Bob Loblaw

San Blas, Mexico...NOT the resort

Well, well...where do i even start? One monday morning Dr.C came to work and asked if i'd like to go to mexico...of course i said yes and asked if there was a beach?! ha ha ha NOT EVEN CLOSE! Then he proceeded to tell me that it would be to volunteer in a clinic and provide less fortunate people with dental work....WOW!! I jumped on that opportunity SOOO fast, there was just one setback...i didn't have a passport. To make what's already going to be a long post a little shorter--i applied for my passport on tuesday and it came 10 days later! YEAH! (Can i just tell you how many crazy people i met at the post office while i waited almost 2 hrs in line to turn in my passport application?! There was an old couple there gettting a passport for their exotic bird...but that's another story for another day!)So, it was final...i got to go too! The name of this organization in LIGA--they are also called the "flying doctors of mercy" and you will see why... In our little private plane for 6 was our pilot, Joe Rainey, (blue shirt...have you ever heard of Rainey Homes in St. George--that's him). From left Dr. Cowley, Leighann (asst.), me, Camie (rdh), and Dr. Petty. We flew down in this TBM 700 jet which really spoiled us (if you are one for small planes! We had to wear these noise cancelling headphones to be able to talk to eachother on the flights.We flew 2 hrs into Tuscon, AZ and switched pilots. From there we had another 1hr flight into Obregon which is in Mexico. Here they checked our baggage and passports to make sure we weren't packing anything illegal, then back up into the air for another short flight of about 30 minutes into the "airport" at El Fuerte.This is Camie and Leighann where we landed...the green building behind them is some barracks where the army men sleep. It was kinda freaky landing there where all these men in army gear and huge guns approach the plane as you get out. They don't let you take pics of them though...so i didn't want to chance it! You can see why these people who volnteer are called the "flying doctors of mercy"...this is just the beginning of people landing here.The volunteers came from allover...Utah, Texas, California. Not only is it a dental clinic, but general surgeons, eye doctors, pharmacists, orthopedic surgeons, translators, and many more come to volunteer in the clinics. There are 3 different clinics in this area that volounteers come to. We had a 45 minute "taxi" ride from El Fuerte to the clinic in San Blas. The taxi was a suburban---probably a 1980 model. The A/C consisted of rolling down all the windows! We arrived on a Thursday afternoon. The medical work is free to the Mexican people, the only price they pay is standing in line. This is what the line looked like when we got there. It was interesting to hear the hum of excitement in them as we hauled our bags from the taxi to the clinic. They knew we were coming to help them! We actually didn't start any dental procedures until friday morning, as was the same for most of the other volunteers. We spent a while organizing and setting up our clinic area. There are 3 dental chairs in one room. 2 of them are equipped with overhead lights, the other chair user has to wear a head lamp. Dr. Petty has actually been going down twice a year for the last 14 years! He has donated a ton of instruments and things for the clinic to run as smooth as possible! We actually were quite spoiled with 3 cavitrons to use. (For you hygienists out there...you know i was grateful for that!) There were some issues with the suction unit when we got there so Dr. C and Dr. P spent a number of hours fixing that...i am very grateful for handy men who know how to repair things with minimal tools! The eye doctors actually start screening pts for cataract surgeries on Thursday so while the dentists were figuring out the suction problem Camie and i stood in with the eye docs and learned how to screen pts for surgeries. I must say, dentistry is interesting and i love it...but nothing compares to giving someone their eyesight back. I was AMAZED! Everything there is pretty casual as far as what you can do or see at the clinic. All the volunteers are so nice and willing to teach you about their specialty. We stood in on some cataract surgeries and i was so impressed by the steady hands of the doctors working in such a small area. We were able to look through the microscopes while they were removing the cataracts and suturing the eye back up. This is a little unreal, but the dark red chunk of stuff is actually a cataract. It's HUGE! So, after they remove it, they place a synthetic lens back into the eye and the pt can see again! It really is amazing! These are the miracle workers!! On the left is Jeff and Bob...they were so nice to let us learn about something completely different than what we went for! And on the right is Dr.C and Dr.P! This was a nice little friend we found on a pt table as we were checking out the different areas of the clinic...a dead cockroach! Sickie!! Our living quarters were a lot different than one might expect! We stayed at the clinic. All of the medical/dental procedures were done on the main floor. The kitchen, bathrooms and volunteer rooms were upstairs. We actually slept on the roof of the clinic because the heat inside was pretty unbearable. So these are our little cots we used for beds...they were actually pretty comfy with the egg crate on top! We slept in sleeping bags. It would cool off enough in the night that we'd wake up with wet/dew on the bags...it felt like we were camping! Talk about getting to know your boss...we all slept side by side!

posted by Jami @ 6:00 PM