Central Hospital and A Luoi District Hospital, VWAM gave the Bac Son Clinic a 25’ x 50’ tarp, two wheel-chairs, two blood-pressure cuffs, numerous medical supplies and 400 eyeglasses in various prescriptions.

Tonight we had our end of clinic dinner with our interpreters. They will receive official certificates of appreciation when they get back to Hue from HueFO, but this evening they got their salary! Each one addressed the team with remarks that often were quite moving and personal. Some said it was the best experience of their lives! Then all sang a song to the team, its title, “We Are Unity.” It was beautiful and emotional.

Translators Singing to the Team

Team members are packing up or visiting an ethnic minority village and waterfall right now.

We leave beautiful A Luoi in a couple of hours, so here is one last photo of our interpreters. Theya re an integral part of the team effort!

Mr. Chuck with his Kids!

Chuck in A Luoi

Day two at Bac Son Clinic and A Luoi are history. Here are a few ramblings not necessarily in any order.

You don’t need an alarm clock to wake-up. If you aren’t already up there is “Rhode Island Red or the Gamecock” to awaken you about 4:30 a.m. That’s when he begins his serenade. If that doesn’t do it, there is “Reveille” at 5:00 a.m. over the loudspeaker from the Army barracks just a few hundred yards behind us!

The Chairman's Suite

You won’t over-sleep because the dogs start barking and the cats meowing about 5:30 a.m., and then there is “Mr. Chuck.” At 6:00 a.m. he dutifully goes from room-to-room taping on windows or knocking on doors repeating, “This is your wake-up call.”

That's Rich Dipboye in the center

This morning, VN vet Rich Dipboye, an Army helicopter pilot from Belton, TX, gave the devotion. He said he never does this sort of thing, but since Mr. Chuck asked, he agreed to do it. He shared from memories past and reflected on those who didn’t come home, reminding us of John 15:13. There wasn’t a dry eye amongst the vets and many of the women had tears running down their cheeks. It was special, Rich. Thank you. One of the nice things about having the team briefing and devotion together is that the interpreters get to hear the Good News in such a personal, relevant, and non-threatening way.

Patients Arriving - Outside of Gate

Today we had a guest for lunch:  a monkey! Yep, didn’t eat much, but sure liked the banana given to him. I kept thinking rabies, as did Dr. Jester, so I stayed away. But the team made him the star attraction and must have taken 30-40 pictures.

PA BobThomas, Marine VN vet, with Interpreter & Patient

Yesterday several team members went to the local market to buy buckets to place under their wash basins, flip-flops to wear in the shower, wash clothes (there were none) and towels (the ones here are no bigger than a dish-towel), and other necessities to make life a little more comfortable at Nge Nghia Guesthouse in “Frontier-Land.” That’s what they call the boonies way out here.  But we’re not isolated because we do have Wi Fi!

Dr. Dave & Interpreter with Patient

Yesterday a kid brought his sling-shot to clinic and pelted a few of the guys.  Rich, mentioned earlier, took an incoming dirt clog in the shoulder. I guess we’ll have to give him his second Purple Heart. We told our HueFO rep Nam about this, and he evidently took care of the problem. No incoming fire today.

Disabled Child with New (and first ever) Wheel-Chair!

Last night at dinner the vets sang “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” for the Vietnamese. This was after they entertained us with a couple of cultural and patriotic songs. It was a lot of fun!

Last to be chronicled today, but certainly not least, is the fact that the team saw nearly 250 patients (241 to be exact). Several of them were special cases, particularly one elderly ethnic minority woman who is in danger of dying.  Since it’s Sunday here and the local district hospital is closed, a VWAM van will take her and other special cases to Hue Central Hospital tomorrow morning for admission, tests, procedures or whatever is needed.

Bac Son Clinic, A Luoi, Thua Thien Hue Province

Speaking of tomorrow, Monday (March 5) is our last day here and final day of the medical mission.

Chuck in A Luoi

The team is now at Bac Son Commune in A Luoi some 65 kilometers west of Hue. They left the Imperial Hotel at 1:30 yesterday afternoon, and after a brief visit at Hong Ha/FOMC, continued on for another hour to here. That’s a total of 2.5 hours traveling over twisty, bumpy, narrow, dusty roads and more than one person had to take Dramamine!

While in Hong Ha, VWAM presented funds to plant a new Herbal Garden as well as crutches, canes/walkers, and four wheel-chairs. The herbal garden project will be monitored by Board member Steve Scott. They are required by law to have 60 different plants and teach the people how to use them. In addition, VWAM funded the purchase of supplies and other equipment to help the Hong Ha Nursery School, something they did two years ago.

