October 11, 2021
Visionary Foundation and Dr. Alberto Martinez, carried out a successful surgical mission at (FSMV) Hospital Leonardo Martinez, San Pedro Sula, Honduras. FSMV, a charity clinic led by Marcos Fajardo, MD, serves the impoverished population of San Pedro Sula. Dr. Fajardo provided the logistic support and infrastructure that allowed us to offer free surgical eye care. The patients who received surgery were pre-screened by Dr. Fajardo.
A total of 54 eye surgeries were performed:
- Six corneal transplants, all-penetrating, and one triple, penetrating, keratoplasty, and cataract surgery
- 41 cataract surgeries
- Multiple clinical consultations and examinations of general ophthalmology, cornea, and external eye diseases and pre and post-op evaluations
Patients were seen on their first postoperative day. Cornea patients were seen again three days later, at the end of the surgical mission. All medications needed for postoperative care were provided for free. Postoperative care of these transplants will continue via telemedicine using WhatsApp’s app using high-quality photography and descriptions.
We plan to return in August 2022, this time with two surgeons. One surgeon may focus exclusively on transplants, the other on cataract surgery. Thus, we hope to have a more significant surgical impact. One of the most challenging parts of the mission was the heartwrenching process of turning down many people who direly needed a corneal transplant because we did not have enough cornea tissue.
We are thankful to the numerous individuals and organizations that helped us with the success of this mission:
- Alcon Laboratories
- Cornea Gen Tissue Bank
- Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision, Inc
- Map International
- Americares
- Glaukos
- Allergan
- Vanessa Lemus
- The staff and physicians at Palisades Eye Surgery Center
- Loretta Scrub Technician and the OR staff at the Washington Hospital Center
- Marketing Team at Visionary Eye Doctors
- Kevin Toth of Allergan
- Ed Lopez of Allergan
In addition to the surgical mission, Anna Pigotti, with the support of the Visionary Foundation, provided funds to help maintain the facility’s infrastructure where 60+ girls of all ages reside at the orphanage “Hogar San Jose” directed by Sister Thelma. Plans in this area include visiting the orphanage in August 2022 and providing cash donations to cover a few of the many basic needs.
A special thanks to my wife Anna Pigotti and my son Matthew Martinez as well as Vanessa Lemus of Palisades surgery Center for the countless volunteered hours they put in in the process of obtaining, packing, and transporting the 100’s of items that are required to carry out our mission. Without them, we would not have been able to perform the surgeries we did.
Once again, thank you for your generous help. You have shone the light into the life of our fellow human beings. May your contribution become a light of kindness, filling your heart with joy!
