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 [...]
Tag Archives: orthopaedic surgeon grand rapid
Dr. Jabara’s reflections on Haiti
Dr. Anderson’s reflections on his time in Haiti
To all:
It is hard to believe a week has passed by so quickly. Team 3 has completed our work here this week but the work is far from done, and Team 4 will have plenty to do when we pass off to them tomorrow. Most of us feel bittersweet about leaving. The atmosphere here is [...]
Hope for Haiti
“We have no hope”. That was what one of the people told me today. I tried to get an understanding of what exactly he meant. I also tried to ask him how they deal with their pain and their losses. He had no more words. I feel for these people. Many are unemployed, little education, [...]
A busy day in Haiti
Another busy but productive day for all at the Double Harvest. We saw some staffing changes and had to say goodbye to many friends made over the past 4 days who will not be forgotten. Spending 4 days together in high intensity conditions and in close quarters has a way of forging bonds between strangers [...]
The view from Haiti
Photo of Dr. Michael Jabara in OR with Amanda Post (scrub tech), Dr. Vladimyr Roseau (haitian physician), Dr. Bret Doud (anesthesia) and another Haitian physician observing an ORIF femur
Photo of Dr. Anderson with 10 year boy with ex-fix of femur and open wound
Photo of Dr. Jabara and 5 year old girl with femoral neck [...]
Review of the day: 2/3
Update from Haiti: Patient census around 40. We have 11 surgeries planned for tomorrow (Thurs). Our colleagues from Indiana left for home today. That leaves only the Grand Rapids crew and three others from Oklahoma.
We were visited by members of the 82nd Airborne today. About 12-15 soldiers. Basically checking on our supplies, patients, any needs [...]
A recon mission in Port-au-Prince – Dr. Anderson 2/1
Today started uneventfully. We had only a few cases scheduled that were leftover from the night before. We caught up on our sleep and spent some time working out kinks. We had generator issues all day yesterday, with power drops that were short but enough to wreak havoc on our sterilizer. Because of the generator [...]
The why’s of Haiti: Dr. Jabara’s post 2/1
Awesome! Today was another good day. Up this morning at 5:30 a.m. to begin rounds before our daily 7:30 a.m. group meeting. Most post op patients doing well.
Last night was some more excitement. A 24 year old came in to clinic in labor. It was a little trickier than usual because she had a prior [...]
A quick update from OAM’s Dr. Jabara
Just got done with orif femur. It was 2 weeks out from initial injury and the patient (was brought to us by family) had no splint. The patient was so tough he sat upright for a spinal without a wince. Unbelievably tough.
We’ve also treated:
an 80 year old with a femur (ex-fix)
a 5 year old with [...]
Reflections on our first full day in Haiti: 1/30
Hi everyone.
We had a busy day today (Sunday 1/30). Most of us had very little sleep last night. Maybe it was nerves. Maybe it was sleeping outside. Mostly it was the wild dogs barking all night and some tribal chanting which was coming from across the ranch.
Only 24 hours have gone by, but we have [...]


