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An eye mission to Honduras leaves lasting memories, surgeon says
Jonathan M. Davidorf, MD, shares his experiences about volunteering with Sight To The Blind.
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In October, I went on a surgical eye mission trip to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, with my close friend Craig Aaronson, a record company executive, and Angela Nakashyan, a technician from Davidorf Eye Group.
 John A. Hovanesian |
Our mission was coordinated by a nonprofit organization based in Oklahoma called Sight To The Blind. The examinations and surgeries were conducted at an eye clinic and ASC called Centro de Cirugias del Ojo in San Pedro Sula that Sight To The Blind supports.
Centro de Cirugias del Ojo is equipped with some useful equipment, including an Alcon Accurus that we used for cataract surgery, a Leica M841 surgical microscope, a Stryker surgical table, Haag-Streit slit lamp microscopes, a Nikon YAG and other items.
Our flight departed from LAX with our surgical drapes, cataract surgery instruments, lens implants, medications and my personal belongings all stuffed into an oversized three-board surfboard bag. William M. Davis, administrator of Sight To The Blind, worked with me to acquire the medications, implants and supplies that we would use on the mission.
William and his friend, Norma Hernandez, picked us up from the airport and brought us to Norma’s home. That afternoon we went to see the stunning northern coastline of Honduras, which houses the biggest port in Central America outside of Panama. That evening the tour team convened at the home of Olga Caballero and Giovani Reyes, directors of Centro de Cirugias del Ojo, for a big welcome party held in our honor.
Challenging surgical cases
We got up early the next morning for a full day of surgery. The patients we treated ranged from the more challenging surgical cases (eg, small pupils, dense cataracts and pseudo-exfoliation), which may otherwise not have been cared for, to typical cataract patients who simply could not see to navigate in their surroundings.
We met one highly myopic woman who had previously lost use of one eye after complications from prior planned extracapsular cataract surgery. She now presented to us with decreasing vision in her only good eye. She understood that her only opportunity for better vision was to undergo cataract surgery.
We had a lengthy preoperative discussion about the attendant risks, benefits and, most importantly, the stakes of the procedure, and she elected to proceed. The smiles, the tears and the relief expressed by this grateful woman at the completion of the procedure, realizing that it had been successful and knowing that she could see, deeply touched our entire team.
During our brief time in Honduras, we were hopefully able to positively affect the lives of the patients we treated, allowing them to better function in their daily routines. We were able to begin to pass on the know-how of performing small-incision phacoemulsification, techniques that will ultimately enable more patients to be treated more safely and with a faster recovery. This was hands-on teaching in the same way I learned to do eye surgery as an ophthalmology resident 15 years ago.
You have heard the proverb: “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he’ll eat forever.” Well, our mission in Honduras was about both of these.
According to Honduran ophthalmologist Carlos Gonzalez, MD, there are about 70 ophthalmologists in Honduras, and half of them are either retired, do not work or do not do surgery. Only 20% to 30% of the population of Honduras can pay for private eye care. With an estimated 49,000 patients in need of cataract surgery but unable to afford it, this leaves only a few eye surgeons with the task of helping this large and growing number of needy patients. Like many developing countries, the system is simply overwhelmed.
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Images: Davidorf JM |
Limited resources
Although health care concerns and needs are serious in the United States, we have a system whereby those without insurance or financial means can get medical care and cataract surgery with Medicaid.
In countries such as Honduras, 70% of the population relies entirely on the work of charitable organizations and government hospitals that have a small number of doctors and far more limited resources to provide the care. If you add the fact that the percentage of needy patients compared with the total population is far greater in Honduras than in the United States, one can easily picture the magnitude of the problem.
Although it is always difficult to be away from the demands of private practice and disheartening to miss my children’s soccer games, our team will cherish these memories for years to come. Thank you to Mr. Davis, Sight To The Blind, Alcon, Allergan, STAAR Surgical, 3M and to all of our new friends in Honduras for making our surgical eye mission trip a tremendous success.
For more information:
- Jonathan M. Davidorf, MD, is a diplomat of the American Board of Ophthalmology, clinical assistant professor of ophthalmology at UCLA School of Medicine (Jules Stein Eye Institute) and is the director of the Davidorf Eye Group in Los Angeles, where he specializes in cataract and refractive surgery. He can be reached at 7320 Woodlake Ave., Suite 190, West Hills, CA 91307; 818-883-0112; fax: 818-883-2767; e-mail: DrJ@davidorf.com; Web site: www.davidorf.com.
- Sight To The Blind Inc. was founded by Robert E. Searle, MD, in January 1992, and he still serves as the international medical director. William M. Davis has been the administrator of Sight To The Blind for 18 years and has led surgical eye mission teams to such countries as Haiti, Honduras, India, Israel and Lebanon. For more information, write to Sight To The Blind Inc., 61800 E. 290 Road, Grove, OK 74344; phone: 918-786-2760; e-mail: sight12@sbcglobal.net.