Dr. Jabara’s reflections on Haiti

Well the time is over for us here in Haiti. We fly home tomorrow. The week has been filled with ups and downs. Probably more downs than ups. We finished the day with 9 surgeries. Most went very well. Have a few on for tomorrow for the new crew that is arriving.

The day ended on a somewhat sad note. A patient we had been treating for a leg infection got rapidly worse and was on the verge of becoming very, very sick. We rushed her back to the OR and performed an above knee amputation. She had already been fairly low with her blood count and after surgery she dropped even lower. Denise Richards and I both donated our blood for her. I just left her bedside to write this last post and to go to bed. She was awake, alert and doing better. Her husband told me that they had a 9 month old son named Michael who died in the earthquake. I tried to hold back my tears when he said that his boy “was a good person, just like you, Dr. Michael.”

Someone told me once that the true nature of ones character is revealed in their response to the undesirable. We have all been blessed with talents and gifts. I believe mine is the gift of medicine–the ability to help those who need it. My few days down here taught me many things. I have been blessed to be a part of this wonderful team, this wonderful establishment and this wonderful country. My “hope” for the people of Haiti is that we all help in some way to better their lives.

As a last “good” note, I finally saw the 5 year old girl in the body cast smile. After one week she finally smiled at us. I think it had more to do with the slim jim snack that one of our team members gave her. If I knew that is all it would take, I would’ve given every patient here some slim jims!
I’m happy to be heading home. I miss my family and my friends. So long from Haiti and good luck to the teams that follow.

Jabara