Rand's Web Page
Mission to Guatemala Fall 2008 (Page 2)
| Monday November 17th. We had another 10 cases with more of them being bigger hernias or bilateral. I have enjoyed the assistance of a number of Guatemalan medical students (one shown here) and a Guatemalan scrub nurse. We all learn from each other. |
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This was the first case of the day. She had the large hernia I showed on the previous page. This is how it looked at the conclusion of the operation. |
| Becky helped out in many capacities including helping to corral preoperative patients. One function she enjoyed was reading to the children. She had brought some classic children's books in Spanish. |
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She had an official function as our pharmacist. She dispensed the medications to the patients at discharge from the recovery room. |
| Betty also got to do some teaching. |
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I took a brief break to meet Dr. Herrera, the founder of the medical school and this clinic. He has interests in a large sugar mill that I think provided the funds. |
| There were a few Guatemalan student nurses that tended any patients we left in recovery overnight. The Guatemalans are a small people as a rule. |
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The patients stayed in an adjacent dormitory. I would make rounds there a couple times per day to check on their progress. This is the dining hall. The men and women are separated to opposite sides for sleeping but I don't know why they maintain the separation for dining. |
| Tuesday November 18th. This is the ear lesion (from the previous page) after the excisions. We did another 10 cases today including this one. |
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It's nice to relax by the fire at the end of a long day. |
| Wednesday November 19th. We did only 9 patients today but three of them were bilateral hernias. This little girl is Anna, a medical student interested in surgery who has been a big help to me. She is 23 years old and weighs less than 80 lbs. but holds her own. The other one is Joe Leier - our biomed tech and general McGuyver. |
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We ate together as a team each evening. |
| The Scrabble board came out later in the week. |
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Thursday November 20th. We did another 9 procedures this day. We made rounds a couple times per day in the adjacent building where the patients stayed. |
| Here I am conferring with the medical students as to whether a patient is ready for discharge. |
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One of our favorite patients was 6 year old Fredy. Like all the patients, he had to wait from Saturday until the day of his surgery. Chris was a team member who was there for construction. He took an instant liking to Fredy and found activities to get him involved. |
| When it came time for Fredy's surgery, Chris was right with him. |
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And he was there when Fredy woke up after a successful operation. |
| He bounced right back from his surgery... |
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...and was his normal self in a couple of hours. |