Month: April 2020

I know that I don’t visit my site often, but today I like to write something about an amazing human being who was my boss for 11 years, the Reverend Monsignor Thomas P. McGettrick who recently went home to be with the Lord.

I worked for the Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi in the department that oversaw everything to do with clergy, that is: priests and deacons (Transitional and Permanent– Transitional are deacons who will be ordained priests and Permanent are men who will only be deacons for life and could be married at the time they become deacons but can’t get married after they are ordained as Permanent Deacons). The title of my boss was Vicar for Clergy. My boss was a monsignor who also happened to be a captain in the Air Force reserve. My first day in the office my boss happened to have been serving his required two weeks in the reserves and when I got to my office, there was no one to tell me what my duties were. Sometime at mid morning, a beautiful floral arrangement was delivered to my desk, it was a “welcome” bouquet from my new boss. I thought to myself: what a nice, thoughtful and kind gesture. All the other ladies working on the 4th floor of the Chancery kept coming by to see and smell my bouquet, needless to say: I felt special! Among my duties I had to deal with everything to do with priests and deacons; however, a couple years later, the title of the Vicar for Clergy was changed to Vicar for Priests only. A deacon was named to oversee everything to do with deacons. Then one fine morning my boss shared with me the news that he was being sent to another location of the diocese to serve as the Vicar of the newly created Vicariate of Laredo, which I didn’t know at the time, was going to become a brand new Diocese. I felt very sad at the prospect of losing such a great boss and having another new boss in such a short period of time.

The day arrived when my new boss came to the office to start his duties as the new Vicar for Priests; he turned out to be the most kind, generous, always smiling and gentle soul, his name: Father Thomas P. McGettrick who after being in the diocese since the late 50s, when he spoke one immediately knew that he was Irish. I loved working for and with Father Tom, as he liked to be called. We had such an excellent working relationship. As a lay person working with clergy, I felt very comfortable sharing my dilemmas with Father Tom who always gave me good advice and helped me through some very difficult moments in my life. Father Tom had been holding the office of Vicar for about two years (I’m estimating) when he was notified that he was being elevated to become the Reverend Monsignor Thomas P. McGettrick. There was a beautiful Mass and Fr. Tom became Monsignor McGettrick. The next time Msgr. McGettrick came into the office, I greeted him on the usual way but only this time instead of Father Tom I say: Good morning Monsignor; he stopped in front of my desk and told me: “Alba, I’m not old and pouchy to be called Monsignor, call me Fr. Tom”. Fr. Tom was a most caring, thoughtful and humble priest; not many like him.

As the years passed, I got to meet and know some of Fr. Tom’s family, he really looked forward to spending time with them, especially his two nieces whom he truely loved and enjoyed the time he spent with them, taking them to the mall on his day off or weekends, or doing anything the girls wanted to do. Fr. Tom will come to the office and would relate to me some funny anecdotes about the time he spent with the girls; he treasured the moments he spent with his family, so many times he related to me of his growing up in Ireland playing with his siblings, at times he would say that he and his siblings could field the side for a soccer game!!

I could share so much more about Fr. Tom, but I will keep most of it close to my heart for he was the epitome of what a priest should be: kind, considerate, faithful to his faith, a loving brother, uncle, friend but above all, a true priest.

Father Tom went home to heaven and I know the angels rejoiced when he passed through the heavenly gates. Rest in peace Father Tom and may eternal light shine upon you!!

