Index
to the Jan-D-series of the Philippine Medical
Mission to Leyte Gulf
Beginning of the Leyte Gulf Extension of our Philippine
Medical Mission through Cagayan de Oro and several
transit steps in the sea-faring Philippine Islands—7,101
of them at low tide. 
From
“Our Lady of Good Voyage” overnight ferry, to
“Ocean Jet II”, a fast launch from Cebu City to
Hilangos, Leyte, and a welcome to LBH—Leyte Baptist
Hospital.
Our
church and tourist day at Hilangos Leyte, beginning
with a pre-dawn run from Leyte to Owok and back
along the seaside beach to Matapay fishing village
and return, then a “pump boat” excursion across
the sea to a desert island with a light house
named Canigao, and return in the sunset.
A
full operating day at LBH, beginning with a pre-dawn
run to Matapay, and a morning full of thyroidectomies
and OPD clinic with a tropical rainstorm as a
vaginal hysterectomy for stage IV uterine prolapse
precedes a late dinner invitation to the LBS—then,
the social plans are disrupted by a sequence of
patient emergency admissions—strokes and “lockjaw!”
Our second clinical day at LBH, after
an eventful operating day on Monday, January 27,
2003 further testing the capacities of the facilities
and staff to host a future surgical mission, and
a postponed visit to Maasin to the Leyte Baptist
Seminary.
January
29-A, our first of two Wednesdays, begins with
a proposed early takeoff postponed by a pair of
emergencies to be operated before we leave; then,
ride across Leyte in tropical rain, turning north
beyond the mountains at Makaplag, then visit Hill
120, Tolosa, MacArthur Park and Tacloban and the
San Juanico Bridge to Samar; then catch PAL 194
to Manila, and board PAL 112 for the thirteen
hours (and second Wednesday’s) TransPacific
A-340 long flight.
January 29-B,
our second Wednesday crossing the dateline, in
a long transpacific flight through Los Angeles
for the red-eye connection, crossing the continent
to return home to Washington Dulles and GW, and
Derwood.
The feedback from the field: Alan Mellicor’s
note with the totals of the patients operated
on in the first two phases of our three-venue
medical mission, and a note received from one
of the Leyte participants in gratitude for our
mission.
Re-entry:
the return to the leftovers to be cleaned up—from
milk left out on the kitchen table to two major
real estate resolutions in settlements: forebodings
of disasters from voicemail messages are resolved
by a diligent search of attic records before even
unpacking, and drowsily sleuthing down the documents
needed to rescue the closure on time, with a highly
eventful day that follows