I have to say I was a bit worried about this day because last night at 9:30 I got a call in my room from the PC asking if I had any experience sterilizing surgical instruments??? I said no but if they needed help I was willing to go down & learn??? They didn't take me up on my offer which was probably a good idea. Come to find out the hospital person who was supposed to do that went home to go to Carnivale??? so our poor clinical Coordinator was there doing it by herself for the most part - but of course it got done as somehow things always do on mission trips. .
Wake up call was t 6 & breakfast at 6:30 with a team mtg at 6:45 & leave for the hospital at 7. Day #1 is always a slow start but this one was faster than normal I think we got to the hospital at 7:30 & had the first patient on a table at 9:15. We finished setting up the PACU - it really is pretty nice. We also had the mock code & then they started the tables one at a time. It turns out that we could only have 3 official surgeons because 2 were not credentialed by Op Smile; so they set up 5 tables & the surgeons after completing a case instead of having down time between patients would then go to another table . We only had 16 on the schedule for today so we did all of them & an additional DR Surgeon came over after lunch to help.
We got our first round of 3 patients rapid fire at 11 am - all lips & little 7-8 month olds 2 boys & a girl. We brought all 3 of the mamas back & they were all tearful, emotional & grateful for their child's surgery & how new smiles to them meant new lives. Truly those responses by parents just never fail to choke me up & remind me how rewarding this work is. I was able to give all those little ones cute new outfits - Elian, Jhalise & Aris. I got cute photos of them I will post on FB & Instagram.
The 2nd round of patients were all palates so by 2:15 we had only had 5 of 16 patients back plus a 6th patient that was a BIG bleeder & needed to go back to the OR. As is always the case the PACU is either feast or famile somehow....
I did go to "comida" lunch during that time. There was in a white Styrofoam box enough white rice for a family of 4, a separate cup of beans, a macaroni salad with lots of mayo (warm I'm pretty sure) & a piece of meat in sauce that might have been ham??? I opted not to have that & was glad I packed peanut butter, crackers & protein bars! The bigger crisis is there was not a diet soda to be found. I thought Pepsi was one of the sponsors but if they were there was only regular Pepsi available. I asked my roommate to get me 4 Diet Cokes when she got back (cause I knew the store would be closed by the time I got back) so I can have one a day to get me thru my afternoon/early evening hump!
16 patients seemed so manageable & like a nice day but when 11 of the 16 are palates those are big, painful surgeries with a lot of unhappy kids waking up. Fortunately Jacob is all about pain control so we were liberal with the meds to keep the kids comfortable.
One of my afternoon patients was an 11 month old boy Oscarlin & he was a CHUBBY BOY - rolls & rolls everywhere - I gave him a 2T outfit & loved snuggling him! I also gave some dolls away today especially to little Ashley the patient who had to go back to surgery - anyone who has a day like that needs some sort of prize! When we only had one patient left I let Orquida & Alma leave & stayed with Jacob to finish the last patient. We got out about 9:30 & to the hotel at 10 - a 16 hour day but not too bad. I worked a lot on my Spanish today sometimes to great outbursts of laughter but I tried!
We should have a bigger day tomorrow with 5 tables I think?, more patients & an earlier start so hopefully an ending time similar to tonight & then I am on call :/ No giant life changing events today just 16 families who were so appreciative that this team of strangers is here with the sole purpose of helping their children - the clothes & toys we share are a bonus & much appreciated but it is the life changing surgeries that are so powerful. A year between missions has been a long time. I am not sure when I will be able to go again but I am grateful to be here in this place now doing what I can on this mission. GOOD NIGHT!!!
Wake up call was t 6 & breakfast at 6:30 with a team mtg at 6:45 & leave for the hospital at 7. Day #1 is always a slow start but this one was faster than normal I think we got to the hospital at 7:30 & had the first patient on a table at 9:15. We finished setting up the PACU - it really is pretty nice. We also had the mock code & then they started the tables one at a time. It turns out that we could only have 3 official surgeons because 2 were not credentialed by Op Smile; so they set up 5 tables & the surgeons after completing a case instead of having down time between patients would then go to another table . We only had 16 on the schedule for today so we did all of them & an additional DR Surgeon came over after lunch to help.
We got our first round of 3 patients rapid fire at 11 am - all lips & little 7-8 month olds 2 boys & a girl. We brought all 3 of the mamas back & they were all tearful, emotional & grateful for their child's surgery & how new smiles to them meant new lives. Truly those responses by parents just never fail to choke me up & remind me how rewarding this work is. I was able to give all those little ones cute new outfits - Elian, Jhalise & Aris. I got cute photos of them I will post on FB & Instagram.
The 2nd round of patients were all palates so by 2:15 we had only had 5 of 16 patients back plus a 6th patient that was a BIG bleeder & needed to go back to the OR. As is always the case the PACU is either feast or famile somehow....
I did go to "comida" lunch during that time. There was in a white Styrofoam box enough white rice for a family of 4, a separate cup of beans, a macaroni salad with lots of mayo (warm I'm pretty sure) & a piece of meat in sauce that might have been ham??? I opted not to have that & was glad I packed peanut butter, crackers & protein bars! The bigger crisis is there was not a diet soda to be found. I thought Pepsi was one of the sponsors but if they were there was only regular Pepsi available. I asked my roommate to get me 4 Diet Cokes when she got back (cause I knew the store would be closed by the time I got back) so I can have one a day to get me thru my afternoon/early evening hump!
16 patients seemed so manageable & like a nice day but when 11 of the 16 are palates those are big, painful surgeries with a lot of unhappy kids waking up. Fortunately Jacob is all about pain control so we were liberal with the meds to keep the kids comfortable.
One of my afternoon patients was an 11 month old boy Oscarlin & he was a CHUBBY BOY - rolls & rolls everywhere - I gave him a 2T outfit & loved snuggling him! I also gave some dolls away today especially to little Ashley the patient who had to go back to surgery - anyone who has a day like that needs some sort of prize! When we only had one patient left I let Orquida & Alma leave & stayed with Jacob to finish the last patient. We got out about 9:30 & to the hotel at 10 - a 16 hour day but not too bad. I worked a lot on my Spanish today sometimes to great outbursts of laughter but I tried!
We should have a bigger day tomorrow with 5 tables I think?, more patients & an earlier start so hopefully an ending time similar to tonight & then I am on call :/ No giant life changing events today just 16 families who were so appreciative that this team of strangers is here with the sole purpose of helping their children - the clothes & toys we share are a bonus & much appreciated but it is the life changing surgeries that are so powerful. A year between missions has been a long time. I am not sure when I will be able to go again but I am grateful to be here in this place now doing what I can on this mission. GOOD NIGHT!!!
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