It's 11 pm here & it has been a great Screening Day. At our team meeting last night & then today at screening I realized that I had that sweet feeling of "coming home", returning to a familiar place and some familiar faces. I will be the only International (USA) recovery room nurse but I will be working with 3 of the nurses that I worked with & helped train here 2 years ago - Brigida, Delsi & ???? THey were not at the team mtg last night as they live far away from here but I saw Brigida today at screening.
I am also with Rodrigo a surgeon I have been with in a few south or Central American missions, Carlos who was a photographer with us in Guatemala, Alessi an Anesthesiologist I have been somewhere with??? and Marta who does medical records here & in Nicaragua. Plus Ian another Anesthesiologist here is from CHOC - small world (but I don't know him from there!) Dusty who is my roommate and the Clinical Coordinator is from Salt Lake City & her sister is one of my Charge Nurses at CHOC in the NICU...it really is a small world & quite interconnected.
When we arrived this morning there were a few hundred people with children & family members already waiting but the in country organization here is really good & it didn't seem chaotic at all. I took some time to play with some of the kids outside & made a "beach ball buddy" that I played catch with. I will have to post a pic of him. I was again asked to be the "gatekeeper". I wonder if there is a memo that goes out when I am on a team that says "have Nancy be the gatekeeper". I am pretty sure I have done this on 10 missions? What that means is that I handle each of the 229 patients chart, note their surgery priority and keep a record of it all for the Clinical Coordinator. We have a big group of "volunteer guests" from Johnson & Johnson who provide all of the suture materials for all the missions Op Smile does & I had 4 of them help me off & on all day as gatekeeper & they were Fabulous!!!
By 11:30 we had already given out 200 numbers but I had only seen 23 at my station so I was gearing up for a late night but we finished screening the last patient at my area (the last stop) at 8 pm - so about 12 hours of screening - really not bad at all. There were some very cute kids that I fell in love with (as always) and part of my job is to write down how far away the family lives so that if they have traveled far they get surgery early in the week or to see if they need to stay in the shelter here. It doesn't matter that I think I have "herd it all" I am always amazed when I write down that they live 600 KM away & took 2 days to get here by bus; or a family that went on a boat & a bus them walked & was the last to arrive today. The majority of the people were from 8-12 hours away by bus...and I have probably 6 hospitals within 30 min of my house - things I take for granted.
It was unusual that we saw 3 sets of twins today. I was so busy that I didn't get a lot of "stories" but 2 of my favorite were a little girl Marinelli who is 3 & traveled from afar to be here & had come to the mission 6 months ago & then got sick & couldn't have surgery & her mom was heartbroken. They came back today & she will have surgery this week. The mom brought her oldest daughter who is 13 years old to help & left her husband at home with 3 boys & the Marinelli is the baby of the family. They were overjoyed. There was also a sweet grandma of a 5 year old, the mom had abandoned the baby when she was born with a cleft lip & the Grandma has taken care of her but she has never really been out of the Grandmas house because she is "made fun of" -the Grandma heard abut Op smile on the radio & cant believe we will "fix her for free" & said that we are giving her granddaughter a "new life" . On the other end of the spectrum we also screened a 60 year old man & when the surgeons asked why he wanted to have surgery he said he wanted to be able to kiss his wife before he died...that brought a tear to many of our eyes...such a sweet man & I think he will be added on at the end of the week if all goes well :)
We are at the same military hospital I was at here 2 years ago & its really not bad - no air conditioning so at 88 degrees & 94% humidity its a little warm & sticky. The bathrooms are a little sketchy & it took me a few minutes to remember you pull a string above the toilet to get the water in to flush it!
Before I left I had some email contact with a mission president here & a stake president asking if I could assist any members here with the kindness of friends. The emails lost some details in translation but last night one of the coordinators called Pres. Sergio Wilson for me & he is coming to the hotel tomorrow night at 8 pm to get me so I can meet & hopefully help some families here - one he mentioned is a grandma, a mom & 3 young children who have no permanent place to live :( So I am excited to again see the connections of a worldwide church and share the love & generosity of friends with our brothers & sisters here :)
Well it is nearly midnight & my day started at 5:30 am so I am tired & headed to bed! Love & Hugs to family & friends. Tomorrow is our "team day" - not sure what the plan is but it is a time to get to know & bond with the people we will spend the most time with this week!
