Dr. Burgess and Lisa Babel, PA-C, returned to El Fuerte in Sinaloa Mexico for another LIGA trip in early March

Dr. Burgess and Lisa Babel, PA-C, returned to El Fuerte and the clinic of San Blas in Sinaloa Mexico for another LIGA trip in early March.  Each trip back to Mexico has allowed this team to reconnect with staff and gain continued familiarity with their surroundings.  As always, the complexity and great need for care humbles and overwhelms those medical personnel who travel from different parts of the country to treat these patients.

This trip brought along some new volunteers from the Phoenix area.  An anesthesiologist and surgical nurse from the valley added to the San Blas team and were a great help to Dr. Burgess and Lisa.

Dr. Burgess was able to follow up with some of his previous surgical patients and was kept busy with surgeries his first evening in clinic and throughout the day on Saturday.  “It’s always a thrill to see previous patients and how they are progressing.  I was especially excited to see the patient I treated last fall who was highlighted in the MundoFox video segment.  He has been able to recover good finger and thumb movement despite not having access to a therapist,” said Dr Burgess.

Their first patient, Carmen, is a 53 year old female who had an explosive detonate in her hand in 2012.  As a result of this injury she lost her ring and small fingers while deforming the other remaining digits on her dominant right hand.  She is a florist and has to work in order to provide food for her family.  One of the local translators who assists with the clinic watched as she arranged flowers with her hand and was able to hear her story.  Carmen struggled with scar tissue in her hand making it difficult for her to reach or grasp objects.  Dr. Burgess was able to help her by surgically releasing the contractures giving her more space between her thumb and index finger improving pinch, grasp and grip. Carmen is recovering well and the translator was able to pass on she is pleased with her recovery and early outcome.

Carlos is a 3 year old male who suffered a high voltage cable accident in 2013 that left him with a contracted long finger in his right hand.  The initial treatment he received simply sewed the finger down onto itself rendering it useless and also preventing normal use of the rest of his hand.  As it turned out, do to his initial tendon, nerve and vessel injury, the only option was to remove the contracted segment of the digit.  He is now able to fully open and close the rest of his hand significantly improving his function. 

Edwin is a 7 year old male patient with Down’s syndrome.  He sustained burns to his hand after picking up a red hot coal from a fire when he was 3 years old.  As a result he had scars throughout his hands that prevented him from being able to flex or extend his fingers.  The fingers were stuck together creating a webbed hand which continued to progress as his hand tried to grow with his advancing age.  His surgical challenge was to separate the digits from one another and then lengthen scar in the palm in an effort to allow him to extend his fingers.  He has a very complex condition and Dr. Burgess expects to see and treat him in the future as his condition required progressively staged operations.

Roberto is a 44 year old male who suffered a severely broken wrist and severed tendons when he came upon thieves trying to steal his electrical tools.  He was beaten with a machete.  As a result, he has lost the use of his hand due to the severed tendons, he has developed contractures and scar to the hand and he has poorly aligned bone healing restricting joint movement.  The injury changed his life and has prevented him from doing his job.  Dr. Burgess operated on Roberto to release the scar tissue and to try and improve the tendon function of his wrist and hand.  His next procedure in the fall will be to release more of the joints in his hand and possibly transfer more tendons to increase strength.  Eventually he will require work on the bone to correct the joint destruction.  Dr. Burgess was deeply moved by Roberto.  “Roberto is a man of faith.  He harbors no resentment to those who harmed him and he has accepted his disability.  He was grateful I was willing to try anything to help him and said he accepted the outcome, good or bad, as God’s will,” said Dr. Burgess.  “You hear those words and it makes you want more than anything to make a positive difference in this man’s life,” reflected Dr. Burgess.

The total number of patients treated at the San Blas clinic in March for the weekend was 234.  These included specialties in general medicine, podiatry, plastic and general surgery, and hand surgery.  Dr. Burgess and Lisa are looking forward to returning again in the future.

You can learn more about LIGA on their website, at www.ligainternational.org.

#RESULTS.RECOVERY.RELIEF.

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Liga International, The Flying Doctors of Mercy (Dr. Burgess)

(click above to view the video)

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving; a big thank you to Dr. Burgess, PA-C Lisa Babel and all the volunteers who contribute their time and talents to Liga International, The Flying Doctors of Mercy.

Below is a link from MudoFox, the Spanish version of FOX News. This second part of the special series "I Want to be a Better Person.", is the story of Dr. Burgess Phoenix Arizona, who makes magic with his hands. He is one of the league volunteers flying doctors who volunteer on medical missions down to El Fuerte, Mexico

The LIGA is still in great need help getting supplies and those supplies into Mexico. There will be 12 segments airing every night for the next several days. This broadcast is out of LA and will be converted to English for the sister networks sometime in the future. Click the link to learn more about Liga International, The Flying Doctors of Mercy.

Serie especial: I Want To Be a Better Person [Parte II]
http://www.noticiasmundofox.com/node/6429


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LIGA trip November 2013 (Dr. Burgess & PA-C Lisa Babel)

LIGA trip Nov 2013

This November Dr. Burgess and his Physician Assistant Lisa Babel returned to the state of Sinaloa Mexico to continue their work with LIGA International.  They, along with 107 volunteers from around the United States, were able to touch the lives of hundreds of patients in the cities of El Fuerte and San Blas. Traveling with them and helping to provide much needed equipment to treat the patients was a local orthopedic representative, Jarred Martincic.  This November clinic was a busy one, treating 640 patients including adults and children.  Several specialty areas were represented including podiatry, neurology, ophthalmology, ENT, dentistry and orthopedic hand surgery.