Team members had to adjust moving from a 5 Star hotel to a 1 Star guesthouse. Some rooms have A/C and some don’t. Most wash basins in the bathroom leak porously, not all of the lights work, and the amenities are few, if any. However the frog, leeches, mosquitos, geckos, and one very large spider in team member’s bathrooms we’re complementary! The good news is that each team member has a flexible, non-complaining attitude and keeps on, keeping on.

This is a fine team but we’re missing the two we left behind. One team member had a major health issue in Hue and had to be hospitalized. He will be fine, and there will be more on this situation at a later date. This volunteer agreed to stay in Hue to keep him company and render assistance. One of the things he is responsible for doing is seeing that this individual gets fed. Yes, unlike the US, there is no cafeteria or meals on wheels. The patient’s family has to provide everything needed in a hospital stay including meals. So, Mr. Cu’s Mandarin Café provided the menu/meals, and the non-hospitalized team member delivers the food. We’re all family here, and we take care of one another, especially the one in need.

After checking in we visited the clinic site, and met the staff there a Doctor, Herbal Nurse, and two Mid-wives. They were very hospitable and cooperative, and helped us prepare for clinic. The Clinic Director told us VWAM is the first humanitarian group to ever come because no one wants to travel this way.  So, today it was breakfast at 6:30 and devotion/team briefing at 7:15. Then we loaded into one of four vans for the short10 minute drive to Bac Son Clinic.

The patients we saw were mostly poor ethnic minority people called the “Pa Co.”

This morning the team saw close to 80 of them, and this afternoon it was almost a 100, as we came in at 174 total! Ten translators from Hue University recruited by HueFO help us as interpreters. Without them we couldn’t do what we do!

It’s actually very beautiful here. This is a lush green, triple-canopy jungle area in the mountains. For you vets, its north of Ap Bia (Hamburger Hill) and south of Lang Vei, in one of the very worst places to be during the war regardless of which side you were on.

Chuck in A Luoi

As you already know the team saw 163 patients the first day, but what you don’t know is that they saw 138 on Tuesday and 197 yesterday! That’s 498 in just three days not counting the 12-15 follow-up patients that returned from Hue Central Hospital or Binh Dinh Super Clinic. They had been sent there by Dr. Dave, or PA’s Fred and Bob for tests, etc., and so on.

Dr. Dave with Patient

The team was very happy to roll into the Imperial Hotel entrance last night at 6:45 exactly 12 hours from the time they left that morning. It is a bumpy, bouncy trip again as the road’s condition has worsened since the last time this way. One bridge is partially washed out, and the team also had to deal with several delays on their return caused by logging trucks disabled on the road. In addition, with darkness approaching, it became very foggy and then misted rain all the way back.

Nusre & Marine vet Steve Scott & Peg McMunn at Triage

But they made the journey without complaint, and for that we are grateful. They have no idea how much easier my job is in leading them when we can focus on the tasks at hand and not have to deal with complaints like room issues, food disappointments, and all other sort of things. However, being next door to Mr. Cu’s Mandarin Café sure helps on the food side.

What you see on the ride between Hue-Hong Ha-Hue!

Of those patients tested this week several will require surgeries or hospitalizations to heal their illness or condition, and VWAM will schedule those procedures. Chinh will coordinate with his friend Hein and others in Hue for follow-up, and “Special treatment” at the appropriate time. Oh, speaking of Chinh.

That's Chinh with HueFO's Chairman Anh translating for VWAM

After the long day and grueling ride back to Hue, most team members stow their gear and head to supper, but not for Chinh or another team member – Joette. Those two, especially Chinh, work 1-3 hours more to take care of patients, order meds and run other supply errands so that the next day’s needs are met. Most team members have showered and are asleep before these two unsung heroes get to do that.

That spirit of commitment is reflected by each and every single team member because they all wore POW-MIA bracelets this week in honor of Floyd Olsen, to make the point, that he is not forgotten…

Team members including translators with Olsen's POW/MIA bracelet

Chuck in Hue City

That’s the number. One hundred and sixty-three. Yep, that’s it. Cool beans. Awesome, as the kids say! Oh, what’s that?

That is how many patients were seen in just six and half hours of work by the medical team. A great start for the week in spite of a couple of bumps in the road to start (More about the bumps later).

