Health and Medicine

Sooo tired, we met for breakfast and loaded up on coffee.

We quickly made our way to the Chabad House, a religious school for Jewish Children to attend.

Setting up rather quickly in a gorgeous computer overlooking a flower filled playground, parents and children were shuffled in (sometimes with a friend of the family, sometimes an aunt or teacher with complaints).

Incontinence, migraines and low height and weight were some of the more mundane cases we saw, along with "I am healthy, but my mom wanted me to be checked by the doctor."

We saw a set of twins with Tourette's Syndrome and a few young ones that had scoliosis.

Off to lunch at a lovely, kosher restaurant (where was that place? and those dumplings were just what we were looking for!)

Of course, a religious family asked the Dr. to check their baby right there in the restaurant, but he was finished in time to eat his Borscht-the baby was healthy.

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Hesed House

Amazing stuff here-a very large boy, possibly ballooned from steriods and essential tremor, we suspected that he was exposed to something (alcohol? medication?) but it wasn't clear and since dad's symptomology kept changing, and the documentation was so unclear (vertebrae, skin problem, headache, gall stone, bile overproduction)....we didn't know what to make of that.

Allergies, obesity and twisted testes, enlarged kidneys and urinary tract infection....

We found a VERY RARE syndrome called Proteus Syndrome which we documented like crazy and we are still sitting in the business center talking about-since it was absolutely fascinating.

We saw a little girl with stroke, brain bleed and shunt. 3 years and a half, still not walking, talking, chewing or speaking. There were some tear jerkers in there, but lots of families that were very glad to see some real help-with some real solutions.

What did we see???

Wow!

Children in the Reznick Center, Dr. Weisleder and I saw four complicated cases-endocrine-ology, respiratory, cranial and failure to thrive among other inquisitions and readouts.

We also did consultations at Bayteainu-a program for Jewish children to attend day school or after school in a positive Jewish environment-they had some attendees there that had special needs and we met with the children and their parents.

In true style, we saw a variety of severity, with a variety of information (some had write-ups from their doctors, some had nothing and just parent report, some...even the parent was unwilling to report...read: I can't talk about that)

In each case, the Dr. collected pertinent information, discussed with the parent the primary concerns and possible origins of the problem and the OT, PT and I would give some suggestions about work, exercises and ideas to help their children in their day to day life.

We saw epileptics, autism and ataxia second to stroke.

Needless to say, some parents were more accepting than others. Some cases were more sensitive than others and we were careful to explain things to them in a way that was clear...concise and hopefully it was translated appropriately.

The children were given gifts...chocolate and Israeli flags (unless their teeth were bad...then they got pens).
I dropped party blowers and colored straws at Bayteinu for their birthday parties.

Thanks to Sol and Dina for translating and making it fun!

I woke and went to breakfast in the hotel and met my team. Naomi (Occupational Therapy), Hemda (Physical therapy) and Pedro (pediatrician). We ate and were greeted by the Irina, Valerie and Nicolay with the van in the morning.

9am JDC (Joint Distribution Commision) where we were oriented to the Hesed mission and the funding allocations for Jewish sponsored programs in Ukraine. Welfare, homecare and medicine is distributed to the Jewish Community in Ukraine where Dr. Nelli is the leader of all medical programs.

The JDC distributes funds restituted by the German government (if you don't know why..ask a Jew), Swiss banks, German banks and various American Federations. Local contacts also sometimes fund programs for which all Ghetto survivors and "righteous gentiles" are all supported.

There is more!

There were 70 synagogues in all of Odessa, now there are two.

There are four organizations developed in Odessa for Jews of various involvement. Chabad, Litvaks, Migdal JCC and Hillel. There is also a Hesed (welfare) building that is as pristine and spacious as any JCC! Many of these programs have an office here.

Of course, there is more to this story that meets the eye...and we are finding out the underpinnings of these prgrams and how they are utilized as we go.
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Reznick Diagnostic Center

-Established 13 years ago and expanded only four years ago, this diagnostic "hospital" is primarily used to diagnose difficult cases, define clinical tactics for follow-up at a local center.

The diagnostic hospital has only 20 inpatient beds and sees up to 300 children per day. There is a separate neonatal unit and a separate cardiac/gastroenterology unit at the Medical University.

The institution is state funded, and no client has to pay-though donations are encouraged.
They may be referred to a private institution if it is established that the family can afford payment to allow patients that cannot afford it be seen.

At each site we strive to meet community needs by:

* Coordinating teams of JHI volunteer medical professionals from the United States and Israel
* Providing advanced training, lectures, consultations, home visits and public health education.
* Donating durable medical goods and equipment,
* Enhancing the quality of healthcare education
* And improving overall health outcomes for the communities served

These days, when medical advances are beyond our wildest dreams, the number of unmet healthcare needs in worldwide communities is staggering. JHI addresses these needs in the name of the global Jewish community through the work of its volunteers.
Consultations

Our partners throughout the world have come to see JHI as a source for action when it comes to life or death situations that cannot be solved locally. These range from coordinating long-distance consultations, to procuring medications, or arranging for surgeries in the U.S. and Israel. JHI has assisted in numerous situations with successful results. A few of these situations are included in our success stories.

JHI’s mission is guided by three Jewish values;

* Tikun Olam (repairing the world): JHI volunteers take responsibility for others through their volunteer service in at-risk communities.
* Tzedakah (acts of charity): The donation of education, medical goods and pharmaceuticals are act of Tzedakah, as these markedly improve or save lives.
* Mitzvot (acts of goodwill) - helping people help themselves: JHI enables communities to become more self-sufficient, improving the quality of life for all residents.

When you teach a healthcare worker how to improve care,
it empowers them to share their knowledge
and provide better care for others for years to come.