Traveling back to El Fuerte was something Dr. Burgess and Lisa had been looking forward to since their last visit back in April.  They were able to connect with some of the patients they had surgically treated and follow-up on their progress. Going back also meant familiarity; having their prior experience allowed them to dive back in and get right to work.  “Knowing what you have, but also knowing what you need makes a big difference in how affective you can be in the time you are there.  I was able to prioritize patients and provide surgery to all we could, but also plan for future trips where I hope to secure much needed orthopedic implants,” said Dr. Burgess. 

“Without question, the hardest part of the trip is the look of disappointment in the eyes of a patient when I have to tell them there is nothing I can do, or at least until I get the proper equipment.  These people come to you with hope.  Many of them are suffering from chronic conditions from injuries sustained years ago.  That painful look of disappointment is contrary to the look of joy and appreciation when they feel their hope turn to reality.  It’s contagious and it keeps me going back.  Even my wife is planning to help on the next trip.  There is no question, it can be an emotional experience with many ups and downs,” reflected Dr. Burgess. 

Unique to this trip was a news team capturing the story of LIGA.  Rolando Nichols, lead news anchor and reporter for MundoFox, the Spanish-language broadcast network and sister station to Fox News, along with his cameraman and pilot traveled from California down to El Fuerte.  They highlighted both El Fuerte and San Blas clinics, and hope to help spread the news about what the volunteers are accomplishing, along with the tremendous need for more help and equipment that still exists.  Dr. Burgess notes, “One of the more frustrating roadblocks to our success can be the very Government of the people we are trying to serve.  We have philanthropic companies and organizations here in the States willing to donate equipment but when it gets confiscated at the border or fined so heavily you have no choice but to turn back, it’s deflating.”  Dr. Burgess is hopeful the awareness MundoFox brings, may help pry some of these “closed political doors” open and allow LIGA to fulfill its mission.

Dr. Burgess says he is commonly asked how safe it is in this region of Mexico.  “I can say so far, I have felt completely safe.  You can’t be naïve and you have to take precautions.  The people of Mexico have opened their hearts with thanks and many local women will cook for hours on end to keep us fed while we work.  Admittedly, it was strange to see DEA agents in small squads loaded into the back of pick-up trucks carrying automatic weapons, all dressed in black and wearing ski masks to protect their identity from drug cartel soldiers.  It was another sobering reminder how lucky we are to live in the United States of America.”   

For more information on how you can become involved, please go to www.ligainternational.org
For more photos go to: www.facebook.com/TOCAMD

TOCA Physician Gives Back: Flying Doctors of Mercy

Dr. Kraig Burgess and his Physician Assistant, Lisa Babel traveled to the state of Sinaloa Mexico with LIGA International this April to serve the communities of San Blas and El Fuerte on a medical mission’s trip.  Dr. Burgess and Lisa are members of LIGA International, “Flying Doctors of Mercy”, an organization providing medical and surgical care to the under-served communities of rural Mexico since 1934.  LIGA mission trips occur the first weekend of each month from October through June.  On average 15-20 pilots donate their time and 4-6 passenger planes to transport the Doctors and other health care providers with donated medical equipment to a remote single runway airfield in El Fuerte.

The April trip provided Dr. Burgess a unique opportunity to care for patients in his area of expertise, hand and upper extremity surgery.  The trip includes screening surgical candidates and treating nonsurgical patients in a clinic setting.  Once screened, the remaining time is spent performing the surgical reconstructions. “I was immediately overwhelmed by the need these people have for health care.  Many of the patient conditions have progressed to levels you would never see here in the States where treatment would have been performed much earlier,” said Dr. Burgess. 

This particular trip over 340 patients were treated, including surgeries performed in general, orthopedic hand, podiatry, ophthalmology, OB/GYN, and cardiology.  Dr. Burgess and Lisa were able to see dozens of clinic patients and treat conditions varying from pediatric congenital abnormalities, traumatic injuries, tumors, tendinitis, arthritis and nerve injuries.  These surgeries included a 19 month old boy with a condition called syndactyly, which presents with a webbed hand appearance.  They also cared for a young girl who had been badly burned and developed an infection, resulting in a partial amputation and scar contractures to her hand.  Another gentleman had been injured by a machete, resulting in multiple tendon lacerations and permanent nerve deficits.  Dr. Burgess recalls, “You have to get pretty creative and be willing to adapt to the supply limitations in order to get things done.  It’s pretty much self-service when it comes to finding equipment, prepping the rooms and setting up for surgery.  I could not have imagined accomplishing what we did without my PA, Lisa’s help.”

As they recall the trip, what stood out more than anything was how grateful the patients were and how accommodating the local people were to the volunteers.   “Patients traveled for hours, many by bus, to sit and wait for hours just for hope, hope that something could be done to help them.  It was heartbreaking to not have the equipment and time to help everyone,” Dr. Burgess said.  Through the generosity of companies Dr. Burgess works with; he has been able to obtain supplies which will allow him to care for some of these patients on his next trip.  Dr. Burgess and Lisa are planning their next trip for this fall.  To learn more about this incredible organization, “Flying Doctors of Mercy”  go to www.ligainternational.org.  

Lisa Babel, PA-C

Dr. Burgess

Dr. Burgess scrubbing up

Dr. Burgess & Lisa Babel, PA-C operating 

“Patients traveled for hours, many by bus, to sit and wait for hours just for hope, hope that something could be done to help them...,” - - Dr. Burgess

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