Maui institute The Cancer Institute of Maui is prepared to give radiation treatments to 16 cancer patients from Guam where Supertyphoon Pongsona destroyed the treatment facility.
helps with Guam’s
cancer patients
Guam military evacuees find safe passage after typhoon
Oahu spots accept Guam donations
By Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.comThe patients were expected yesterday on a Continental Airlines charter flight sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Dr. Bobby Baker, institute president.
He said four staff members from the demolished treatment facility were accompanying the patients.
The Guam treatment center, operated by the Maui institute, "sat for a week" under nearly five feet of water until it was pumped out Thursday, Baker said. "My staff said they broke down and cried; they had never seen anything like it in their lives. It looked like a sunken ship with the water drained out.
"The whole facility was destroyed," he said, including all the state-of-the-art equipment.
A temporary chemotherapy clinic was set up and will open Monday for 17 to 19 patients needing that treatment, he said. Those requiring radiation will continue to be treated on Maui until a new facility is built.
Baker said the Red Cross was helpful in getting FEMA involved, and "we got overwhelming response" from Maui residents to an appeal to help meet the patients' needs.
Maui Memorial Medical Center partnered with a new assisted-living facility that is not fully occupied to provide brand-new assisted-living apartments for the patients, he said.
Dr. Anthony DeSalvo, medical oncologist at the medical center, also agreed to take some patients who also need chemotherapy, Baker said.
The Maui institute added an extra shift to accommodate the new patients. "We're also probably going to work on Saturdays to get everybody started on treatment again," Baker said. Treatments will be given daily Monday through Friday, he said.
None of the Guam cancer patients has had any treatment for about a week, he pointed out. "Certainly, we don't like to have delays." He said situations have occurred where patients have not had treatment for that period of time, "but we told FEMA to consider a week the maximum delay anyone should have."
FEMA has said it will fly a two-week supply of chemotherapy drugs into Guam for patients since all drugs were demolished, Baker said.
"We're hoping and praying government or any private donors on Guam will also help us rebuild this center because resources right now are very limited," he added. The insurance will not be enough even to replace all the equipment, he said.
He estimated about $3 million will be needed to re-establish the facility and said it is hoped landowners on Guam will donate or sell land to the institute at a low price.
Baker said the institute will try to find jobs here or on the mainland for the four displaced radiation workers, but most want to return home to Guam.
He said Guam residents like to celebrate Christmas and other holidays with fiestas, like a picnic, so they are hoping to get something like that organized for patients here for the Christmas holidays.
"We've all learned this year during Christmas to count our blessings because people on Guam have been through literally hell this week," he said. "It makes every little thing we have in our lives so special that we take for granted. Myself and the staff are going to feel special feelings of Christmas this year."
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Oahu spots accept
Guam donationsStar-Bulletin Staff Oahu residents can take relief supplies for Guam to 10 fire stations around the island, the city announced yesterday.
Supplies that will be accepted include bottled water, solid baby food, disposable diapers, canned meats, rice, mosquito netting, toilet paper, pots, pans, personal mess kits, infant formula (liquid or powdered), baby cereal mixes, baby juices and nondiuretic drinks, nonperishable food in cans, personal insect repellent, flashlights, lanterns, batteries, propane cooking units and strong tents that will not leak and can be anchored to withstand high winds.
Residents can take the donations to fire stations in Kalihi Kai, Kuakini, Waikiki, Hawaii Kai, Kaneohe, Kailua, Waipahu, Kapolei, Mililani Mauka and Moanalua.
Donations will be accepted beginning Monday through Jan. 17 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The city will not accept money.
