So the crazy is starting but its a good crazy!!!! We slept in til 6 and still made it to breakfast and the bus. The military hospital is about 45 min away without traffic & up on a mountain top - where it is secure we were told. It is old but large, it is considered a private hospital & as such is supposedly much better then the National Hospital which we have been told is REALLY BAD but not as nice as the private non military hospitals that people with a nice lifestyle here would go to. I didn't get pics today but will tomorrow, all around the hospital are murals of men carrying wounded bloody soldiers - kinda creepy. I have decided that it is all about perspective & exposure...this hospital seems ok...for a mission hospital, better than some not as nice as others but none are ones I would want anyone I know to be in....
When we arrived there were about 100 people waiting...not sure how many patients that was but is was all set up by the Colgate people & super well organized. as luck would have it I ended up being....The Gatekeeper. But I had both Rachel & MaryLaura (the 2 nurses who will be in the PACU with me) as Gatekeepers also. It is Rachels 1st mission but she is really bright & so is Mary Laura so we were a good team. as is always the case we knew we wouldn't see a patient at our station #10 until about 10 so we took that time to go outside & see the patients and families. There are some cuties & many sweet young families. Also many families with parents who also had clefts - not that i know the genetics of it all.
We finally got out 1st patient - Patient #1 Juan David just after 10 a 16 month old with an upper cleft lip that will be repaired. He was so cute & he was one of the ones I visited with & took pictures of outside. We have to log each patient in & they all have 4 names - a first name middle name & 2 last names - I think it is both parents last name but I am not sure? Just as in other places many of the people are illiterate & so when something is explained o them if they can't write their name they put their thumbprint on that line of the form.
The patients here hadn't traveled as far as on other missions - the average I think was maybe 4-6 hours by bus with the longer ones being 13, 18 or 21 hours by bus. We tried to get the more distant ones to stay in a small shelter here that houses 40 people but the one mom said she needed to take the 19 hour bus ride back to tend to the rest of her family & would come back the day of the surgery on another 19 hour bus ride. That is just not even real to me.
By noon as gatekeepers we had seen 20 patients & they had already given out 90 numbers. By 4 we had only seen 68 of 118 total so we were 50 patients "behind". The bottle neck is at the dental and speech stations. It started to get a little crazy about 4 as all those patients & families were waiting in a very small area. The priority #1 & #2 patients who for sure were having surgery we sent to the lab then home after our area so I decided to start sending them to the lab while they were waiting for speech. It worked but keeping track of where everyone was & needed to be was intense. Then by 5:30 people wanted to just leave because the public buses don't run after 6 pm to some of the more dangerous areas. we did quite the juggling act. Everyone was seen by 6:30 & we got back to the hotel about 7:30 with the evening traffic.
The families were very grateful, many of them told our cute college girl Andrea who was our translator the tell us "God works thru you", "Thank You", "Bless You" We told the #1s & #2s that the 3 of us would be with their child after surgery. One cutie that stole my heart (& was in my photo collage in FB & Instagram in a pink outfit) was #28 Jackelin a tiny little girl with a bilateral cleft lift. He parents were very young but very sweet the mom didn't want to take her to get labs & see her cry so the dad took her & the mom stayed with us. She told us her family didn't want to see her or the baby cause they are "cursed" - it was so sad & in my minds eye I could see her with her full repair next week & can only imagine the PURE JOY that sweet mom will have - all because of a 1 hour surgery.
There were about 6 little ones we had to turn away because they were too young or too small - we told them to come back to the next "Smile Marathon" in 6 months & there is a cleft lip clinic that will follow them until then.
BTW I am surrounded by significant others of "stars" Mary Lauras boyfriend is on the "Boardwalk empire" HBO show - his real name is Joey & he plays a Federal agent now turned bad??? Had to admit I've never seen it. Rachels nephew is 19 & is on Parenthood & has been on it all 5 years. Me...I got to claim to Hollywood or NY.
Since we got back late we just ate at the hotel "Sports Bar" it was pretty good. Tomorrow there are going to be several Guatemalan Film crews here? so we are wearing our team shirts then to all look good???
