Cape Breton doctors and nurses to head to Guatemala on surgical mission

A group of volunteers from Cape Breton's medical community are going on a surgical mission to Guatemala to help scores of people who would not otherwisebe able to afford the operations they need to live a normal life.

Dr. Rex Dunn, a semi-retired surgeon from the Sydney area, and two other surgeons, along with an anaesthetist, and a number of operatingand recovery room nurses form a group of 13 heading to Guatelmala City in early February.

This will bethe third consecutive year Dunn, and the group's founder, Dr. Elwood MacMullin, have taken on thiscause.

"It was amazing," Dunn said, "how many people jumped at the opportunity to go."

When the team arrives in the Central American country, hesaidthey will examine about a hundred people in a clinic. Thoseselected as candidates for surgery are from what he calls "the jungles of Guatemala."

"They have no access to any kind of surgical care," Dunnsaid."No elective surgery at all, unless they can afford it and they simply can't."

Dunnsaidsurgeries willrange fromgall bladder removal, to fixing urinary problems, toremoving irregularcysts and skin tumours.

What stands out for him in prior missionsis the satisfaction of repairing a hernia "sometimes the size of a football" that prevents a person from working and providing for their family.

He estimates that over the five-day period the Cape Breton group is there, they will perform 70 to 80 surgeries.

In the meantime the group is working to raise $50,000 to pay all costs for the patients, including transportation, lodging and food.

A fundraising concert has been organized for Jan.23 at GlaceBay's Savoy Theatre, which Dunn is confident will bring in several thousand dollars.The doctors and nurses are paying for their own travel and accommodation.

Dunn gives a special "shout out"to the local business community for its generosity in helping raise funds for this trip.

"This is not a program for Cape Breton people, it's a program for the people of the world,and they get that. It's wonderful."