I'm involved in a Haiti humanitarian mission

[MrDuke]

To my GC family,

 

A local surgeon called me and told me she's going to Haiti for humanitarian work. She won't be doing M.A.S.H. type work but she will do secondary surgeries to avoid loss of limbs and also some general healthcare. The conditions will be poor (no anesthesia or pain meds) but she's going to do the best she can with what she's got. There are children and adults who had digits or appendages crushed during the earthquake(s) and she's going to try to save them via amputations (gangrene is setting in). She's a good soul and I can't speak highly enough about her; dropping everything here in the civilized world to go help those in need. I can't go with her ( I don't think I could) but I'm helping her as much as I can within my pharmaceutical field.

 

My job is getting the drugs as cheap as I can and providing as much as I can. This is a grass-roots, neighborly type of charity drive. No texting, no formal tax-forms and no ambiguous terms. We need money to pay for the medicine, gasoline and supplies for Dr. Njus and her nephew, Mike. Period. I first approached my family and friends first but forgot about the power of GC. I forgot what this community can do when it puts it's weight behind a cause... so I'm asking for your help.

 

You all know the conditions the Haitians are living in- poor sanitation, unreliable electricity, little food and water. Its the perfect breeding ground for disease. I'm providing antibiotics, antifungals, acetaminophen, ibuprofen...and anything else we can stuff in their bags.

 

Her trip is delayed by the bottlenecked mess in Haiti so she's flying via non-military charters through the Dominican Republic. It does work in our favor but... that means more people wait for help. We've got until February 6th to get this done.

 

Last week my biggest issue was feeling guilty about not getting back to a friend in a timely manner... all while another person in Haiti is struggling to survive and find loved ones. Yeah, the guilt was heavy. So when I answered this phone call I knew it was a simple but powerful way to help. This is an opportunity to do something charitable, something right and KNOW where the money is going.

 

From time to time we ask you to support various charities and this place rallies up and represents every time. I'm asking all GC'ers to REPRESENT one more time. Reaffirm what I already know.

 

Here's a link to the paypal page. If you want to donate, send it as a gift to kbderyck@sssnet.com. If you have an idea that you feel might help the cause, shoot me a PM. I'm all ears.

 

Brian (MrDuke)

 

 

 

Edited January 22, 2010 by MrDuke

[Fatty]

I will be donating something here, and I'll also be sending out an email that draws more attention to this. Let's see if we can't send a few hundred dollars to this doctor, maybe $10 at a time??

 

I haven't worked the community over for RFKC funds for a year or two...and we would hit $1,000 easy with your hearts...so let's gather a few hundred bucks here...

 

I'll pledge $25 of my own personal money. Who's next?

[Clueless]

I'll go $50 for sure....i'm really down with this, I can't even fathom the guts it would take to just drop everything and selflessly go there to do what she's doing....I couldn't do it. Might go more...gotta check the bank later.

 

Nice job Duke.

[MrDuke]

I will be donating something here, and I'll also be sending out an email that draws more attention to this. Let's see if we can't send a few hundred dollars to this doctor, maybe $10 at a time??

 

I haven't worked the community over for RFKC funds for a year or two...and we would hit $1,000 easy with your hearts...so let's gather a few hundred bucks here...

 

I'll pledge $25 of my own personal money. Who's next?

 

 

 

Awesome!!

 

Fatty and Clueless- thank you!

 

Give up one pack of smokes, pack a lunch instead of buying, give up one night at Outback. Whatever you can do. Its worth it!!

[Clueless]

Sented

[Clueless]

I will be donating something here, and I'll also be sending out an email that draws more attention to this. Let's see if we can't send a few hundred dollars to this doctor, maybe $10 at a time??

 

I haven't worked the community over for RFKC funds for a year or two...and we would hit $1,000 easy with your hearts...so let's gather a few hundred bucks here...

 

I'll pledge $25 of my own personal money. Who's next?

Where we at with this? If there was an email sent, I never received one, I know we were having issues with the email before, so I figured i'd post up.

[Flitterkill]

No email has been sent (from the board) that I'm aware of. Facebook has been updated however.

 

-Fk

[Clueless]

No email has been sent (from the board) that I'm aware of. Facebook has been updated however.

 

-Fk

Nice, I hadn't even considered the Facebook page as another avenue...good thinkin.

[EbilDustBunny]

Donated! thanks duke!

[MrDuke]

Ebil,

 

Thanks for the donation!!

 

We've collected almost $400 which covers most but not all of the medicine we want to send.

 

I'm going to keep pushing. I know we can raise more!!

 

 

[dragonfly]

Scented (candles).

[Fatty]

An email to the 1k that is GC forum members is warranted to obtain the final $100...or just ask yermother to fork it up...he would.

[dragonfly]

Hold on... we were at $400ish, then I sent some (it wasn't $500), and now we have $100 left to go to get to the $1000?

 

What's the goal and where are we?

[MrDuke]

Sorry, I haven't updated. Work is nuts and we are pushing our colleagues just as hard as I'm pushing you!! We're working the phones, working the drug reps, wholesalers, customers...you name it. I'm tired, but not stopping.

She has rounded up almost 10 people to take with her and, get this, has committed herself to staying until the end. Hell, Katrina still isn't cleaned up so imagine how long it will take to clean Haiti up. What a woman and what a group of people, wow.

Now, I don't see this as 11 mouths to feed or take care of. I see it as 11 backs that can carry up to 75 pounds of supplies directly into Haiti. Therefore, I'm expanding my vision and I'm trying to get additional medications in there, specifically- topical anesthetics. My heart breaks at the thought of telling a 5 year old that we need to amputate some fingers, a hand, a foot, a leg and, oh by the way, you'll be conscious the whole time. Sound too dramatic? Sorry, its not and it is happening.

