Catching ‘mission fever’: A week in St. Vincent with Sight for Life
Cynthia Matossian, MD, FACS, packed her bags after selling her ophthalmology business to join dozens of others on a surgery mission entering its third decade of service in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
After more than 800 clinical exams and 80 procedures, including two Ahmed valves and five corneal transplants, Matossian returned to Healio with a case of “mission fever.”
“It was such an incredible experience,” she remarked, adding that her stay on the Caribbean island was unlike anything she had ever experienced in her decades-long career.
The trip, organized by Sight for Life, sent 27 individuals to the island’s capital, Kingstown, from May 27 to June 3: four ophthalmologists, three optometrists, two residents from the University of Florida, and a variety of family members and anyone ready to help. Two surgeons worked out of Milton Cato Memorial Hospital’s operating room, while a different team did eye tests and supplied spectacles at the neighboring Arnos Vale Sports Complex with the assistance of the local Lions Club.
According to Cathleen M. McCabe, MD, the mission, which has been held annually for approximately 30 years, is a life-changing opportunity for local patients and rewarding for the volunteers who provide services.Dave McCabe, her husband, organizes the trip.
“[Patients are] simply overwhelmed with gratitude… “They’re sending up prayers and asking for blessings for the team,” Cathleen McCabe said, adding that removing patches from impaired eyes is “an emotional time.” It’s very moving.”
“Ophthalmology is a great specialty where you can make that impact,” said Dave McCabe. “Removing a cataract truly cures blindness, and you can do it all week.”
Local eye care specialists identified roughly 150 patients with advanced cataracts, glaucoma, and other diseases before to the team’s arrival, but by the end of the week, there were “probably another 30 or 40 patients that were still outside the building,” Cathleen McCabe said.
Cathleen McCabe and experienced mission worker Eric P. Purdy, MD, operated on two patients at the same time in a facility that was not meant for such quick turnaround, she said. The hospital’s extensive sterilizing processes caused delays, the equipment was subpar, and one day, a blown fuse rendered the operating room airless.
“We had to open the doors, and the flies were coming in,” Matossian explained. “You do your best, but luckily, we made sure they didn’t land on the patients.”
Matossian described her function as that of a circulating nurse, putting in dilating drops, moving patients in and out of the operating room, and doing whatever was necessary to move the procedure forward. The schedule spanned from approximately 7 a.m. to as late as 7:30 p.m.
The journey, according to Matossian, was worthwhile because “you get so much out of it — as much, if not more, than you give.”
“What it teaches you is that you have to think very quickly and be able to adjust to circumstances you’ve never encountered before while always keeping patient safety as the primary endpoint,” she explained.
According to Cathleen McCabe, operating in a low-resource situation can even boost a surgeon’s talents back at home.
“There are always things I learned by being creative and flexible during a mission that… help me even taking care of more complex cases in my practice, where I… wouldn’t necessarily have the drivers or pressure to think about something in a new way,” she explained.
Purdy first invited Cathleen McCabe on a mission in 2003, and the McCabes gradually took on a larger role in mission direction.
The distribution of glasses has changed as a result of the leadership turnover.
For many years, the ministry relied on a stockpile of approximately 40,000 glasses supplied by the Lions Club. According to Dave McCabe, the clinic now uses a “pop-in lens system” in which lenses with a patient’s prescription can be fitted to numerous frames.
Because all of the lenses are spherical, there is still work to be done to handle astigmatism. However, the technology has enabled patients to receive brand-new spectacles rather than old ones, and its portability has permitted outreach to more remote areas of the island, he said.
“You can carry an eye clinic in a couple of suitcases now,” he says.
Furthermore, the mission is evolving to have a more permanent presence.
In 2020, the team purchased an old clinic operated by Dr. Cecil Cyrus, who trained in Ireland and worked as a medical jack-of-all-trades on the island.
Cyrus’ son, according to Dave McCabe, is now working as a general contractor on the building, which is receiving a new roof, windows, and updated power, among other things. The structure is planned to be ready for the mission next spring once construction is completed in September.
Cathleen McCabe stated that the team is “actively looking for people who want to make a difference,” whether by giving equipment or money or by participating in the mission.
“We’re delighted to have visitors, and if we can have more frequent missions, we’ll have more opportunities for that as well,” she said.
