From the Hackett Hemwall Patterson Foundation (HHPF)
Did you know HHPF provides vein care to hundreds of people in Honduras each year?
Each March, the HHPF Vein Team travels to Honduras for a week of intensive phlebology training and treating of severe venous disease. Over the years the numbers of physicians, nurses and assistants has increased from just a handful of volunteers to 80-90 people, treating patients in clinics in three cities in Honduras.
When one volunteer first traveled with the group over 25 years ago, she thought that it must be a cultural "custom" for many women to wear long skirts and pants even in the extremely warm weather in Honduras. She soon realized why women wore long clothing; it was often to conceal the large open ulcers on their legs.
Changing lives and providing hopeHHPF has been able to help change the personal and financial parts of our patient's lives in Honduras.
In developed countries, treatment of multiple severe vein problems often occurs over several months. In Honduras, due to the limited time and resources we have, that same treatment may take years. A patient comes to our clinics with severe pathology, we treat the worst of the worst veins, and ask the patient to return the following March. On the positive side, we get to know our returning patients and value the relationships we are able to develop. Even with language and cultural barriers, friendships and professional relationships develop.
This work, the dramatic help for these debilitating venous conditions, would not happen without the Hackett Hemwall Patterson Foundation and support from people like you. We, the volunteers, are thankful that the HHPF gives us the opportunity to improve the lives of the people of Honduras as we enrich our own.
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