Jenkintown Community Alliance A unique community of shops and neighbors.

The Jenkintown Community Alliance is seeking a part-time professional who will coordinate our volunteer and promotions programs. If you are interested in applying, or know some one who is, please pass along this Promotions/Volunteer Coordinator Job Description. We ask that all applications be received by Friday, September 17th.

Many of Jenkintown’s treasurers are on the Philly HOT LIST. Cast your vote and support This Little Gallery (gift shop), Tulip’s Lingerie (lingerie), Velvet Sky Bakery (cupcake), Jenkintown Running Co. (running gear), West Ave Grille (breakfast), Hiway Theatre (indie theater), Rebecca Barger (photography), Mirna’s Cafe (mediterranean), Joshua’s (catering), Rosey’s BBQ (barbecue) and Trademark (women’s boutique).

By: JO CIAVAGLIA, Bucks County Courier Times
For the second time in a week, Abington Memorial Hospital has provided medical care for a Haitian resident who couldn’t get treatment there.

To Dr. Steve Moriconi, Adeline Joachim is the face of Haiti.

Her 10-month-old son was crushed to death and her home was destroyed in the January earthquake that leveled much of the island nation. She now lives in a tent with her surviving 10-year-old son.

Recently, she developed facial numbness and a painful lump in her jaw near where a tooth was removed a year ago.

In less than a year, Joachim has lost much of her life, but Moriconi is determined to save her face.

On Tuesday, three months after she was seen at a Haitian dental clinic, the 31-year-old woman underwent a 90-minute surgery at Abington Memorial Hospital to remove a fast-growing tumor that was threatening her jaw.

Moriconi, who is Abington’s chief of oral surgery, met Joachim at a dental clinic in Gressier (pronounced grassy-a), a town about an hour west of Port-au-Prince during a weeklong medical mission in April.

The trip was Moriconi’s first relief mission. In the weeks following the magnitude 7.0 earthquake, he hadn’t heard of many oral surgeons volunteering there. His best friend is Haitian and he wanted to do something to help his friend’s homeland.

Moriconi was initially supposed to be stationed at a dental clinic, but the generator there wasn’t working. So he headed to a clinic in Gressier, where he saw patients and mostly performed extractions for three days.

Joachim, 31, was living in Port-au-Prince before the earthquake, but returned to her hometown in April. She showed up at the clinic, where her brother works, complaining of pain and numbness in her lips.

When Moriconi examined her, he could see she had swelling on the lower left side of her jaw. But he had no way to take an X-ray to determine the size of the lump. “I knew it was something serious but I didn’t know what,” he said.

The doctor performed a biopsy on the lump, only to be told there was no place where it could be analyzed. So he hid the sample in his suitcase and brought it back when he returned home.

Once back in the U.S., he sent it to Temple University. A week later, the biopsy result showed the woman had a locally aggressive cyst that literally was eating away at her jaw.

There are few oral surgeons in Haiti and none could handle such a complex case. Moriconi likely wouldn’t return to Haiti until next year. Joachim couldn’t wait that long.

So, he approached Abington Memorial Hospital Chief Operating Officer Meg McGoldrick.

He offered to perform the surgery for free and fundraise – even pay for the travel and living expenses himself – to bring Joachim to the U.S., if the hospital agreed to cover her medical care.

Moriconi’s request came a few weeks after McGoldrick approved covering the medical expenses for a Haitian toddler who needs major lifesaving surgery. Another Abington surgeon found the girl during a medical mission following the earthquake.

Without hesitation, McGoldrick agreed to cover Joachim, too.

“This was an extraordinary situation,” she said. “We support our employees and our physicians when they want to volunteer for medical missions. We want to support them to the degree we can.”

An Ohio dentist and Haitian native, who helps run the dental clinic where Moriconi volunteered, helped arrange the trip for Joachim, who arrived in Philadelphia Saturday.

She’s staying with the Moriconi family. Joachim doesn’t speak English, though Moriconi speaks a little French.

On Monday, Joachim underwent medical tests including a CT scan of her jaw, which revealed the tumor is the size of a large walnut. The numbness in her lip is the result of pressure on a facial nerve.

Only a thin strip of bone is holding her jaw together, Moriconi said. Without surgery in three to six months, the tumor would have cracked her jaw, he added.

Joachim, who also had two teeth removed Tuesday, will remain hospitalized until Friday. She will then return to the Moriconi home to recover. She’s scheduled to return to Haiti on Aug. 7. There, she will receive follow-up care at the dental clinic.

This type of tumor can reoccur, Moriconi said, so the plan is to monitor it.

Last week, 23-month-old Mirlande Felime, the Haitian girl that Abington is also providing care for, underwent the first of several operations to correct a congenital malformation of her digestive tract. Her next surgery is scheduled for Thursday.

YOU CAN HELP

The Abington Memorial Office of Philanthropy has created a social relief fund for anyone who wants to donate toward the medical and living expenses of Mirlande Felime, a Haitian toddler who need major surgery to correct a congenital digestive tract deformity, and Adeline Joachim, a Haitian woman who has a tumor on her jawbone.

To help, you can send a check payable to Abington Memorial Hospital Foundation (AMHF), c/o Office of Philanthropy, 1200 Old York Road, Abington, PA 19001, attention Social Relief Fund.

Call: 215-481-4438

We have selected our juried artists, but space is still available for vendors for Jenkintown’s largest single day event. More information about having a stand is available at jenkintownfest.org

Montgomery Media, one of our community sponsors, will be producing a Jenkintown Festival of the Arts magazine style insert for the Times Chronicle and the Glenside News this September. This publication will also be distributed to neighboring galleries and brew pubs. Montgomery Media Advertising Opportunity

Christmas in July will be on our Town Square this Thursday from 2:00 – 6:00 pm with music, food, and fun. Christmas in July is celebrating Peekaboo Alley’s 1-year anniversary in town and is a celebration that benefits Rubye’s Kids.