I was able to get the packages sent to Daniel Perez & Nancy Kalifi from folks at home - hoping they get them!!! Going to shower & get to bed...despite the nice hotel the shower is either scalding or freezing so its a challenge - but if that is all I have to be concerned about IT IS ALL GOOD!
My ATTTUDE OF GRATITUDE DAY #7 is all about being grateful that I live in the USA & am blessed with so very much!
When we arrived there were about 100 people waiting...not sure how many patients that was but is was all set up by the Colgate people & super well organized. as luck would have it I ended up being....The Gatekeeper. But I had both Rachel & MaryLaura (the 2 nurses who will be in the PACU with me) as Gatekeepers also. It is Rachels 1st mission but she is really bright & so is Mary Laura so we were a good team. as is always the case we knew we wouldn't see a patient at our station #10 until about 10 so we took that time to go outside & see the patients and families. There are some cuties & many sweet young families. Also many families with parents who also had clefts - not that i know the genetics of it all.
We finally got out 1st patient - Patient #1 Juan David just after 10 a 16 month old with an upper cleft lip that will be repaired. He was so cute & he was one of the ones I visited with & took pictures of outside. We have to log each patient in & they all have 4 names - a first name middle name & 2 last names - I think it is both parents last name but I am not sure? Just as in other places many of the people are illiterate & so when something is explained o them if they can't write their name they put their thumbprint on that line of the form.
The patients here hadn't traveled as far as on other missions - the average I think was maybe 4-6 hours by bus with the longer ones being 13, 18 or 21 hours by bus. We tried to get the more distant ones to stay in a small shelter here that houses 40 people but the one mom said she needed to take the 19 hour bus ride back to tend to the rest of her family & would come back the day of the surgery on another 19 hour bus ride. That is just not even real to me.
By noon as gatekeepers we had seen 20 patients & they had already given out 90 numbers. By 4 we had only seen 68 of 118 total so we were 50 patients "behind". The bottle neck is at the dental and speech stations. It started to get a little crazy about 4 as all those patients & families were waiting in a very small area. The priority #1 & #2 patients who for sure were having surgery we sent to the lab then home after our area so I decided to start sending them to the lab while they were waiting for speech. It worked but keeping track of where everyone was & needed to be was intense. Then by 5:30 people wanted to just leave because the public buses don't run after 6 pm to some of the more dangerous areas. we did quite the juggling act. Everyone was seen by 6:30 & we got back to the hotel about 7:30 with the evening traffic.
The families were very grateful, many of them told our cute college girl Andrea who was our translator the tell us "God works thru you", "Thank You", "Bless You" We told the #1s & #2s that the 3 of us would be with their child after surgery. One cutie that stole my heart (& was in my photo collage in FB & Instagram in a pink outfit) was #28 Jackelin a tiny little girl with a bilateral cleft lift. He parents were very young but very sweet the mom didn't want to take her to get labs & see her cry so the dad took her & the mom stayed with us. She told us her family didn't want to see her or the baby cause they are "cursed" - it was so sad & in my minds eye I could see her with her full repair next week & can only imagine the PURE JOY that sweet mom will have - all because of a 1 hour surgery.
There were about 6 little ones we had to turn away because they were too young or too small - we told them to come back to the next "Smile Marathon" in 6 months & there is a cleft lip clinic that will follow them until then.
BTW I am surrounded by significant others of "stars" Mary Lauras boyfriend is on the "Boardwalk empire" HBO show - his real name is Joey & he plays a Federal agent now turned bad??? Had to admit I've never seen it. Rachels nephew is 19 & is on Parenthood & has been on it all 5 years. Me...I got to claim to Hollywood or NY.
Since we got back late we just ate at the hotel "Sports Bar" it was pretty good. Tomorrow there are going to be several Guatemalan Film crews here? so we are wearing our team shirts then to all look good???
I was able to get the packages sent to Daniel Perez & Nancy Kalifi from folks at home - hoping they get them!!! Going to shower & get to bed...despite the nice hotel the shower is either scalding or freezing so its a challenge - but if that is all I have to be concerned about IT IS ALL GOOD!
My ATTTUDE OF GRATITUDE DAY #7 is all about being grateful that I live in the USA & am blessed with so very much!
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