Only two VWAM vans were at the hotel on time yesterday morning, and a third was 20 minutes late. The fourth didn’t show and some of the group (Mr. Chuck and a couple of Board members) took a taxi to the first official meeting of the trip. Chairman Anh of HueFO greeted the team and thanked them for coming. In a surprise, we learned it was Physician Appreciation Day in Vietnam, so Dr. Dave was presented with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Being the gentleman he is, he gave them to his daughter Alicia!

Chairman Anh presenting gift to VWAM's Medical Director

Later in the day we discovered the doctors at Binh Dinh Super Clinic really take this celebration seriously. We sent several patients there in one of our vans for tests and they couldn’t get them done because the Docs’ were in no condition to see any patients, if you know what I mean? They were told to come back today.

Sharing the road with local people & water buffalo's

That first bump was late vans for a meeting, but the second bump I’m talking about was the hour and fifteen minute ride to Hong Ha. The road has become slightly more narrow than the last time, due to weather issue like wash-outs, slides, etc., and the pot-holes we’re numerous and large. It was a slow convoy to the FOMC, and more than one team member had a sore back when we arrived.

Some of the special patients seen yesterday were afflicted with goiter (37 yr old woman) and thyroid issues (Two women, one in her 20’s and another in her 40’s), one heart problem (27 yr old Mother), a cyst or tumor behind a knee (7 yr old girl), two boys with serious dental issues (one child and a pre-teen) and a woman with a special needs child (The Mother died shortly after birth; Father passed away recently) who is raising the boy. He will need to be taken care of his entire life (VWAM made a substantial gift to help the woman in raising him). How was VWAM able to do this?

Dr. Dave and his Aberdeen Harem! (Ricki, Alicia, Viola & Kristin)

It’s because of team members like Dr. Dave and his Aberdeen Harem! Before the team left the States, all team members made gifts or raised money for the “Patient Services & Medicine Fund.” In addition to bringing some meds, all other medicines are purchased in Vietnam. This eliminates custom issues upon arrival, expired meds, and meds that are donated but never used, and the team gets exactly what it requires to meet the needs of the local populace. These are also the funds that are used for tests, hospitalizations, and surgeries (Like heart-saving operations)!

Dr. Dave’s “Aberdeen Harem” were responsible for the $10,000 donation from the Ensign Foundation! That donation pushed the team very close to their $17,000+ goal and truly made a difference, and will continue to make a difference, in the lives of the poor in Hong Ha.

Chuck in Hue

Floyd Olsen will not be forgotten.

On April 21, 1968, he and his crew were shot down in the village of Hong Ha in Thua Thien Hue Province. He and they haven’t been seen or heard from since.

It is in this village that the medical team will work over the next three days, experiencing a bumpy twisting one hour plus drive each way daily, at the second clinic built in his honor (It replaced the first one built in 1996 by Viet Aid).

In an act of support each team member is wearing a POW/MIA bracelet with Floyd’s information inscribed on it.

The team’s journey from Ho Chi Minh City was uneventful, and after airport pick-up and hotel check-in at the Imperial, most team members had dinner at the Madarin Café. They got to meet the affable Mr. Cu, a favorite of many VWAM team members. I met with our interpreters early in the evening and our contact with HueFO, the Hue Union of Friendship Organizations, who sponsors us in this province.

Tomorrow the team will have breakfast at 6:00 a.m. before heading out at 6:45 a.m. to Hong Ha and the FOMC. We’ll have a brief welcome ceremony with Chairman Anh at HueFO, and then head to the clinic some 45 km to the west. It is so far and in the middle of nowhere that we have to take our own water, drinks, and lunch.

But last night this team showed the “Right stuff” and why they came. After a long day, and still dealing with jet-lag, they turned out for the “Pill Party,” as VWAM calls it. In order to be prepared to hit the floor running at the clinic, the Pharmacy must have on hand start-up supplies of medicine. So, the team – all of them a 100% turn-out – came to a meeting room at 8:00 p.m.to count pills, insert a 30 day supply into Zip-Lock snack bags, and label them. They worked for 45 minutes and filled about a 300 bags which is enough to get us through the first day. The Pharmacist Julie Nguyen and her team members will get a handle on this process beginning today from this point on, but take a look at one bunch of dedicated team members

Vet Ken Lord

Dr. Dave Jester, VWAM Medical Director

Vet Jim & Peg McMunn

More tomorrow after our first day of seeing patients in Hong Ha…

Chuck

While Vietnam is changing for the better, there are still issues of the past. Issues like paranoia and basic freedoms.

