2011.10.20~23
4,000 Patients Benefited in Four Days
Written by: Wan-Juan Yang, Ru-Zhen Wu, Hui-Yi Su, Yue-Mei Su, Yu-Mei Zheng, Ci-Heng Jian, Huan-Zhen ChenJiang, Teng-Xiao Lei
Oct. 20 Day One Vision and Dental Services Topped the Patient Demands
The Tzu Chi USA Medical Foundation has gained profound recognition from the mainstream society since August 2009 after participating in the 8-day large free clinic event held by RAM (Remote Area Medical) in Los Angeles Forum; It then teamed up with MHC (Modern House Call for Women) to hold a large women’s free clinic in October 2010. Invited by CareNow, it again participated in the 4-day large free clinic event this year (2011) held at the Los Angeles Sports Arena October 20~23, offering out-patient clinics in podiatry, cardiology, psychology, urology, dentistry, ophthalmology, dermatology and Chinese medicine. The main focus of this year’s free clinic is still to stand off the chronic diseases, promoting for the first time the “Free Tracking and Followup Treatment Services for Patients with Chronic Illness”.
Three Great Love Free Clinic Mobiles were specifically dispatched to support dental services for this event.
The temperature between day and night changes sharply during October in Los Angeles and the early morning air feels especially bone-chilling. People waited in line in front of the Los Angeles Sports Arena for the free clinics, some sitting in their own chairs, some on the grounds, and most were covered with blankets. Ms. Dontta, who had difficulty getting about, was accompanied by her daughter and granddaughter. Even though she got the wrist band for the day that allowed her the entrance, she still arrived early to line up so that she could have more opportunities to get different treatments since she could not afford the expensive medical bills.
Three Great Love Free Clinic Mobiles were specifically dispatched to support dental services for this event. Since many people were without health insurance for a long time, or HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) no longer covered dental/ vision care, those who were admitted to the event would head straight to the dental or vision clinic first. As the many number of patients prolonged the waiting period, it was critical that the diabetes carefully monitored their blood sugar levels. Just hours after the clinic was opened, two patients whose blood sugar levels plummeted had to call ambulance for emergency hospital treatments.
Monica Mompson felt it was very miraculous that Dr. Ming-Huang Liao of (left) Chinese Medicine cured her shoulder pains with acupuncture.
The 23-year-old Monica Mompson was injured from a car accident 4 years ago. Even though she felt pain, she did not particularly care about it since she was a student with no health insurance at the time. However, her right shoulder pain had become more and more severe and she could only rely on painkillers to alleviate the pain. She heard from friends that the free clinic offered acupuncture, and she thought it could worth a try. However, after entering the treatment room, she burst into tears from the pains caused by Dr. Ming-Huang Liao’s attempt to lift her right shoulder. Dr. Liao inserted three consecutive acupuncture needles in her head and removed them after 15 minutes. He then asked her to try again, and surprisingly, she could easily lift her right shoulder without much pain. She was very happy and kept saying that her pain was gone and that it was really amazing and she wanted to tell all her friends to see Chinese Medicine doctors for treating pains.
Total of 123 people from Chinese medicine team participated in this Los Angeles free clinic.
Oct. 21 Day Two Incredible Environmental-Friendly Products! Amazing Chinese Medicine Treatments!
Dr. Mehmet Oz is the authoritative United States Cardiology specialist, who hosts health programs on both Channel 2 and Channel 7 TV stations. He came to the event site to learn more about the medical needs of the people in Southern California, and cordially chatted with everyone in each department. He was very interested in China’s cultural essence, the acupuncture, and had travelled to Beijing to learn Chinese medicine for a month. He showed particular interest in Tzu Chi’s Chinese Medicine Department, and inquired patients about the reactions after the acupuncture treatments. Sister Debra Tseng, CEO of Tzu Chi USA Medical Foundation, introduced the blanket made from recycled bottles (product from Da Ai Technology) to him, and he praised repeatedly and said that it was really amazing, as he would never imagine that 70 bottles could be made into a blanket, especially from recycled ones.