I am also with Rodrigo a surgeon I have been with in a few south or Central American missions, Carlos who was a photographer with us in Guatemala, Alessi an Anesthesiologist I have been somewhere with??? and Marta who does medical records here & in Nicaragua. Plus Ian another Anesthesiologist here is from CHOC - small world (but I don't know him from there!) Dusty who is my roommate and the Clinical Coordinator is from Salt Lake City & her sister is one of my Charge Nurses at CHOC in the NICU...it really is a small world & quite interconnected.
When we arrived this morning there were a few hundred people with children & family members already waiting but the in country organization here is really good & it didn't seem chaotic at all. I took some time to play with some of the kids outside & made a "beach ball buddy" that I played catch with. I will have to post a pic of him. I was again asked to be the "gatekeeper". I wonder if there is a memo that goes out when I am on a team that says "have Nancy be the gatekeeper". I am pretty sure I have done this on 10 missions? What that means is that I handle each of the 229 patients chart, note their surgery priority and keep a record of it all for the Clinical Coordinator. We have a big group of "volunteer guests" from Johnson & Johnson who provide all of the suture materials for all the missions Op Smile does & I had 4 of them help me off & on all day as gatekeeper & they were Fabulous!!!
By 11:30 we had already given out 200 numbers but I had only seen 23 at my station so I was gearing up for a late night but we finished screening the last patient at my area (the last stop) at 8 pm - so about 12 hours of screening - really not bad at all. There were some very cute kids that I fell in love with (as always) and part of my job is to write down how far away the family lives so that if they have traveled far they get surgery early in the week or to see if they need to stay in the shelter here. It doesn't matter that I think I have "herd it all" I am always amazed when I write down that they live 600 KM away & took 2 days to get here by bus; or a family that went on a boat & a bus them walked & was the last to arrive today. The majority of the people were from 8-12 hours away by bus...and I have probably 6 hospitals within 30 min of my house - things I take for granted.
It was unusual that we saw 3 sets of twins today. I was so busy that I didn't get a lot of "stories" but 2 of my favorite were a little girl Marinelli who is 3 & traveled from afar to be here & had come to the mission 6 months ago & then got sick & couldn't have surgery & her mom was heartbroken. They came back today & she will have surgery this week. The mom brought her oldest daughter who is 13 years old to help & left her husband at home with 3 boys & the Marinelli is the baby of the family. They were overjoyed. There was also a sweet grandma of a 5 year old, the mom had abandoned the baby when she was born with a cleft lip & the Grandma has taken care of her but she has never really been out of the Grandmas house because she is "made fun of" -the Grandma heard abut Op smile on the radio & cant believe we will "fix her for free" & said that we are giving her granddaughter a "new life" . On the other end of the spectrum we also screened a 60 year old man & when the surgeons asked why he wanted to have surgery he said he wanted to be able to kiss his wife before he died...that brought a tear to many of our eyes...such a sweet man & I think he will be added on at the end of the week if all goes well :)
We are at the same military hospital I was at here 2 years ago & its really not bad - no air conditioning so at 88 degrees & 94% humidity its a little warm & sticky. The bathrooms are a little sketchy & it took me a few minutes to remember you pull a string above the toilet to get the water in to flush it!
Before I left I had some email contact with a mission president here & a stake president asking if I could assist any members here with the kindness of friends. The emails lost some details in translation but last night one of the coordinators called Pres. Sergio Wilson for me & he is coming to the hotel tomorrow night at 8 pm to get me so I can meet & hopefully help some families here - one he mentioned is a grandma, a mom & 3 young children who have no permanent place to live :( So I am excited to again see the connections of a worldwide church and share the love & generosity of friends with our brothers & sisters here :)
Well it is nearly midnight & my day started at 5:30 am so I am tired & headed to bed! Love & Hugs to family & friends. Tomorrow is our "team day" - not sure what the plan is but it is a time to get to know & bond with the people we will spend the most time with this week!
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