06-FEB-B-10
THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE MINDANAO MISSION PROGRAM LED
BY THE STUDENTS AND ME ON MONDAY FEBRUARY 27 NOON IN ROSS 117 AT WHICH TIME THE
RWANDA TEAM WILL ALSO ASSEMBLE IN PREPARATION FOR THE DEPARTURE OF NEXT WEEK’S
MISSION
From: Rick James
To: med2008@hermes.gwu.edu; med2009@hermes.gwu.edu
Date: 2/22/2006 3:06:15 PM
Subject: Presentation: Surgical Mission to Mindinao, Philippines
Hello,
The Office of International Medicine Programs and Dr. Glenn Geelhoed invite you to attend a presentation on Dr. Glenn Geelhoed's recent journey to the Philippines. Please review the attached for more information and we hope to see you there.
Thanks,
Rick James
Executive Coordinator
GWUMC ‑ International Medicine Programs
(202) 994‑2796
Attachment: Presentation ‑ Surgical Mission to Mindanao, Philippines
CC: Glenn Geelhoed; Harolyn Johnson; Huda Ayas; Janan Sarkis; Jim Scott; Scott Schroth
You are wonderful!
I would love to have you with me in Rwanda as well, since this is the
start of a new cycle of getting a sustainable ball rolling. It is much more efficient to operate in a
well-running organization set up in advance---which means I am less necessary
there now. The "stagger start"
that is what it always is in such environments as I had started up in the
Congo, Somaliland, Malawi, Eritrea, Haiti---al of these are now organized and
can run with or without me.
It was what I said to Monique on the pair of cases
we did back to back on my birthday: the
submandibular gland carcinoma that was excised en bloc in a slick smooth
operation that should have been videotaped as the way to do a tumor resection,
followed by the recurrent thyroid cancer, stuck to the strap muscles and trace
adherent to the esophagus and a nuisance of a dissection to try to tease away
the disease. Which of these will be most
memorable for you?
The slick neat submandibular radical neck dissection
supra-omohyoid, of course!
Well, it was neat all right---and anyone could have
done it. The times when you are critically
needed is when no one else would do, when most reasonbale folk would have given
up, when every standard know approach is inadequate and you have to improvise
and invent along the way.
The easy solvable problems will be resolved. I never sought out the sticky problems
dealing with the political, social, and economic ones in which most all the
disorders I deal with are imbedded in one principle substrate--poverty. But, as you know, I can operate; I can medicate; but I also have to prevent,
promote and encourage--all part of healing.
So, each of the new missions are in various stages of that wheel
re-invention, and I will take all the help I can to get these folk
self-sufficient and along the way teach me a few things.
I go now to once again re-invent that wheel before
others can ride on it, and I hope they can get up to speed quickly.
Your presentation of the terrific trio was
superb! I am delighted to have been a
part of your show!
>>> Leslie Keck <lkeck@gwu.edu> 2/27/2006 6:38 PM >>>
Hi Glenn, I wish I could go on the Rwanda trip. I
think it would be a
very good trip to do now right about
tboli/malaybalay, sort of opposite
points on a spectrum. You made the point that much
of the hardwork and
logistics have been ironed out in tboli and malaybalay
that allows the
cases and trip to run smoothly. But in Rwanda that process would be
just starting; it would be fun to watch that grow
and become
self-sufficient. Interesting point too about how
tboli has moved onto
more public health concerns, the wide reaching,
preventative type that
affects many people all at once rather than one
person a surgery at a
time. Just
starting to scratch the surface with int'l medicine and
really enjoying it. take care and thanks for all the
fun, leslie