At 53, Margarita is a woman who has faced more challenges than most people do in a lifetime. When I first met her, she was overwhelmed by debilitating headaches and near blindness. About 18 months earlier, her symptoms had started with headaches and subtle vision problems. But at the time, she and her family thought it was all tied to the devastating loss of her husband of more than 30 years. The grief of losing him had consumed her, and no one could have imagined that something else might be wrong.
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It was a tremendous honor for Solidarity Bridge’s Neurosurgery & Neurology Institute (NNI) to be invited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Bolivian Society of Neurosurgery (BSN) and participate in its XXII Congress, in La Paz, Bolivia during their visit at the end of August.
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Our 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.
A Bolivian nursing student needed highly-specialized brain surgery unavailable in the public healthcare system in his country. Read about his international journey to care and healing.
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“Successful surgical training is not dependent on the equipment, the finances, or even the planning as much as on the dedication of the people and their motivations for being here.”
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For 25 years, Solidarity Bridge has provided a way for individuals and entities of the Archdiocese of Chicago and beyond to live out their call to global mission. Our shared commitment—to respond to the gospel call to heal the sick in a spirit of solidarity—remains steadfast.
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Dr. Via-Reque’s wholehearted involvement and expertise helped make it possible for Solidarity Bridge to steadily expand its outreach.
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Fr. Bob Oldershaw’s generosity of spirit, time, talent, and treasure, along with his inspiring life-long example of living out the virtue of solidarity, make him a consummate honoree for our lifetime achievement award!
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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.
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From virtual lectures to hands-on practice, our two day Spinal Surgery Workshop gave more than 25 neurosurgical residents from Bolivia and Paraguay an opportunity to advance their skills.
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Daniela has two beautiful children, both born with congenital heart defects. Their symptoms are treatable through surgery, but for her family living on a modest income, the care they needed was beyond their means.
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Solidarity Bridge partner Dr. Bianca Becerra, a Bolivian neuro-anesthesiologist committed to improving access to trauma care, named Global Health Fellow at the annual conference of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA).
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José was the first of six patients with complex neurosurgical conditions operated this week at the Santa Bárbara Hospital in Sucre, Bolivia. These surgeries are part of a long-term effort drawing on the contributions of local and U.S. neurosurgeons, neuro-anesthesiologists, neuro-intensivists, and neuro-rehabilitation specialists toward a vision of establishing the Santa Bárbara Hospital as a premier neurotrauma center.
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The 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.
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Solidarity Bridge and Puente de Solidaridad are two sides of the same coin, both promoting solidarity as central to who we are and why we do what we do.
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