Dr. You-Qin Du had been shuttling back and forth between patients and physicians during the past two days to help solve some dubious cases. His wife also came to help out with the registration at the Western Medicine Department. Dr. Du indicated that this clinic particularly added pediatrics, podiatry, and mental psychology to satisfy the needs of patients. Sister Yuan-Er Wu from Tzu Chi San Francisco branch is a nursing specialist in cardiovascular care, and she feels the happiest at a place where she could make her skills useful. Whenever there was a large free clinic in Southern California, she always requested time off from the hospital where she worked, and drove seven or eight hours from San Francisco to Los Angeles to offer support.
The Chinese medicine team had expanded under the leadership of Dr. Xingong Chen. Their skillful medical practices had won the trust and appreciations from patients. Dr. MingHuang Liao closed his San Jose clinic in Northern California for four days and came to participate in the Los Angeles free clinic. Patients who suffered with pains became different people with smiles and satisfaction after being treated by Dr. Liao. Dr. Liao indicated that he felt happy seeing patient’s smiles, and he was deeply comforted by the fact that he could relieve patient’s sufferings in time. The Tzu Chi spirit of Great Love is to be joyous to each other, which came from the fact that physicians were willing to serve and happily to bear.
Oct. 22 Day Three
The third day of the clinic was Saturday, and highways were not as crowded as two days before. Therefore, there was a lot more ample time. U.S. House of Representative, Karen Bass, paid a special visit to Tzu Chi’s Chinese medicine department. Sister Debra Tseng introduced to her about the origin of Tzu Chi: It started from 30 housewives in Hualien, Taiwan who followed Master Cheng Yen to save NT$0.50 each day in the bamboo banks for charity work, and it expanded so much that nowadays Tzu Chi volunteers in blue and white uniforms could be seen all over the world helping with disaster-relief work. The introduction of the environmental-friendly blanket product from Da Ai Technology aroused curiosity and interest from Ms. Bass, and Sister Debra presented a blanket to her as a commemorative gift at the scene.
Tzu Chi USA’s volunteers introduced the blanket made from recycled bottles to the medical staff and all visitors.
Vision care clinic covered operations from diagnosis, examination, and lensfitting to address the needs of patients. Ophthalmology doctors and assistants from many areas used instruments to carefully perform vision test, spectacles rectification, and basic optometry examination for the patients. Nearly hundreds of frame styles were offered at the scene to allow patients to choose freely. In addition to offering tooth extraction, filling, and cleaning services, the dental clinic also set up an oral hygiene education area, where dental care professionals were explaining with film demonstration to let people better understand the importance of dental protection care. Dr. Gong-Feng Zhang and David Chu from Tzu Chi were the two dentists responsible for the preliminary screening. They transferred the patients to different treatment areas based on their needs, and asked them to go to Tzu Chi Outpatient Clinic Center for further treatment if patients were unable to get complete cure at the scene.
Tzu Chi USA’s volunteers introduced the blanket made from recycled bottles to the medical staff and all visitors.
Quickly Removing Pains and Resolving Patients’ Sufferings
Cristian Baizan from Mexico visited the dental clinic today for a special purpose because a wart bigger than the size of a soybean grew on his upper right tongue. Oral surgeon, Dr. Tailin Ji, with dental assistants, sister Huizhen Li and brother Longxing Jiang served him together. With no insurance coverage, he could not afford the expensive surgery. Fortunately, the wart did not cause any pains or trouble for him to eat. Thus, he had peacefully lived with the wart for a decade. Thanks to the free clinic and he was very grateful to Dr. Ji’s excellent skills for removing the wart. He no longer needed to worry about this “affiliated material” anymore.
Jameela Ali came and sought toothache treatment on the second day of the free clinic. The X-ray showed only root of tooth existed for #31 and #29 tooth, and they were all very close to the nerve. Although several dentists carefully examined the X-ray film, no one dared to try any attempt. Thus, Dr. Shirley Chen asked her to come today so that Dr. Tailin Ji could be in charge of her treatment. Dr. Ji patted her hand after examining her and said “Rest assured! It would be done in five minutes.” Maybe it was the side effect from taking painkillers often, she still felt pains after four anesthetic shots, and Dr. Ji had to give her another two shots. Although she still complained pains, Dr. Ji quickly extracted the main culprit, the tooth roots, and relieved her sufferings. Dr. Ji said: “It is my responsibility to help patients resolve problems, and my heart was full of joy when I saw the patients left happily from this dental chair. I would like to thank my parents for letting us getting education in the United States so that we could live a happy and stable life. Therefore, I must cherish and give back.”
