Wednesday is always "Hump Day" on a mission so that is always bittersweet -nice because by about Wed I am typically pretty tired & today was nor exception & a little sad as you realize how quickly the mission's coming to an end.
I really didn't feel well yesterday but I just powered thru is. I had a horrific headache & felt crummy. I took Tylenol, Advil & drank lots of water. Last night since it wasn't too late when we got home Erika, Lisa & I went to "the port" for dinner. It is where they had gone Sat night & I wanted to see it - it is a little area near the water (a river I think) that drains into Lake Nicaragua. even thought I felt crummy it was just what I needed to be outside with fresh air & we had a nice meal. It is a "tourist" type area with lots of restaurants.
I had allot of work emails to catch up on so that I don't come home to 1000 & did a short blog entry & it was 1 am. When the alarm went off at 6 am I was still not feeling well so I called Kim the coordinator & asked if I could take a taxi to the hospital in a few hours since PACU didn't get patients until typically after 9 - she was great about it & I called Erika too & she was also fine. The extra 2 hours of sleep were just what I needed & well worth the $6 taxi ride.
I got to the hospital about 9:30 - they had only gotten one patient in the PACU so I really didn't miss much & Erika had actually taken a little nap on a gurney :) They were happy to see me arrive & I think they missed my oximeter, thermometer & purell more than me - LOL. Great purchases on my part! It was a TOTAL Baby morning -we had a 5, 6,7,9, & 10 mos olds go thru on the first 2 rounds. One baby was VERY fussy & obviously hungry but would not take his formula & the dad told us it was because they added SUGAR??? He added at least 2 tbl. of sugar to a small bottle & the baby sucked it down. Maybe this is a common practice & why so many of these kids have rotted out teeth - the sugar & no dental care, tooth brushing etc. It is very sad. Yesterday I had a patient & they said she had 5 teeth removed - then restated it as well 4 just fell out & one was a decayed molar & it was removed. Despite a great deal of mission & compassionate work here by many organizations there are some very fundamental needs.
By 11 we had total chaos in the PACU - which is pretty much the standard at times. One palate patient with some bleeding who was also a difficult airway & needed some breathing treatments & suctioning & probably had an underlying "syndrome" she was a sick one for a few hours but with lots of interventions go better after awhile. We also had a 5 year old autistic boy who had lip surgery & some eyelid surgery - he was a little pistol after surgery & his poor mom is 8 months pregnant & it was hard on her to handle him & the challenges of surgery. At one point we had 4 busy patients & handed one baby to Jorge - one of the male high school students to hold for about 15 min - he did well!!!
One of the Op Smile Nicaragua board members brought in donuts from a store called "American Donuts" they were actually pretty good but I thought the name was humorous...I don't think there are Nicaraguan donuts??? This of course was in the middle of our chaos & someone from the hospital came it to tell us we couldn't eat in the PACU-which we knew...we were just keeping them there because if we put them in the common area they would be gone & we would never see them. I finally said - I promise we wont open the box but right now we need to take care of these patients. There can be flies in the room, gross things on the floor etc but our donuts were the focus?
My most memorable patient of the day was Yarlin - she was a 9 1/2 year old little girl who traveled far to get here & actually was screened on Sunday - the day after our big screening. I did not see her before surgery but apparently she had a very unusual side cleft lip that didn't allow her to open her mouth well & it also caused a facial deformity & impacted her cheek which was concave. Jordan one of the surgeons wanted to do this case & wow!!! did he do a wonderful job - he corrected the cleft & did some liposuction from her tummy to build up her cheek. When she got to me she looked so good - especially after her mom showed me a photo of her before. Her mom truly wept with joy when she saw her daughter & she grabbed my hand & pulled me to her side of the gurney. Her mom gave me the biggest hug & said how we blessed their life & were an answer to their prayers...it doesn't get much better than that! I had given my phone to one of the students who captured it all for me & I posted the photos on social media. Her mom said her daughter was teased & shunned & now would have a "normal life"...all because a group of people came together with a common goal to help children with a wonderful organization that has the infrastructure to cause these experiences to happen all over the world.
A few other Nicaragua mission memories I want to record...Operation Smile has been doing missions in this country for 20 years & will be opening a center here soon where kids can get help in between the every 6 month missions. It may be Veterans Day in the USA but since they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here Christmas is already in FULL SWING...at the restaurants we have gone to there are Christmas trees & garland & lights. Tonight at the hotel they put up a Christmas tree. The locals say that Christmas is really a 2 month celebration here. Nicaragua is apparently now the next "retirement area" for US folks after Costa Rica - there are over 350 small volcanic created but beach front islands that you can buy & build your retirement home on - any takers?