Continuing Sara’s Vision!
By Alba Taft

A Story of a Surgical/Dental Mission to Patzun, Chimaltenango, Guatemala

It is 6:30 in the morning and I’m on my way to Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston to meet with the volunteers who are members of Wings of Recovery. As a team, we are heading to Patzun, Chimaltenango in the Highlands of Guatemala for a mission at Sanatorio Corpus Christi, formerly known as Clinica Corpus Christi. A Franciscan nun, Sister Esmeralda Vasquez Navidad, currently serves as the Sanatorio’s director.
Gazing outside my window on my way to the airport, I find myself reminiscing about how this all started. In the early 1980s, the late Sara Merdes Judd, a Corpus Christi resident, together with Father Aldo Justiniano Babuin, a Franciscan priest, took on a dream to provide medical care in the then guerrilla-warfare-infested area of Patzun, a poor village in the central Highlands of Guatemala. Sara and Father Aldo were the propelling force behind the building of a small clinic. Today, it is fair to say that neither Sara nor Father Aldo would recognize this beautiful, well-equipped hospital that serves not only the children of St. Francis of Assissi orphanage and the citizens of Patzun, but also Guatemalan citizens from far beyond. Sara and Father Aldo’s vision continues to live through the non profit group, Wings of Recovery, an ever evolving team of medical and support personnel that has continued to carry on their dream and labor of love.
By way of history, when Sara stopped traveling to Patzun and later on when she dissolved the non-profit organization known as Clinica Corpus Christi, several of the remaining members of the medical team continued missions to Patzun under the name of South Texas Surgical Team.
Soon thereafter in 1999, Teresa Lara Moreno, RN, BSN, CNOR, a dedicated nurse who has worked at Christus Spohn Hospital Shoreline for over 30 years, took the lead in organizing teams and procuring the hundreds of necessary items for our missions. Teresa’s first visit to Patzun was in 1996 with a Clinica Corpus Christi mission. All of the equipment, materials, medicines and other supplies for these missions are acquired through Teresa Moreno’s efforts as she requests and applies for them; she puts the teams together by searching for well established surgeons, anesthesiologists and support personnel. Teresa also stores the supplies; packs boxes and takes them to Houston for shipping, more often than not, on her own but sometimes with the help of Corina Flores. In early 2017, with the help of Jo Emma Arechiga, an RN and attorney, Teresa applied for and obtained non profit status which was granted on March 15, 2017 and the group was renamed: Wings of Recovery. Today, just as when the missions began three decades ago, each and every person who volunteers to serve on a mission trip pays their own way: airfare, lodging, transfer fees and meals.
I am constantly amazed at how many medical professionals are willing to share of their talents to help alleviate the suffering of those people who otherwise would not have access to the much needed surgeries. This year comprised the largest group that we have ever taken on one of our missions; 27 selfless individuals made the trip: they hail from Corpus Christi, Boerne, Gregory, Victoria, Houston, Spring, Galveston and Dallas, Texas. There were also one individual from Oklahoma, two from Florida and even one from as far North as New York State. Nurse Kim Babb Elmson, who has been a part of this mission for years, traveled from Oklahoma. The team members traveling from Florida were Doctor Craig Davis and his wife Hilary Rojas Davis, RN; while Jorge Madden traveled from New York; he doesn’t have a medical background; however, as he speaks fluent Spanish he was in charge of visiting with the family of the patients to inform them that the surgery had gone well and their loved one was recuperating. Jeremy Moore (Houston) and Jake Lindsey (Dallas) who work for Belimed Company, joined the mission this year and used their physical strength aiding in lifting and transporting patients to the recovery rooms after their surgeries.
Emmett Rhoden, who is from Victoria and is a long time friend of Dr. Garret who is a volunteer anesthesiologist, also joined our team for the first time this year. Emmett who resides in Victoria, worked steadily carrying out whatever roles needed filling, Emmet helped to unpack and put up supplies, hunted down inventory, and he helped with the lifting and transporting of patients.
While the majority of the team traveled together to Guatemala City arriving at mid-day; for various reasons three (3) members had to take a later flight arriving in Guatemala City somewhere near midnight. They were Corina Flores, who is a fantastic Surgical Tech and who for years has served as a lead surgical tech at Christus Spohn Hospital Shoreline, Jo Emma Arechiga, RN and Kim Babb Elmson, RN. The following day, Corina, Jo Emma and Kim found transport to take them to Patzun to join the group.
The Wings of Recovery mission this year would not have been successful without the help of all of those volunteers such as: Julie Rojas, RN and Hilary R. Davis, RN who did the fantastic job of preparing the patients prior to surgery. Additionally, we had the doctors from Victoria, Texas, Dr. Peter Rojas, (general surgeon) and Dr. Derrick Garret (anesthesiologist). Also for the first time and from Victoria, we had general surgeon, Dr. Hannah Smith, who proved to be an excellent addition to our team. Because of these doctors and support personnel, the Wings of Recovery team was able to do ten (10) laparascopic cholecystectomies (removed gallbladders), eleven (11) different hernia repairs and six (6) other general surgeries (for ex. Excision of cysts or lipomas) in just two and a half days. The number of surgeries done each day had to be scheduled considering the limited number of beds for the patients who needed to spend the night at the clinic.
From Galveston we had Jose Rojas, PhD, RRT, RPFT (an associate professor of Respiratory Care at UTMB) who together with Kim and Jo Emma, did a terrific job taking care of the patients post operatively in the recovery room. Jose assisted in monitoring the patient’s oxygen saturation (status) and in maintaining their airways.