SOOO, let's not limit ourselves to $1000. I've changed gears and I keep asking the doc, "how much more room do we have?".

My focus isn't money, it's supplies.

 

Through family and friends we are at ...(tapping calculator) $1087.

Summarizing all the donations so far:

 

Josh...you're an animal. Thank you for the $100

Ivan, you too. He pwnied up $100 as well.

Clueless (always the sucker for charities) sent $100.

Margo Z. $100. With twin toddlers, even. They probably hid the checkbook, how'd you find it?? Thank you!!

My employer. $100. Thank you! Though that means there should be a slush fund somewhere for the, "Brian needs a raise" foundation. We'll talk. (Kidding).

Fatty- always charitable. Thank you!

Mandy N. kicked in a donation, thank you!!

Chris L. donated (with a newborn, even). Must have switched to cloth diapers. Thanks!!

Kristin B. donated. Thank you, Kristin!

Scott D. My cousin. Famous for 1 word answers. After I sent this out his replies were, and I quote, " Address?". And later, "Done". Classic... Thanks, Scott!

Colleen T. Donates already and even volunteers at the Ronald McDonald House... and still donated. Thank you, Colleen!!

Georgine donated. Thank you, George!

There are many other people I don't know who donated to the cause. I established a donation center at a store I work at (closest to Dr. Njus) where employees and customers donated their money. I don't have their names but I'll figure out a way to give them recognition for their donations.

If I missed your name, tell me and I'll add it to the list (it's 4 a.m., gimmah a break).

Now, what do we have?

 

Cephalexin- antibiotic

Amoxicillin- antibiotic

Bactrim DS- antibiotic

diflucan- antifungal

ciprofloxacin- antibiotic

bacitracin ointment- topical antibiotic

clotrimazole cream- topical antifungal

acetaminophen- mild pain reliever

ibuprofen- antiinflamatory, pain reliever

Then we realized small children and infants can't take pills (even crushed). Would your child swallow bitter stuff, not knowing what it is or what its for? Liquids are bulky...not good. I'm trying to work with manufacturers to make me a concentrate. Time isn't on my side.

liquid acetaminophen

liquid ibuprofen.

 

We still have about $370 in funds to come up with a way to cover anesthesia or other humanitarian needs. I was thinking about guaranteeing water supplies by using products from HTIwater.com (too tired to make a link). Not sure if we couldn't maximize our funds in a better way though. Thoughts?

 

Additionally, our timeline shortened. I have until Monday afternoon to get all funds to Dr. Njus. I forgot she has to pack all this stuff and do it in an efficient manner.

 

So... pwny up (sorry, love to use that FragFest term). Watch the news, see the devastation and get involved. If you are already involved, great. If you are aren't--get off yer arse and get creative (sell some plasma). If you are unable, I'm sorry and I understand. I've been there.

 

I'm still shocked she rounded up 9 more people that are willing to drop everything and travel to a horrible place and work hours on end without knowing what they will eat or drink. They are putting their faith in others to provide. That's us, friends. Let's do it.

 

Love you guys and gals. Its an honor to be involved in such a community.

 

Brian

 

 

 

Got an idea? Throw it out there. I'm all ears.

Edited January 29, 2010 by MrDuke

[Clueless]

I'm sure she thought of this...but hopefully, in all the hustle and bustle, they don't forget to get their own shots before they go. I would imagine that immunization is very important thing to get done before going over there.

 

Great work you're doing Duke....give them all our best wishes!

[TheFirstMonk]

Bump because this is a time sensitive thread. (Is that okay to do?)

 

What are you at now, MrDuke? Is the gap still $370?

[MrDuke]

Sorry for the confusion on that.

 

After buying all the antibiotics and stuff from her initial request, we have $370 to buy more stuff.

From talking to her, it sounds like she either wants more antibiotics or a compact method to anesthetize patients. I told her she could do whatever she wants with whatever we collect.

[Clueless]

What was the final word Duker? Everything go well?

[MrDuke]

Had the last face to face with Dr. Njus last night (I only see her once a week).

 

Between friends, family, my customers and complete strangers, we raised $1,412!! We did that in two weeks, friends. What an effort by everyone, thank you! Dr. Njus was ecstatic about what we were able to donate and was smiling from ear to ear when I gave her the envelope with the last of the donations.

 

I'm compiling the list of donators and I will post shortly.

 

She was able to get her hands on some sterile medical equipment, including a cauterizer. They are going down with enough supplies and equipment to really make a difference. They will definitely save some lives.

Dr. N. told me two stories about the conditions in Haiti.

1. If (big if) they can get MedWish to ship the anesthesia equipment they found in the USA, that would bring the number of clinics with anesthesia up to two. There may be more scattered around the country, but the official tally of anesthesia units is one right now. That's creepy.

2. Many of the P.A.P citizens fled North-ish to another city of about 100,000. That city had (keyword: had) 1 ambulance to it's name. It was taken for relief efforts. It's population has tripled and it has no ambulance.

 

Before my involvement, I thought countries such as Haiti weren't bad, they were just a little more primitive than the U.S. Third world-ish to be stereotypical. Since I started working on this I've changed my mind. The fact is, they aren't primitive. We are just extremely blessed to live in such a wonderful place.

 

Be thankful for what you have access to. McDonalds, Stat-care's, Band-Aids, electricity, heat/AC, gasoline... the list is endless.

 

 

Thank you all! I love it when this place rallies behind a cause!!

 

Brian & Keli

Edited February 4, 2010 by MrDuke