Updates from our team, stories about patients, experiences of missioners, and more!
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Too often, we overlook the fact that there is not only an economic barrier preventing patients from receiving care but also a time barrier. In many cases, the ability to take time off to heal is a luxury. Many patients put off life-saving surgery because they can’t afford to take time off. This is why our general surgery program has placed a strong emphasis on training local doctors and residents in laparoscopic surgery, as well as donating laparoscopic equipment and supplies.
Read MoreMore than 100 patients have undergone gallbladder or hernia surgery so far in 2024 through mobile surgery campaigns to municipal hospitals throughout Bolivia.
Read MoreOur mission team had the pleasure of visiting one of the sites of our mobile laparoscopic surgery campaigns to see the impact of our partnership in the hospital and the surrounding community.
Bolivian doctors interested in pursuing sub-specialized training such as oncological surgery have very limited training options in-country. Our mission trip offers an opportunity for these doctors to operate alongside a surgeon who has performed thousands of the most difficult pancreatic and hepatobiliary surgical procedures.
Read MoreThe women we care for are themselves caregivers—they are mothers, they are daughters, they have jobs that put food on the table. Until this trip, I never fully understood the profound difference that access to minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery can make in allowing a patient to pursue treatment.
Read MoreReturning to the Chuquisaqueño Cancer Institute this week, our goal is to leave the hospital team prepared to independently perform laparoscopic hysterectomies going forward.
Resuming our in-person partnership with the Oncological Institute of Eastern Bolivia this month, our main goal was to provide specialized training and fill essential surgical equipment and supply needs. But we also traveled to the Cancer Institute to share the burden, albeit for just one week, of the ups and downs of cancer care.
Florentino’s health was declining minute by minute. He was not expected to survive the night. Bolivian Dr. Susana Aviles and US Dr. Malcolm Bilimoria consulted and they agreed they would operate together as soon as Florentino could be prepped.
Read MoreIt’s a bright new dawn in Cochabamba today as our patient, Marian, has recovered her ability to swallow food.
Read MoreBolivian colorectal surgeon, Dr. Fernando Nogales, reflects on how he came to join our mission. His path illustrates challenges Bolivian doctors face in fulfilling their vocations, and how our programs can help overcome some barriers.
Read MoreA first of its kind diagnostic campaign screened more than 60 children for congenital heart diseases in the city of Tarija.
Read MoreOperating in this pandemic poses greater risks to patients, and to their medical teams in the operating room. And yet, care must continue. As surgeries resume in our programs, safety is our top priority.
Read MoreBolivian-led mobile surgery campaigns served more than 50 patients throughout the summer months.
Read MoreThrough both mission trips and and an on-going year round program, we have advanced training in minimally invasive general surgery in Bolivia.
Read MoreFollowing up on our General Surger Mission Trip we find that it is good to be home—for our missioners, and for our patients, some of whom had been in the hospital for weeks or even months waiting for surgery.
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