Many team members are disappointed they cannot access their Facebook accounts. The government has that social media web site blocked. Many we’re planning to communicate back home with loved-ones through FB, but they won’t be able to do that. I find it ironic that the government is concerned about people communicating but allow something as corruptible, immoral and counterproductive as MTV to influence their younger generation. In my opinion, MTV is a greater threat to social order and Vietnam’s future than FB. But that’s just me.

After an excellent team meeting yesterday, most people did some touring and shopping. Many old restaurants were visited again and some new ones explored. Joette, Chinh and I went to Nha Hang Ngon on Pasteur Street here in District 1 before going to the MobiFone office. The food was terrific with great local atmosphere!
Speaking of MobiFone, my number in Vietnam was canceled and I needed it back. It took two visits and about an hour and a half to accomplish that. I had to leave a 3,000,000 VND deposit (About $125), enter into a monthly contract, have a local address, and assure them of payment for my monthly charges. And as a foreigner, you have to have a minimum three month visa or no mobile phone number for you.

For those of you who travel often with VWAM to Vietnam, you will find it interesting to note that one of the main shopping venues is closed, Lucky Plaza, and the restaurant in its basement. Also, the Broddard Restaurant and Gloria Jeans Coffee Shop is closed. Major renovations continue here like the Grand Hotel which now covers an entire block. And for $10 you can go up to the 68th floor observation deck in Saigon’s first Skyscraper to gaze over Ho Chi Minh City. 10 USD’s, can you believe it?

It is true about what I mentioned yesterday with the currency situation. USD’s must be exchanged into VND with a new law and it comes with penalties. This past week an American went to a jewelry store to get the “Best rate for exchange.” For years you could always go to one and the exchange rate was better than at banks or hotels. Unfortunately for him the police were watching! He lost his $100, was fined $1,000 and the jewelry stored fined $2,500 or over 40,000,000 VND. The times they are a changing!

But one of the most remarkable developments yesterday was with Marine Vietnam vet Bob Thomas from NC. Bob served in I Corps west from Hue and all the way to the border with Laos in ’67 – ‘70. He was a FAC for helicopters. During the last four months of his tour, Bob was sent to Da Nang to work in civil affairs and assigned an interpreter named Xuan Lan just 21 years old. Once he left the country, they shared letters for about two years but contact was lost – until 2000! Bob found her and began corresponding by email, etc., until yesterday, that is. After 42 years, they had are reunion here at the hotel.

Xuan Lan and Bob Thomas

That’s Xuan Lan and Bob in the 18th Floor lounge of the Renaissance Riverside Hotel, where they shared memories and family pictures. Bob’s friend was introduced to Chuck & Joette, but even more important, she was the introduced to Chinh, VWAM’s in-country representative. He will follow-up with her about all sorts of things. Dr. Bill Jenkins, who will arrive on March 16, already has one patient to see here at the RRHS (Don’t worry, Dr. Bill, we’ll give you until Saturday afternoon before you have your first appointment!). Xuan’s niece has benign tumors growing in her Thyroid and has already had three operations. Her care here may have been excellent, but they still asked if she could be examined by one of our doctor’s. This is why we came, so we’re glad to do it.
In a few hours we’ll have our Sunday service and team meeting, followed by lunch. Check-out is at 12:00 and then onto the airport at 1:00 for the flight to Hue/Phu Bai. More tomorrow evening after our first day of work in Hong Ha at the Floyd Olsen Memorial Clinic (FOMC)…
Chuck

The Hue-Hong Ha/A Luoi-Bac Son team has safely arrived! Rich & Leone Dipboye and Dawn Workman came in late last night. Everyone else arrived on their respective EVA and China Airline flights a few hours ago. Team members are getting refreshed, then most will head out for an early dinner or late lunch. One team member is sick but hopefully she’ll feel better tomorrow.

Flying in today I noticed a level of smog at about 2,000 feet, the first time its been that bad, and again more buildings and construction wherever you look. The new tunnel in District 1 under the Saigon River is open, and for the first time we cannot use USD’s here at the hotel. You have to convert to VND to purchase anything. I haven’t been outside of the hotel as yet to see if this is the law of the land or not?

Another sign of the times is the that helicopter and aircraft revetments, here since the American War, are now disappearing. Most have been removed from Tan Son Nhut, and the Vietnam travel video viewed on our flight never even mentioned or made reference to the ware.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we’ll have our first team meeting and our final team member, Pharmacist Julia Nguyen, will join us. That’s it for today, just wanted to let you know we’re here…

Mr. Chuck