Personnel from Corpus Christi included: Wayne Funderbunk, CRNA who by rendering anesthesia assisted Dr. Smith. Aubry Ortiz RN and Anabel McLead RN who served as circulating room nurses. Linda Lawson (Boerne), Corina Flores (Gregory) and Vanessa Vela, FA, worked in the capacity of surgical technologists; after gathering all of the necessary equipment and supplies for each of the surgeries, Linda, Corina and Vanesa skillfully assisted the surgeons. Norma Martinez, a Christus Spohn Hospital Shoreline Associate, who is an expert in the sterilization department, led the job of sterilizing all of the surgical instruments which had to be cleaned and sterilized for reuse. Norma was assisted by her son, Josh Martinez, who learned first hand how hard his Mother works every day. Josh’s wife, Christina Sheppard Martinez, assisted in keeping tract of our inventory and remained available for any odd job that needed doing.
This visit, the Wings of Recovery Team was blessed to provide the invaluable skills of Corpus Christi’s own DDS Haysam Dawood (dentist) who along with his friend, Dennis Ruano Silva and Doctor’s Silva’s nephew, Marcos, who are Guatemala City Dentists, were able to perform multiple dental procedures, such as fillings, cleanings and extractions over a long two days; they did aproximately 45 procedures. This was not Dr. Dawood’s first mission to Patzun; he too started going with Sara way back in the 90s. The dentists Dawood, Ruano and Ruano were assisted by Jeremy Moore and Ms. Mayra Starkey (Dr. Smith’s mother) who lend their invaluable help in the dental clinic; Mayra’s good humor made the work seem a bit easier. Ms. Starkey currently resides in Victoria, Texas.
After the mission ends and the team departs, the follow up care of the patients is in the very capable hands of two doctors, they are Doctor Thelma Margarita Ajquejay Tzunun and Doctor Virginia Minero who is a Franciscan Nun; both doctors are in charge of patient care in the hospital. The doctors are assisted by nurse Ingrid Maria Ajcip who, with her twin sister, grew up in the orhanage with the Franciscan sisters who gave them an education, Ingrid’s sister chose to become a teacher, while she chose to study nursing and now works in the hospital.
Three (3) of us, members of Wings of Recovery remain from Sara’s original team: Linda Lawson, Teresa Moreno and myself, Alba Taft. I am a Guatemalan born U.S citizen who resides in Spring. I was blessed to have met Sara in 1982. My duties as a member of Wings of Recovery are primarily logistics which include but are not limited to, contacting the College of Medicine in Guatemala City to request provisional licenses for all medical personnel; contacting Guatemala’s Minister of Health to request a letter granting its permission for the team to enter the country with all the medical instruments, medicine and the necessities for the surgeries; arranging transportation and lodging among other related things. My duties have to be done in Spanish then translated to English and back again, adhering to the legalities of both countries. This year, the request for the letter from the Minister of Health was delayed due to the fact that in mid January a new president was installed in Guatemala together with his new cabinet; however, we were fortunate to have our request expedited. We invited the Vice Minister who helped us to visit the hospital during our stay and he did, it was such an honor!
Sanatorio Corpus Christi has come a long way since the original Clinica Corpus Christi team started doing missions that at first focused on preventive medicine. I fondly remember our first mission when the team was accompanied by Ms. Lilly Flores Vela, then a reporter for Channel 3. During that mission we traveled to surrounding villages to treat people in need. Approximately in 1994, the missions began including surgeries. Presently, the hospital hosts medical missions not only from different parts of the United States, but also from some European countries. This year, our team had been scheduled to work for four days, March 5, 6, 7 and 8; however, due to scheduling constraints at the hospital, the planned 4 days were shortened to 2-1/2 days. Another mission from Holland was providing pediatric surgeries: cleft palates and other similar interventions. Rather than focus on the scheduling overlap, we are thankful that people were being helped.
On a personal level, during this mission I was transported to the first days when I would travel to Patzun with Sara and we were welcomed at Father Aldo’s residence. These feelings were spurred when I was able to hug not only one of Father Aldo’s former house keepers, but also visited with the nun who, at the first, had been the Superior of the community of Franciscan Sisters caring for the children in the orphanage. This nun had been there from the onset of Sara’s dream. After all of these years, Madre Carmen Fermina Arreaga is back once again as the Superior of the community. When Madre Carmen heard that I was there with the mission, she made the effort to seek me out and when we saw each other we embraced as long last friends. Soon we started to reminisce about the days when Sara began talking about building a clinic to help care for the children of the orphanage, the citizens of Patzun and surrounding villages. Different memories surfaced when I ran into Ms. Norma Magzul, she’s worked in the clinic’s laboratory since 1991 when the hospital was dedicated on Sara’s and her twin daughters birthday, January 14.
And what can I share about our patients? Well, that would take a while, suffice it to say, they are grateful and thankful. Many shared stories with us about how long they’d suffered with gallbladder pains (some for over four years), never complaining, just answering our inquires. Strong people with few resources. Some surgical patients and their families spending the night right outside of the clinic awaiting help, but never, ever complaining. Is a humbling experience to see and hear these people who in spite of their hurts, pains and difficulties still have huge smiles on their faces.
Today, I’m certain that Sara sits in heaven smiling and very happy to see that the hospital has grown so much. Over the years it has gone from one to two well equipped operating rooms, a labor and delivery room, a large emergency room, a three chair dental clinic, a four bed recovery room, a nurses station, a pharmacy, a laboratory, and even a small doctors lounge!
Sara’s dream has in fact become a reality, and it’s my pleasure to say her name and legacy live on!
*Should you be interested in more information in assisting or joining Wings of Recovery, please contact Jo Emma Arechiga, RN at 361-548-1171.