critical surgeries completed
days in-coutnry
children waiting to receive urology surgery
Honduras 2019
Honduras Pediatric Urology Mission
Ohana One’s inaugural pediatric urology mission to San Pedro Sula, Honduras was a resounding success. Our team included Dr. Andrew Freedman, Dr. Steve Lerman, Dr. Darren Filsinger, Dr. Adam Milam, nurse Sandra Rodriguez, and volunteer Juan Garcia.
Patient Spotlight
Meet Johny
Johny is a 7-year-old from El Progreso, Honduras who was born with Prune Belly Syndrome (PBS), a rare condition characterized by a lack of abdominal muscles, failure of the testes to descend into the scrotum, and/or urinary tract malformation. In addition to physical defects, children with PBS can have serious urinary and reproductive problems.
His mom, a single mother of two, traveled many hours by bus to reach San Pedro Sula in hopes of getting help for her son. Working with Dr. Gomez, our team was able to perform abdominal wall plasty for Johny. He made a quick recovery and returned home with greater self-confidence.
Our Work
In 5 short days, the team was able to perform 29 surgeries! Types of surgery performed include: abdominal wall plasty, hypospadias, hydrocelectomy, pyeloplasty, ureteral reimplantation, diverticulum clearance, diverticulum resection, vaginoscopy, genitoplasty, and fistulotomies.
Ohana One piloted the use of smart glasses in Honduras in order to create a mechanism to screen, assist in surgery, and provide follow-up care.
We’re especially proud to work with Dr. Alex Gomez, Dr. Alejandra Hause, and Dr. Giovani Marie – the few pediatric surgeons in Honduras who perform pediatric urology surgery. There is a backlog of over 400 children waiting to receive urology surgery. We hope to continue working with Dr. Gomez and his team to cut that list by half in the next two years.
Partners
We are greatful to establish a partnership with our host NGO the Ruth Paz Foundation, and collaborate with in-country surgeons including Dr. Alex Gomez, Dr. Alejandra Hause, and Dr. Giovani Marie, the few pediatric surgeons in Honduras who perform pediatric urology surgery.
Continued Support
Dr. Alex Gomez is training with Dr. Andrew Freedman using smart glass technology to augment their mission trips. Given the significant case backlog, the additional training will accelerate his medical knowledge and skills acquisition, allowing him to take on more cases.
We have proven that this tool has many benefits. One, we can help screen patients before even setting foot in the country. This helps us anticipate the tools we will need to bring for the mission. Second, after our mission team leaves a country, we can use smart glasses to provide follow-up care. And lastly, by equipping local surgeons with smart glasses, our surgeons can provide guidance and virtually “scrub into” procedures with them year-round.
I have been on many pediatric urologic missions to Central America in the past two decades but never have I felt that we were able to achieve all of our objectives as well as we had with this trip with Ohana One. I am very excited to participate in Ohana One’s mentoring program with Honduran mentee and look forward to many more productive missions in the future.
Andrew L. Freedman, M.D. FAAP
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Stories from our mission trips.
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