Photo1: Sister Debra Tseng(Right) was introducing the origin of Tzu Chi to U.S. House of Representative, Karen Bass.
Photo2: Frederico Guzman (Middle) from Mexico believed Tzu Chi’s Great Love spirit was like a magnet to attract volunteers’ devotions and contributions.
Oct. 23 Day Four Treating Illness Physically and Mentally
The last day of the four-day free clinic was drawing to a close. In the morning, one Vietnamese couple from Canoga Park, Mr. & Mrs. Le, rode the bus to come to LA Sports Arena after learning about the free clinic from their daughter’s church. They got lost because they were not familiar with the area, and had to painfully spend $50 on transportation expense in order to arrive at the clinic in time. Mrs. Le’s systolic blood pressure reached 240 mm Hg as a result of trying to hurry and rush to the site. The medical personnel immediately applied emergency treatment for her to get timely care and ease her condition. The church that had been taking care of their daughter who had mental problems believed that it would be very helpful to look after the daughter with parents’ love, and thus applied for them to come from Vietnam to the States on behalf of the daughter. The couple arrived California with full of hope, thinking that they could enjoy a peaceful and happy life in their late years. They did not expect things turn out contrary to the way they wished. After they came to the States, they learned that their daughter not only had mental problems, but also financial troubles. The couple’s hope suddenly became despair.
61-year-old Mrs. Le had diabetes for 16 years, and her toe and vision had problems. Upon their arrival, the church helped them to find a place to settle down, but could not get them long-term support. Since both of them were under 65, they could not get government’s medical insurance. Fortunately, 64-yearold Mr. Le found a job at the Ranch 99 Supermarket for a monthly income of $1,000. Mrs. Le went out to collect recycled goods that could be sold during daytime as much as possible, but her toe pains and vision problems prevented her from going far. Getting the free treatment and medicine today as well as being able to go to Tzu Chi Outpatient Clinic Center for further treatment made Mrs. Le very grateful to the medical personnel who were willing to give without asking for returns.
Dr. Natalie Nevins, the physician who was the principal doctor in charge of western medicine department, specifically brought many khatas that she brought back from her Tibet free clinic and put on Tzu Chi volunteer’s shoulder one by one to express appreciation for their contributions. (Offering khata is the most common Tibetan etiquette, which also means to express purity, sincerity, loyalty, and respect to the receiving party). Don Manelli, who was in charge of this free clinic, was also very grateful to the support of Tzu Chi volunteers, including equipment, setup, and personnel mobilization. He was very much grateful every year
Ms. Salya Mohamedy, the office manager on behalf of Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, indicated at the appreciation gathering that she really saw the Buddhist spirits from Tzu Chi volunteers making contributions wholeheartedly over the years, and she wished to become a Buddhist herself. Dr. Roger Fieldman, president of Los Angeles Dentist Association who was in charge of the dental department, was also very grateful to have the opportunities working with Tzu Chi volunteers. Several Tzu Chi physicians were also thankful to the opportunities working with everyone together to serve the people needing medical services. They were even more thankful to the volunteers who were like the mighty ant soldiers offering assistance all the way behind the scenes and completing missions one after another. At the end of the closing gathering, Tzu Chi volunteers led everyone to sing the song “Love and Care” together to pray for peace and the world be kept away from suffering.
The free clinic spent great amount of manpower and resources, and only with everyone’s full compassion and selfless giving could it achieve the satisfactory merit. The four-day thousand-people large scale free clinic ended in the sincere prayers from all.
TIMA USA has been participated in the RAM large scale free clinic since 2009. Photo depicts the dental treatments in Los Angeles, May 2010.
