Despite the-less-than ideal conditions that greeted Impulse Monitoring Inc. (IMI) neurophysiologist Erica Poole in Belize City, she told us, “I feel so fortunate and blessed to have been chosen to go.”
Mission participants from IMI undergo a rigorous application process, followed by an interview panel. Aside from her obvious passion and commitment to the mission, Erica stood out because of her Spanish fluency. It helped the team communicate with many patients who visit the Belize City hospital from neighboring countries Honduras and Guatemala.
As usual, the Belize mission team worked long hours over the four day trip. Erica joked, “We may have seen daylight the first day-and-a-half.”
“Out of all of our patients, a young boy, Jamal, stood out to me because of his bright smile,” said Erica. Jamal was injured in a motor vehicle accident last September and although his x-rays initially looked pristine, we later found that he had significant anterolisthesis of C1. Dr. Williams attempted to do an awake reduction, a very painful manipulation of Jamal’s neck that lasted over an hour, and would have negated the need for surgery. Unfortunately, the reduction was unsuccessful.
Dr. Williams advised the family to bring Jamal back in August when he would have the implants to do a posterior fusion. Jamal’s family begged Dr. Williams to do what he could for Jamal immediately, so Dr. Williams exercised his skill and creativity and used a cervical lamina wire posteriorly. It was by far the most difficult case our team performed. The following day, Jamal had some weakness that Dr. Williams felt would be transient, but overall he was doing well.
When Erica was asked what motivated her to apply for the mission, her answer packed a punch. “Doing your job on a mission is ten times tougher than it is at a home,” she said. “You have to be comfortable and you have to be able to adapt and compromise, and I knew that. I wanted that challenge.”
15-NUVA-1056