It was an early start to the day, up at 5 am breakfast at 5:30 & arrived at the hospital at 7 am for a Team mtg outside. It was already hot at 7 am! Not sure why I bothered to put on some makeup – since I sweat it all off in the 1st 5 min – oh well it will save me time in the morning tomorrow getting ready. The hospital was also already an oven inside. We solved the PACU location dilemma-David was thoughtful & heard what we all had to say & we will be in their PACU. It’s going to be a bit cramped & we will definitely be inconveniencing them but it’s our best option for this time. I guess this is part of the “Fact Finding” we are doing. This space would not work in future missions with more patients & bigger kids/teens so we will need to brainstorm. We got the PACU set up. We did our Mock Code & I will be responsible for the monitor & Compressions should an emergency occur.
OSI had a donor who purchased wall mounted AC units that
were installed in 3 OR’s & a portable AC unit they brought to PACU. We got
ours about 10 am & it was like getting the best gift ever-I was so excited. Since there is not a door on the PACU
it doesn’t fully cool the room but it absolutely makes a difference-it’s the
little things & this was actually a big thing!
We have 10 cases today all primary lips. Each case will take
double the time so a 1 hour case will be 2 hours as the surgeons &
anesthesia train the local physicians. Some of what we set up last night had
“disappeared over night” so we had no thermometers or diapers. I had $$ from a high school
friend & gave it to Ambra to go get those that will stay w/ OSI Guatemala
for future missions. Our Blood Pressure
cuffs also disappeared but those were harder to replace in country fortunately
BioMed had an extra set.
This is a regional hospital & the only hospital in the
area & for many miles. It is very busy as it serves such a vast area. They
do about 25 deliveries a day which is A LOT & it seems there are many C
Sections that take place here. It breaks my heart to see these new mons in
recovery on metal gurneys w/o sheets. There are not many “Nurses” in Guatemala
– they do have aides & that is who is in recovery w/ us but they do very
little for the patients, some patients would raise their hand for help & while we
couldn’t do anything for them I did smile & hold a few hands. It is a
different world here & this was a big dose of 3rd world medical
care reality that came rushing back.
We got our 1st patients at noon, the 2nd
set at 2:45 & the last set between 5-6 pm. I was grateful my PACU clinical
skills kicked in the moment the 1st patient arrived – just like
riding a bike 😊. We have a GREAT PACU team – David the
Intensivist is from PA & we have been on 2 missions together including my
last mission in Morocco pre-pandemic. He is young & works as a PICU doctor
Part Time & does one OSI mission a month which is a huge commitment &
contribution.
In the PACU we brought all the moms back in w/ the babies
once they were settled. It is always so touching to see their reactions – some
had tears of joy & others prayers of thanks. My little friend Lorenzo from
screening who was in the Batman outfit at screening had surgery today & I got some cute
photos – he is such a cute boy who now has a new smile!
Visiting w/ Ellel re, life in Nicaragua. Last year the
Nicaraguan President (who is more of a Dictator & wants his country to be like Venezuela) kicked all the Non Profits out of the country –
he felt their “western influence” was causing some unrest in his country – such
a loss to the people of Nicaragua & OSI as they had a clinic there & a
strong “in country workforce of trained volunteers” It was heartbreaking to
hear him talk. He also said that Nurses there & here in Guatemala make
about $300-$400/month for full time work 40 hours/week so that is about $2.50
hour??? If you make $400/month
We left the hospital by 7 & were at the hotel by 8, went
straight to dinner there, took a shower, called my family, packed my suitcase
& went to bed – another 5 am wake up call!
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