Also the hotel key once used to open he door goes in a box inside that controls your AC (really a window swamp cooler) & controls your lights so when you get back to the room is it HOT - then cools off but when you walk in the hallway it is like a sauna. I have not had a roommate as that person went to the Estelli Mission site but I may get one tomorrow night as they are coming back here for the final party. while I love to meet new people it has been nice to have a room to myself :)
Another Op Smile Nicaragua Board Member I met when I was gatekeeper at screening was Jaffa -she is from the US but came here with the Peace Corp for 3 years, met her husband here & now lives here with 3 darling girls. Her 14 year old daughter totally saved us during screening as our interpreter. They go to an American school here & are very well off - they have several "house helpers", a few "drivers" a "house manager" etc. Her husband owns many of the cell phone networks here (and truly there are more cell phones than toilet in this country - everyone has one) & also some plantain farms. They are very well to do with homes in the US as well but truly she & her daughters were the most kind, grounded individuals who truly offered compassionate care to the patients & kind assistance to us-I haven't had that same exposure to the "very wealthy" in the USA actually choosing to themselves offer help to organizations or people. Yes there are galas & fundraiser but they were there that long day & have come back many other days to help. I have learned a great deal from them about service & kindness.
The good news is there is a flushing toilet at the hospital the downside is there is no toilet seat & you can't flush toilet paper but at least there is a "squatty potty"! Clearly my standards on missions are low!
Another AMAZING helper here is Alec - he is the grandson of the McGee's (founders of Op Smile) & just graduated from high school & is spending his "gap year" doing service some with Op Smile & also with other organizations. He has been in Nicaragua for 10 weeks & spent the 1st 3 at an Orphanage teaching English, Sports & Computers & he himself learning Spanish by immersion. The Orphanage is called HOLA - Helping Orphans in Latin America & was started by some women in Virginia Beach VA. They have 50 kids there from infants to teens. Last year they had 5 who graduated from high school & all were accepted at the Nicaragua University here..it sounds like a wonderful Organization & Alec has brought his "friends" some of the 16-18 year olds from the orphanage to work with us here - they are great bright kids! Alec is also pretty impressive - the kindness & compassion he shows our patients goes far beyond his 18 years. He is the oldest of the 15 McGee Grandchildren - the next generation of Operation Smile - I am thinking they are in good hands. As we talked he was at Mission Training & remembered Sarah & my talk (really the candy I gave out during my talk) on Oral Re hydration - such a small OSI world!
I have been giving out Lots of dresses, outfits, T Shirts & flip flops & families are so grateful - I wish I could transport the friends who gave me all of these items here so they could see the joy they are providing first hand. IF I have anything left over - because sometimes when its crazy in there I forget to pull it all out...I will give it to the HOLA Orphanage.
I got to facetime call some of my family tonight so that was nice & now its time for bed - I need to be ready for a full day tomorrow. No matter how tired I am of crummy I intermittently feel - I LOVE this humanitarian work - it is part of who I was meant to be of that I have no doubt.
I really didn't feel well yesterday but I just powered thru is. I had a horrific headache & felt crummy. I took Tylenol, Advil & drank lots of water. Last night since it wasn't too late when we got home Erika, Lisa & I went to "the port" for dinner. It is where they had gone Sat night & I wanted to see it - it is a little area near the water (a river I think) that drains into Lake Nicaragua. even thought I felt crummy it was just what I needed to be outside with fresh air & we had a nice meal. It is a "tourist" type area with lots of restaurants.
I had allot of work emails to catch up on so that I don't come home to 1000 & did a short blog entry & it was 1 am. When the alarm went off at 6 am I was still not feeling well so I called Kim the coordinator & asked if I could take a taxi to the hospital in a few hours since PACU didn't get patients until typically after 9 - she was great about it & I called Erika too & she was also fine. The extra 2 hours of sleep were just what I needed & well worth the $6 taxi ride.
I got to the hospital about 9:30 - they had only gotten one patient in the PACU so I really didn't miss much & Erika had actually taken a little nap on a gurney :) They were happy to see me arrive & I think they missed my oximeter, thermometer & purell more than me - LOL. Great purchases on my part! It was a TOTAL Baby morning -we had a 5, 6,7,9, & 10 mos olds go thru on the first 2 rounds. One baby was VERY fussy & obviously hungry but would not take his formula & the dad told us it was because they added SUGAR??? He added at least 2 tbl. of sugar to a small bottle & the baby sucked it down. Maybe this is a common practice & why so many of these kids have rotted out teeth - the sugar & no dental care, tooth brushing etc. It is very sad. Yesterday I had a patient & they said she had 5 teeth removed - then restated it as well 4 just fell out & one was a decayed molar & it was removed. Despite a great deal of mission & compassionate work here by many organizations there are some very fundamental needs.
By 11 we had total chaos in the PACU - which is pretty much the standard at times. One palate patient with some bleeding who was also a difficult airway & needed some breathing treatments & suctioning & probably had an underlying "syndrome" she was a sick one for a few hours but with lots of interventions go better after awhile. We also had a 5 year old autistic boy who had lip surgery & some eyelid surgery - he was a little pistol after surgery & his poor mom is 8 months pregnant & it was hard on her to handle him & the challenges of surgery. At one point we had 4 busy patients & handed one baby to Jorge - one of the male high school students to hold for about 15 min - he did well!!!
