Saturday, February 27, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Delayed Update of Ukraine Trip January/February 2010
This is Brian. Last night in Ukraine and only now finally able to get some time on the Internet. Busy and blessed. I'll chronicle the trip now, with photos to follow.....
Arrival, Monday and Tuesday, January 25th and 26th
Mark arrived on the 25th as scheduled. I was delayed a day because of the flight to Atlanta on the 24th from Nashville left 8 hours late...I rescheduled for a day later. That went well, and I finally linked up with Mark and Dr. Sergei and translator/friend/Foster Home parent Ruslan Tkachuk on the 26th. We got together on the 26th and planned the day of the 27th for here in Kyiv.
This evening we attended the Ukraine National Pholharmonic Orchestra which had a guest conductor and they performed Beethoven's 7th Symphony beautifully.
January 27th, Wednesday
We made a presentation in Kyiv at the Hospital for Police and Militia, where Dr. Gennadii Kirzhner is now a Cardiologist and ICU doctor. I had met Gennadii in 2008 when he was still with Kyiv EMS. Doctors here are on the ambulances, in the European model.
The presentation Mark and I did was on sepsis and on Emergency Airway Man
agement. Thanks to Clarus Medical in Minneapolis, we had demo and leave behind intubating Levitan stylets....which they were thrilled to receive along with bougies, LMA's and laryngoscope sets (the last of which we received from Project CURE in Nashville).We also rode on the ambulances in Kyiv....Mark's first time to do so...it was very instructive all around.
We now have a new English speaking contact here with Kyiv EMS....Dr. Dmitry Serbin. Great guy who is an athlete himself and plays on an American version of football team in Kyiv. His 12 year old son is a promising hockey player....and we hit it off on multiple fronts. By the end of this trip, we now have good English speaking contacts in Kyiv, Vinnitsa and newly in Kharkov.
Mark has not only had a good time, but he has been such a blessing to me....sees things creatively and in new ways....and he is gifted in establishing new relationships. He has a heart to serve here and has bonded well with Dr. Sergei and with Ruslan and Archana Tkachuk and their Foster Home ministry here.
January 28th, Thursday
Mark and I made two presentations in Vinnitsa.....at the Trauma Hospital where Dr. Sergei has his full-time humantarian surgical program....and at Vinnitsa EMS, directed by my long-time friend Dr. Valentin Fischuk. We were able to teach Emergency Airway Techniques and leave behind valuable supplies and equipment thanks to Clarus Medical and Project CURE.
Supper for Mark and me was at the home of Slavik and Lyena Panchuk and their family....including especially Sveta Panchuk....who was in 10th grade at Centennial HS in Franklin, TN and with whom my daughter Carolyn has a friendship. She is now a pediatrician here in Vinnitsa. They are a great family with a strong faith. Last year this family faced the tragic loss of son Sasha who was ravaged with severe alcohol dependence. It was my first time seeing them since this loss, and it was a poignant time.
January 29th, Friday
Mark joined me in holding a consultative clinic at Vinnitsa Hospital number 1....it went very well, and we will be sponsoring financially life-saving heart surgery for one of several needy patients. Difficult to do....but we have to decide who is the most urgent and work from there. Mitral valve replacement can now be done well in Kyiv for about 3000 dollars....tiny fraction of the cost in the USA, which would be more than 20 times that much.
Mark then went with Ruslan mid-day to Nemiya, Ukraine...on the Moldovan border, to stay overnight with Archana and Ruslan Tkachuk at their Foster home. If you Google "Heart to Hand Ministry", you can look at their friend Woody's web site and link up to their Foster Home....to understand what they do, and how to support their ministry if you wish. They are a precious couple with a devoted ministry. Mark will be posting more about them and his vision to support them and bring teams here to help them.
Saturday, January 30th
Mark was in Nemiya with the Tkachuk's....and came back to Vinnitsa, as the Tkachuk family were working with a "puppet team" to share their faith with others.
I was with Vinnitsa Nazarene Church member Sasha Lubchak and translator Vitaliy Nagorny to visit the Prison in Lityen. This was a special honor, as seldom are foreigners allowed in theor prisons, but Sasha has worked hard to allow me to visit there with him....this the second time. I met with the Prison doctor....Sergei Krivischenko....and we then had a time of sharing with about 30 men. It went well. I was blessed to share my spiritual journey with them and to discuss some important aspects of healing....the real kind....that can happen in surrendering a life to God. Sasha was a prisoner for 8 years at this prison himself, so the ministry is very real. He also works with 4 other prisons, and I hope to join him at other sites in the future.
