| Peru Penchant |
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Answering a nudge from my fellow perfusionist, Scott Snider, in 2008 my wife Susan and I had such a heart and spirit moving experience in Arequipa, Peru we decided to return for our second heart surgery mission. Under the tutelage of Dr. Aubyn Marath and his amazing volunteer physicians and support staff, surgery was performed on 18 patients with premium outcomes. The excitement of the trip was palpable from the time we saw the Andes mountains from the air to the time we took off heading home. When we returned to the Posada de Ugarte Hostel we felt like we were “home” again. The formation of the team was nothing shy of a miracle. Thirty-five volunteer physicians, physician assistants, nurses, perfusionists, scrub technicians, a bio-medical engineer, interpreters and database collators from North America to England concurrently coalesced on this spec of land on this giant marble to carry out this mission. Half of these volunteers have never met before, yet at the introduction meeting we were family. This being our fifth over-all mission trip, my wife and I marvel at the beauty and spirit of the people in third world environments. Foreign to all of us, they have nothing yet want nothing. The mere fact we were there trying to serve them was more than they ever prayed or asked for. After all these people are considered the least of or the poorest of the area and without groups like CardioStart, they would never get the opportunity to have such an expensive operation. The lessons learned from such an experience are boundless, from the logistical nightmares of personnel and the supply chain to the hopes of having an uninterrupted electrical supply during the heart-lung run. These times of vulnerability is where I grow most and look forward to more of these moments. I always encourage my peers to try a mission trip as it teaches us to be more understanding, more patient, more aware of just how blessed we are here in first world countries. It also continues to teach me that we have a calling to answer…. to give back to a life and a profession that has been good to us…and to share our blessings with those less fortunate. The squeeze is definitely worth the juice. Lastly, I am in awe of the people. As time goes by and my spiritual walk matures, my thoughts have morphed….. Who is serving who here? We get so much more out of missions than we put into it. Victor Carcioppolo CCP, PBMT |