La Paz Spring Clinic
Hola Nomads,
We finished our 2 week long Spring Clinic hosted by the La Balandra Rotary Club of La Paz on Saturday, March 15. This ended our 10th year of having 2
week long clinics in the spring and fall each year. We fabricated a total of 22 prostheses - all of them lower limb, both below and above the knee
types as well as 2 hip disarticulation prostheses. A total of 15 custom braces were also made, ranging from hand splints, full leg braces (KAFO's -
for polio patients), below the knee braces (AFO's), and a full body jacket (TLSO) for a young boy with scoliosis. A total of 98 patient visits were
logged - although some patients needed to be seen for more than one appointment. We truly had an international effort for this clinic - having
volunteers from the USA (CA, OR, WA), Montreal, Canada, Czechoslovakia, and, of course, Mexico. A list of volunteers follows: Dr. Robert Haining
(CA), Brad and Louise Farrow (CA), Mike Jeffries (CA), Jim Thompson and friend John (no last name) (WA), Garth Knapp (WA), Kirk Douglass (WA), Gayle
Edwards of Mobilize Mankind (OR), Anthony Bossy (Montreal CA), Honza Posto (Czechoslovakia), Victor Jiminez (La Paz, BCS), Glen Davila (a student
interested in becoming a prosthetist/orthotist also from La Paz), Beatriz Alverde (who served as a translator - also from La Paz), Dr. Alejandro
Aguirre (La Paz), Oscar and Imelda Hernandez (from the Dept. of Special Ed. in BCS), and various other Rotarian husband and wives who would provide us
with wonderful lunches every day. Jim and John would ride in their motorcycles to the clinic each morning and bring along a huge bundle of wonderful
breakfast burritos that Imelda would make for us all to enjoy.
My trip began on Monday, March 3, the same day the clinic started in La Paz. Due to a mix up, a supplier did not ship needed parts and supplies to
Brad and Louise, so she called me the week before and asked me to pick up the stuff at a trucking company in San Diego where I was going to drop off 7
large boxes of components that we would need at future clinics. I left Santa Margarita early Monday morning and proceeded to San Diego, where I
dropped off the 7 boxes and pick up a couple of boxes of pylon tubes, carbon graphite material, endo skeletal titanium components, etc. I stuffed all
of the parts deep in my suitcase and camper, crossed at San Ysidro, went into secondary for inspection, got my FMM, and was off. By the time I hit
Ensenada it was rush hour traffic, and in addition Mex. 1 was closed down to 1 lane southbound due to a traffic accident. So it was dark by the time
I stopped at Corona Beach for my first night. Next morning I left early and drove to Ojo de Liebre and spent the night camping with Shari Bondy, her
daughter Sirena and grandson Izaak. They provide whale watching tours (Google "Whale Magic Tours" or visit her web site at: http://www.whalemagictours.com/ or http://www.bahiaasuncion.com/php/ or you can email her at: sharibondy@gmail.com . The next morning the wind was howling so I decided to forego
whale watching and head to La Paz so I could get there with the needed parts by nightfall. I got into the clinic before dark, but everybody had
already left so I met up with most of them at the Villa Marina Hotel. The Rotarians provide several of the volunteers with rooms there during our
clinics. The next morning we all went and met up with others at the clinic, I off loaded all of the components and supplies, and it was game on for
the next 10 days. They already had several molds that were ready to be laminated - they just needed the parts. So we spent the next week and a half
measuring, molding (casting), filling and modifying molds, laminating sockets and assembling prostheses, fabrication orthoses (orthopedic braces), and
fitting and delivering various appliances. We saw our last patients on Friday, March 14, and spent Saturday the 15th cleaning up and finishing a
couple of legs and braces I had to drop off at the Los Pinos Ranch near San Quintin for our Flying Samaritan's clinic there. (We don't have the
facility capable of fabricating prostheses or orthoses there so we make them at our big lab in La Paz.
I left Saturday around noon with Mike Jeffries who was supposed to drive back with me, fish a couple of days in Bahia Asuncion, go whale watching with
Shari at Ojo de Liebre, and return to the USA with me. But by the time we reached CC his wife had called him to summon him back ASAP as his daughter
had just given birth. We tried the airport in Loreto, but he couldn't get a flight out until Tuesday, so we stopped at the bus station to get their
schedule. We drove on to Mulege and stayed at the Cuesta Real Hotel, got up real early the next morning to get to Vizcaino before the bus arrived at
9:30 that morning. I dropped off Mike at the station, made sure he got his ticket, and left him and went out to our place in BA. Spent the next 12
days there working on a boat trailer, cleaning up the property, etc. Headed back home on Thursday of the following week and spent Friday night at my
daughter's house in Poway. I had spent Thursday night at El Pabellon with Fidel and a couple of gents with quads who took me on an adventure riding up
the beach to some sand dunes where I played for my first time on a quad. Man, I need to get one of those toys, they're fun! I made it back home to
Santa Margarita (near San Luis Obispo) on Sunday.
The road both going and coming is in pretty good shape over all, with several areas under construction to widen/improve and re pave Mex. 1, although
there a still some stretches (both north and south of Catavina mostly) that are potholed. The only other thing I'll mention was the sandstorm that
Mike and I hit between San Ignacio and Vizcaino early Sunday morning. Visibility was so bad I had to put on my fog lights and emergency flashers in
addition to my regular headlights and slow down to between 5 and 10 miles and hour several times because the sand was so thick I had to look out my
drivers side window so I could see the yellow line and Mike had to look out his side to see the white line at the shoulder. We were afraid to stop
because we might get rear ended. The road out of Vizcaino towards Bahia Asuncion cleared up of the blowing sand just a few miles out of town, I think
because the sand in that area is all salt flats and is damp from the tidal action for Ojo de Liebre.
OK, that's about it for the report but I should mention if anyone would care to donate for our clinic they can contact:
Limb Restoration Fund
San Ramon United Methodist Church
902 Danville Blvd, Alamo, CA. 94583
100% of all donations go directly to clinic costs, a tax receipt will be provided by the Church. Thank you for your consideration. And a special
thank you to Gloria, Fred, Amy, and Maria at the Vagabundos del Mar for helping us with the preparation and execution of our clinics. Paul Boe
Two dirt roads diverged in Baja and I, I took the one less graveled by......
Soy ignorante, apático y ambivalente. No lo sé y no me importa, ni modo.
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