One of the Op Smile Nicaragua board members brought in donuts from a store called "American Donuts" they were actually pretty good but I thought the name was humorous...I don't think there are Nicaraguan donuts??? This of course was in the middle of our chaos & someone from the hospital came it to tell us we couldn't eat in the PACU-which we knew...we were just keeping them there because if we put them in the common area they would be gone & we would never see them. I finally said - I promise we wont open the box but right now we need to take care of these patients. There can be flies in the room, gross things on the floor etc but our donuts were the focus?
My most memorable patient of the day was Yarlin - she was a 9 1/2 year old little girl who traveled far to get here & actually was screened on Sunday - the day after our big screening. I did not see her before surgery but apparently she had a very unusual side cleft lip that didn't allow her to open her mouth well & it also caused a facial deformity & impacted her cheek which was concave. Jordan one of the surgeons wanted to do this case & wow!!! did he do a wonderful job - he corrected the cleft & did some liposuction from her tummy to build up her cheek. When she got to me she looked so good - especially after her mom showed me a photo of her before. Her mom truly wept with joy when she saw her daughter & she grabbed my hand & pulled me to her side of the gurney. Her mom gave me the biggest hug & said how we blessed their life & were an answer to their prayers...it doesn't get much better than that! I had given my phone to one of the students who captured it all for me & I posted the photos on social media. Her mom said her daughter was teased & shunned & now would have a "normal life"...all because a group of people came together with a common goal to help children with a wonderful organization that has the infrastructure to cause these experiences to happen all over the world.
A few other Nicaragua mission memories I want to record...Operation Smile has been doing missions in this country for 20 years & will be opening a center here soon where kids can get help in between the every 6 month missions. It may be Veterans Day in the USA but since they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here Christmas is already in FULL SWING...at the restaurants we have gone to there are Christmas trees & garland & lights. Tonight at the hotel they put up a Christmas tree. The locals say that Christmas is really a 2 month celebration here. Nicaragua is apparently now the next "retirement area" for US folks after Costa Rica - there are over 350 small volcanic created but beach front islands that you can buy & build your retirement home on - any takers?
Also the hotel key once used to open he door goes in a box inside that controls your AC (really a window swamp cooler) & controls your lights so when you get back to the room is it HOT - then cools off but when you walk in the hallway it is like a sauna. I have not had a roommate as that person went to the Estelli Mission site but I may get one tomorrow night as they are coming back here for the final party. while I love to meet new people it has been nice to have a room to myself :)
Another Op Smile Nicaragua Board Member I met when I was gatekeeper at screening was Jaffa -she is from the US but came here with the Peace Corp for 3 years, met her husband here & now lives here with 3 darling girls. Her 14 year old daughter totally saved us during screening as our interpreter. They go to an American school here & are very well off - they have several "house helpers", a few "drivers" a "house manager" etc. Her husband owns many of the cell phone networks here (and truly there are more cell phones than toilet in this country - everyone has one) & also some plantain farms. They are very well to do with homes in the US as well but truly she & her daughters were the most kind, grounded individuals who truly offered compassionate care to the patients & kind assistance to us-I haven't had that same exposure to the "very wealthy" in the USA actually choosing to themselves offer help to organizations or people. Yes there are galas & fundraiser but they were there that long day & have come back many other days to help. I have learned a great deal from them about service & kindness.
The good news is there is a flushing toilet at the hospital the downside is there is no toilet seat & you can't flush toilet paper but at least there is a "squatty potty"! Clearly my standards on missions are low!
Another AMAZING helper here is Alec - he is the grandson of the McGee's (founders of Op Smile) & just graduated from high school & is spending his "gap year" doing service some with Op Smile & also with other organizations. He has been in Nicaragua for 10 weeks & spent the 1st 3 at an Orphanage teaching English, Sports & Computers & he himself learning Spanish by immersion. The Orphanage is called HOLA - Helping Orphans in Latin America & was started by some women in Virginia Beach VA. They have 50 kids there from infants to teens. Last year they had 5 who graduated from high school & all were accepted at the Nicaragua University here..it sounds like a wonderful Organization & Alec has brought his "friends" some of the 16-18 year olds from the orphanage to work with us here - they are great bright kids! Alec is also pretty impressive - the kindness & compassion he shows our patients goes far beyond his 18 years. He is the oldest of the 15 McGee Grandchildren - the next generation of Operation Smile - I am thinking they are in good hands. As we talked he was at Mission Training & remembered Sarah & my talk (really the candy I gave out during my talk) on Oral Re hydration - such a small OSI world!
I have been giving out Lots of dresses, outfits, T Shirts & flip flops & families are so grateful - I wish I could transport the friends who gave me all of these items here so they could see the joy they are providing first hand. IF I have anything left over - because sometimes when its crazy in there I forget to pull it all out...I will give it to the HOLA Orphanage.
I got to facetime call some of my family tonight so that was nice & now its time for bed - I need to be ready for a full day tomorrow. No matter how tired I am of crummy I intermittently feel - I LOVE this humanitarian work - it is part of who I was meant to be of that I have no doubt.
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