On the record ... with Dr. Thomas Tilton

Editor's note: This story, as it appeared in print, had several errors. Below is the corrected interview. The MidWeek regrets the errors.

SYCAMORE – Dr. Tom Tilton went on a mission trip last month to Haiti.

The trip was supposed to help the lives of indigent people, but ended up affecting his own.

"It was overwhelming," he said. "It was humbling, sad and rewarding all at the same time."

Tilton spent eight days working on patients in Kobonal, Haiti, a small village about 80 miles north of Port-au-Prince, from Feb. 10 through 18.

Tilton found out about the trip through his friend Dr. Michael Stark,  who had gone on a previous trip and realized that more doctors were needed. He invited Tilton to go on the next trip, part of the SOLT (The Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity) Haiti Kobonal Mission, which has been run by Fr. Glenn Meaux for the last 22 years.

For more information about the mission, visit solthaitimission.org. To donate, call 337-893-7900 or email karengriffin.haitimission@gmail.com.

Born and raised in Maine, Tilton graduated from Providence College before going to the University of New England Medical School.

A board-certified ophthalmologist who specializes in cataract and laser surgery, Tilton was in private practice for eight years before being hired by Hauser-Ross in 1994.

While living in Sycamore, he and his wife Kristin, a nurse in the Sycamore School District, raised two daughters, Taryn, who teaches English in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Tory, a senior at the University of Rochester.

Tilton took time from his busy schedule to discuss his mission trip and the conditions in Haiti with MidWeek reporter Doug Oleson.

MidWeek: Is anyone else in your family a doctor?
Thomas Tilton: No, my dad was a used car salesman. I'm the first in my family to go to college.

MW: Did you always want to be an eye doctor?
TT: I took an elective rotation my junior year with an eye doctor and he made it fun. I was planning on going into radiology or E.R., and I ended up doing this instead.

MW: How many went on this mission trip?
TT: There were eight of us.

MW: Did anyone else from the local area go?
TT: Barb Wahlstrom, RN, of Midland Ambulatory Surgical Center. I got her to go. I had someone else lined up, but they had to cancel out at the last minute. I used a personal vacation to go. Hauser-Ross was very supportive of me taking the time off.

MW: Where exactly did you go?
TT: Kobonal is a tiny village about 80 miles north of Port-au-Prince.

MW: Can you still see the damage from the earthquake that hit Haiti two years ago?
TT: In Port-au-Prince, you can. They're still rebuilding. But Kobonal is in the mountains and it wasn't affected.

MW: What was it like were you where?
TT: There are 30 buildings within the mission compound, with 10-foot high walls. Crime is everywhere because of the poverty. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

There was a dirt runway at the airport with goats and donkeys and pigs that had to be moved. ...There was no hospital, no clinic, nothing. There was just this room.

MW: How did the trip go?
TT: The first part of the trip was unpacking all of the instruments. That took two days. Then the operating room microscope broke down.

We had to call the States for a replacement part. Haiti is very corrupt. The replacement part was held up in customs for two and a half days. So we did all of our surgeries in two days. We went from 7 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. They were very difficult cases and long days.

MW: How many patients do you see?
TT: We did 105 examinations and 38 surgeries.  We wanted to do more surgeries but we couldn't because the equipment broke down.

MW: What were the operating conditions like?
TT: We did it in an old chapel with open screened windows. There are many rural areas of Haiti that have no power, such as Kobonal. We had a generator to perform surgery. We had spiders and geckos on the walls. When we were operating, they were making bread in the other room. They make bread for 1,000 schoolchildren a day. When I got back, I joked, "I can't operate unless I can smell fresh bread."

It's amazing to see them.

MW: Did anyone not get surgery who may have needed it?
TT: There were four people, two of them kids. We're trying to get medical visas for them.

MW: What were the people like?
TT: Those people have nothing, nothing. They have no toilets, no hot water, no running water. You have no idea. We had people walk three to eight hours just to see us. Some came on donkeys, but most of them walked. They had to wait 4, 6, 8 hours. But there was not one complaint from anyone. They are very gentle, appreciative and grateful.

MW: What were the ages of the people you treated?
TT: The oldest one was 86, and there was a girl, 7 or 8. Most were between 50 and 70.

MW: Not to be offensive, but with all that poverty, I wouldn't think they'd live that long.
TT: They have a diet of beans, rice and corn. They are slim because 90 percent of them walk everywhere.

MW: So what was the whole experience like?
TT: It was overwhelming. It was humbling. It was sad. And rewarding all at the same time.

MW: Do you plan to go back?
TT: I am planning to go back in 2013 with Dr. Stark.

I can't wait to go back.