Medical Mission Update #3 – An Amazing Day in Santo Domingo!
By Adam Pick on March 15, 2013
I awoke this morning in Santo Domingo with a good feeling. During the day, that feeling transformed from good… to great… to inspired… to extraordinary. The source of that transformation was ‘Day One’ of the Mount Sinai Medical Mission at Hospital General de la Plaza de la Salud (HGPS) in the Dominican Republic. While I could ramble on-and-on about all that we experienced today, I thought it might be fun to share several pictures from this altruistic event.
Leonel Pirchado & Family
First, consider the picture of Leonel Pirchado, his wife, three daughters and son-in-law. Leonel, who was the first patient of the day, was diagnosed with severe mitral regurgitation in September. Leonel had a unique disorder known as Barlow’s disease. To remedy that disorder, the Mount Sinai – HGPS team performed a complex bi-leaflet valve repair.
Dr. Fred Milla, Natalia Santana Sanchez & Dr. Adams
After Leonel was taken to the operating room, Dr. Adams and Dr. Federico Milla met Natalia Santana Sanchez (shown above), who was the second scheduled patient. A very sweet woman, Natalia lit up when Dr. Adams walked in the room. It turns out that Natalia is Internet-savvy and spent a good amount of time researching Dr. Adams. Like Leonel, Natalia also suffered from mitral regurgitation and required a valve repair operation using an annuloplasty ring.
Dr. David Adams & Me
The next stop was… the operating room. A few minutes before the procedure began, I had time to discuss this Medical Mission with Dr. Adams and learn more about his earlier philanthropic work. Unknown to me, Dr. Adams had previously traveled to China, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam for similar missions.
Gideon Sims, Dr. Adams, Dr. Ricardo Lazala
I continued to learn more about Mount Sinai’s charitable efforts from Dr. Ricardo Lazala, the Mission Director, and Gideon Sims, the Administrative Director, of the Mitral Foundation.
Once in the operating room, the Mount Sinai and HGPS team worked together seamlessly. Here you can see all the physicians — Dr. Adams, Dr. Milla, Dr. Fischer, Dr. Bernada Cedano, Mary Joy Santillan, RN, and me — huddled around Leonel as they reconstructed his valve.
As you can see above, an annuloplasty ring was used to support the structure of Leonel’s valve.
Juan Obando, CCP, was the perfusionist and managed the heart lung machine while Leonel was on bypass.
Dr. Alcantara Abreu Silverio, Dr. Miguel Guerrero Columna and Dr. Ricardo Lazala
During the day, I learned a lot about HGPS from Dr. Alcantara Abreu Silverio, Dr. Miguel Guerrero Columna and Dr. Ricardo Lazala (shown above). At a meeting with Dr. Julio Amado Castaños Guzman, its Chairman, Greisy Concepcion, its CEO and members of the HGPS leadership team, along with a hospital tour conducted by Desiree Diez Portela, I learned that this facility is the largest hospital in the Dominican Republic with 12 operating rooms, 285 beds and 9 wards. Last year, HGPS had over 300,000 patient consults and 14,000 hospitalizations. It should also be noted that on July 18, 2012, HGPS performed the first successful heart transplant in the Dominican Republic.
Greisy Concepcion (HGPS CEO), Me & Desiree Diez Portela>
After the Mount Sinai-HGPS team performed a successful mitral valve repair on Natalia, the group went out for a late dinner at David Crockett’s. At midnight, we returned to HGPS to ensure that Leonel and Natalia were doing well. Good news… They were doing great. 🙂
By the time we got back to the hotel, I was exhausted. That said, I quickly jumped into bed to get as much sleep as possible before ‘Day Two’ of the mission began. To get more mission updates and other important information about heart valve surgery, you can subscribe to my free newsletter.
Keep on tickin!
Adam
Written by Adam Pick
- Patient & Website Founder
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svetlomir ivanov says on March 19th, 2013 at 9:00 am |
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Very usefull! |
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bernarda says on March 19th, 2013 at 2:03 pm |
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Thanks Adam for sharing with us. Excelente job !!!!! |
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mercy turan says on March 23rd, 2013 at 11:43 am |
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Awesome, Adam! What a great mission! Mazel Tov! |
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Jeff Pheffer says on June 4th, 2013 at 3:32 am |
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Hey Adam. What a suprise. As I approach my 2 Year anniversary of my Aortic Valve repair at UCLA on August 11, 2011 I find myself relaxing at Club Med, Punta Cana in The Dominican Republic. Although recent shoulder surgery has me mostly floating in the water and sitting in the sun, I am clear that the life saving surgery your site helped me research, find a doctor for and share my experiences before and after about has me able to enjoy myself and feel safe that I am not going to slowly die or become a cardiac cripple any time soon. In fact ,except submission wrestling, I am fully engaging in all the activities I did before I got sick and expect no limits on the future. I saw my cardio last week and she said my echo looked great and I have an appointment for a checkup with Dr Shemin next week and we are hoping to take In a ball game this summer. So wonderful you were part of the great humanitarian efforts of this great team and Dr Adams especially. All the best to you and your family. Jeff |
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