Sergei and I then went to the home in Lityen of Olga Matichuk. She is the widow of Grigoriy Matichuk, who was my patient there, who we were blessed to help. It was through meeting and treating Grigoiy in 1998 that I learned that the doctors here were not utilizing ACE inhibitors in systolic heart failure. Not only were we able to see Grigoriy spring back from being in near cardiogenic shock to running his farm for 8 more years....but we were able to set up a management of CHF protocol and algorithm now in widespread use. Nothing phenomenal in terms of medical sophistication....but the impact here has been amazing for many patients here.
The evening was a great meal out with many guests, including Dr. Sergei's physician daughter Lyena and her daughter Kristina....but also with Lyudmila Sinyavskaya, who had her mitral valve replaced in 1997 at Centennial Hospital in Nashville...and with Galya Schpok and her daughter Oksenna, who I am blessed to support here.
Sunday, January 31st
This day was spent at the Nazarene Church in Vinnitsa. Of course, this was the first time for Mark. He met many church leaders and especially Pastor Roman and his wife Oksena and their kids....including their new baby son who reminded him of how much Mark has been missing wife Carrie and their 4 kids back in Franklin, TN.
After Church service, it was on to a great meal at Dr. Sergei's home, where his wife Olga had been working for days on an extraordinary meal.
Then on to visit the men's and women's drug and alcohol Rehab homes in Selishe. Amazing work by amazing people and with rare failures, in sharp contrast to the Government run programs.
Monday, February 1st
This day in Vinnitsa was spent wrapping up various things for me and for Mark to tour around Vinnitsa. I was able to meet with Galya Schpok and to see her son Pasha, who has CP. He is needing further rehab efforts to bolster his walking and talking. Galya's daughter Oksena wants to become a nurse. I hope to help them.
In the afternoon, we drove to Kyiv.....more accurately, Ruslan drove the van and we arrived in the evening to Kyiv at the train station and caught (barely as there was confusion as to departure time) the overnight train to Kharkov. It is in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border.
Tuesday, February 2nd
We were greeted at the train station in Kharkov by Dr. Gennadii Kirzhner's friend, Dr. Alexander Lysko and then taken to a flat to clean up and get our presentation ready.
Mark and I then met the modern day "father" of Ukraine Emergency Medicine....Professor Vadim Nikonov. He heads up the 1000 bed Hospital there for Emergency Care. It is analagous to Vanderbilt or other Level One trauma centers in the US. He is the founder and editor of Ukraine's Emergency Medicine Journal. We were able to give him many items, such as the latest texts like Rosen's Emergency Medicine, Robert's Procedures in Emergency Medicine, 5 Minute Consult in Emergency Medicine, Larry Stack's Atlas of Emergency Medicine, ACLS....and several others. We also left behind Airway Emergency supplies and equipment such as the Clarus intubating Levitan stylet and an intubating mannequin donated to me by the Vanderbilt Resuscitation Program.
It is clear that this first step in collaboration and relationship could lead to Vanderbilt and University of Mississippi and other colleagues of Mark's and mine going over to further this ACEP Ambassador relationship. They thirst to know our methods, and we learn from their methods and approaches as well. They are excited that Ukraine will host the World Cup in 2012 and want to make all progress possible in advancing Emergency Medicine.
After a busy day and brief tour of Kharkov and after riding ambulances with new friends at Kharkov EMS dispatch, we headed back to Kyiv on the overnight train.
Wednesday, February 3rd
Now back in Kyiv and the day devoted to showing Mark around Kyiv and getting gifts for our families. Then for me, supper with friends who visited Nashville in 2005...Dr. Vitaliy Maximenko of the Amosov Heart Institute and Professor of Biomedical Engineering in Kyiv and Dr. Vitaliy Demyanchuk....heart surgeon here at the new Kyiv Heart Institute. Both dear friends who I hope will again spend some future time at Vanderbilt.
These two friends are helping us arrange surgery for some very needy folks in Vinnitsa Oblast.
Who said life is all about relationships? As a friend of mine recently said.....think of your impact on the world one person at a time. Good words.
Mark and Ruslan are out exploring Kyiv historical sites as Dr. Sergei and I just had supper with Drs. Maximenko and Demyanchuk at a Georgian Restaurant nearby the Predslava Apartments here in Kyiv where we are staying.
Tomorrow Mark flies to Paris and then back to Nashville on Friday. I fly to Amsterdam and then to Memphis and home on Friday as well.
Many further thoughts and photos to follow......
Brian
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)