The Cook Islands team headed back for their annual trip a little earlier than normal this year, from late March to mid-April, to continue the war against diabetes and the skirmish with cataracts. Moving the trip date a little earlier did not seem to result in any less work but the enjoyment of temperatures sitting at 28-29°C daily meant summer lingered rather longer than usual, and cocktails were more necessary at day’s end.
This year’s Cook Islands eye care trip line up included three optometrists, John Veale, Richard Johnson and Theresa Slaten, and three ophthalmologists: me, to chip away at cataracts; Jo Sims, manning the diabetic retinal laser; and medical retinal fellow, Sophie Hill, as the hard worker. Olga Brochner played nurse educator complete with ukulele and Treve Dromgool was our technician/photographer, even more complete with her eight-week-old baby.
Once again, amazingly, around 700 patients were seen by the optometrists screening for eye disease and providing glasses. About 350 of these were then assessed by the ophthalmologists with just under 60 having cataract surgery, bringing the total to more than 1200 cataract removals, dating from my first trip in the early 1990s. More impressive was this was John Veale’s fourth decade working in the Cooks, compared with a mere 17 years of service by Dr Sims!
The highlight of the trip was undoubtedly baby Dromgool who arrived with the name Fernanda but found this immediately changed to Tiare (meaning beloved flower) by one of the Cook Island ladies who swept her away at the beginning of each day. She was returned relaxed, bathed and changed into a new outfit at the end of each clinic to re-acquaint herself with her birth mother. Tiare subsequently headed off to visit Germany and then had a spell in El Salvador, together with her mum, of course!
All of us can’t wait for next year’s trip!
