Her mission trip to Bolivia “was hard work, but very, very rewarding.”
Those are the words of Manitowoc resident and Holy Family Memorial nurse Susie Bown during a recent interview with WOMT Seehafer News.
Bown had always wanted to go on a mission trip with HFM surgeon, Dr. Matt Campbell, and this year from April 16th through the ‘30th as it turned out, was perfect timing.
Susie told us Dr. Campbell has established relationships with a hospital in the San Carlos region of the South American country.
“It was clear that I was supposed to go on this mission trip because Canada was not allowing the medical mission international people to leave the country quite yet,” she explained. “I had the privilege of going with four people from Holy Family.”
Bown told us the team ended up recruiting two other nurses from Sheboygan and the Milwaukee area, along with Dr. Campbell’s daughter.
Other healthcare providers from the U.S. joined them and the group worked side-by-side with their Bolivian counterparts on surgeries, predominantly involving a disease called Chagas.
“It’s caused by a kissing beetle,” she explained. “When it bites a human, it releases a parasite and it attacks the intestines and the heart. They need to have their intestine taken out, their large colon, and they are left with ostomy. They don’t have ostomy appliances in third world countries.”
So, the medical team had the privilege to reconnect the patients’ bowels after sufficient healing time.
Bown said there were “many miracles” along the way in terms of finding and utilizing medical supplies.
Susie mentioned that people in Bolivia were “so grateful, and celebrated Dr. Campbell’s half birthday 3 times with cake.”
After working Monday through Friday, she indicated they used their time off to visit a coffee plantation and hike in a rainforest.
