WOMEN'S HEALTH TEAMS
Majuro, Marshall Islands 2023
In March, 2020, COVID closed the borders and our mission to provide vital healthcare to the women of the Marshall Islands came to a screeching halt. Despite facing unexpected delays, we have triumphantly returned after three long years.
Our recent mission has yielded incredible results.
- We saw over 570 patients
- read 484 PAP smears and
- 71 biopsies, took
- 131 ultrasounds, and
- performed 38 surgeries.
The key to our success? Devoted volunteers who went above and beyond to support these women, many of whom had never received gynecological care before. Twelve lives may have been saved thanks to timely surgeries prompted by pap smear results.
Our Pathology team, featuring Dr. Lauren Hammock, Mark Endicott, and Bess Cox, played a pivotal role by ensuring rapid diagnostic results, eliminating potential surgery delays.
Bess Cox’s unwavering commitment shines as she overcame equipment challenges and utilized innovative techniques to process tissue samples.
Now, we need your support to sustain and expand these critical missions. Your donation will help us acquire new equipment, secure supplies, and continue to provide healthcare to those in need. Your contribution is a lifeline for the women of the Marshall Islands. Join us in making a life-changing impact today. Donate now to empower these lifesaving missions and give hope to those who depend on us.
Adapted from an article from the OnBoard Fall 2023
AN OPEN DOOR
Republic of Palau
When Canvasback’s Gynecology Team shows up the same always happens: crowds of women pack the clinic—many have suffered years of bleeding and discomfort, others with cancer, tumors and more.
One Super Team serving in Palau completed 262 examinations and performed 36 surgeries because of the efforts of our Super Pathology Team. On Palau, pap smears are sent overseas and results are returned in 4-6 weeks. If there are positive findings, biopsies are taken and again are sent overseas. This scenario would totally limit the efforts of the Canvasback team, who are on island for only two weeks.
To make the team more effective, Pathologist Lauren Hammock, MD, Cytotechnologist Mark Endicott, and Histotechnician Stacey Ganieany decided to up our game! Canvasback brought and donated histology equipment which gave the team the ability to read tissue and provide a 24-hour biopsy diagnoses.
Combined with our 3-hour pap turnaround times, the team was able to be far more effective in treating the women. In Palau, this was life-changing for so many women in need of immediate care. If the test results were positive, the appropriate treatment could be decided on the spot. This new testing method is opening up doors for Canvasback’s work in all of Micronesia.
There is a huge need in women’s health and we believe God is calling us to this work—a work that will relieve pain, suffering, and change lives!
Adapted from an article in the Onboard 2019 In Review
Majuro, Marshall Island
Melly
Every time Melly went outside, her friends talked about her, “Did you see Melly? Is she pregnant? No, how could it be, she’s too old? Well, she sure looks like she is. But She’s a grandmother!”
She finally decided to visit the hospital to see if they could provide her with an answer. There she met Doctor Aina who had some good news, “You’re not pregnant.” Well, that was good news but what was the underlying problem? By this time Melly’s stomach had grown to huge proportions and she needed answers!
She went home burdened with doubts and fears wondering, “What is happening to me?”
Dr. Aina was very concerned with Melly’s situation but knew they lacked the highly specialized equipment and the specialists needed to determine and treat her condition.
Being an avid Canvasback supporter, when she learned they were bringing an entire Gynecology team to Majuro, she was excited! She started tracking down patients—stopping them on the street—and telling them, and many others, that they must come to the hospital to receive health-screening, and any needed treatment.
She specifically contacted Melly.
Melly met with the Gynecology Super Team and after extensive examination and testing, they discovered a massive tumor growing in her stomach. They also decided that they could tackle her breast cancer issue of 3 years… an issue the hospital was unable to address. The Gynecology team wasted no time and operated immediately.
Melly shared, “I was so happy to learn what the problem was with my stomach. I was also very happy Canvasback was fully capable of dealing with my breast cancer. Best of all, I am so happy that both of the operations they performed were a complete success!
Because of Canvasback, I was recently able to see the birth of my second grandchild. That has been such a wonderful blessing to me and my entire family. Thank you so very much for giving me EXTRA time and life so I can enjoy my family longer.”
