Homeward Bound!!

Today was the day that the parents have been waiting for......................traveling home!!

This is Brayon and his mom.  They had a good night and are ready to travel back to Chichicastenango.

This is Brayon's third post-op day and he is healing well.  In a week, this scabbed area will fall off and the swelling will have decreased a lot.

This is also Nelson's third post-op day and he is doing well too.

His parents are ready to hop in that van and travel!

Dilon was a sleepy head this morning.  I wish I had a video of him stretching his arms and then he fell back asleep. He and his parents will be traveling home to Panajachel, near Lake Atitlan.

Santiago was outside playing with his family.  So this is his mom, his grandmother and his younger brother.  They will also return to the Chichicastenango area.

What a great week it has been!  All of the patients have done well.  These babies will have a couple of weeks to heal and will come to clinic on March the 5th to see us.

We are so thankful for the team that came and spent a week with us.  We had many seasoned staff and also some new members.  We hope to see everyone return to a clinic in the near future.  What a blessing that they have been to 52 patients and their families.  May God be with them as they travel back to the states on Saturday.

One More Wonderful Day!

Another wonderful day with patients, families, the Guatemalan staff and our team.  Happy Valaentine's Day to everyone!

We finished the day with nine GYN cases and three plastic cases.

This is Yefery.  He had a motorcycle accident a few years ago that damaged to his nose and created difficulty in breathing.  Dr. Philip helped Yefery and he is so very thankful.  He likes being with us.  He had the option of going home on Monday and he opted to stay until tomorrow when the vans return for the babies.  He is a really good guy and it has been a pleasure to help him!

This is Bryan sleeping right after breakfast. This is his second post-op day.

Nelson's mom stepped outside so his father stayed with him a little this morning.  This is Nelson's first post-op day and he is doing well.  Notice the wisps of his hair due to the fan action!

Dilon continues to do well on his second post-op day.  His parents are still very excited for this opportunity.

Today Santiago was not a happy baby.  I tried to get a photo of him but could never catch him at a good time.  I will try again tomorrow.

The babies will be discharged in the morning.  The drivers know to come and pick them up.  They will receive their discharge teaching and have a follow-up appointment with us in Lemoa on March 5th.

It has been a great week thus far and I believe that tomorrow will be the same.  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for all of our patients. God has been with us every day.

Sailed Through Day Two!

What a day it was!!  We finished ten GYN cases and four plastic cases without any problems and it was good.  We are so thankful and acknowledge God because we know that is where our strength and abilities come from. 

Yesterday evening, we had a severe burn patient that is thirty-nine years old.  Her name is Esperaza and she has epilepsy.  Last year, she fell into a fire when she had a seizure and she suffered severe burning and scaring of her chest, neck and face.  Such a horrible event for this young lady. Surgery was done to help regain some function of her neck movement.  Everyone has been concerned on how well she would do and we were pleased this morning that she continued to do well through the night.

Today, Nelson went for his surgery. He was the last of the babies that I brought with me and his mother has been patient.

Nelson and his mom immediately after surgery.  His surgery is being sponsored by Beverly and Doris.

We made rounds on all of the patients.  Santiago struck a pose for us again today.  He did well through the night after his palate repair yesterday.

Dilon and his mom did well through the night.

Brayon and his mom also did well.

The babies are not quite up to playing yet but it will not take long for them to recover.  They have been resting and eating cherry and grape popsicles.

I hope that everyone rests well tonight........patients, families and the surgical team.  Tomorrow will be another adventure.

Full Day of Surgeries!

The OR cranked up early this morning and ran pretty much non-stop all day.

Aida had the good news that she was able to go home.  This is Aida and her father before she was discharged.

Dr. Dwayne came to see her one more time before they left.  They are very thankful for the surgery and also very thankful to Ava for her support.  I will see Aida on March 5th, when she comes for her post-op visit.

First out of the operating room this morning was Dilon.  When Dilon's mom and dad first saw him, they were so excited!  Tamera and Dr. Michael brought Dilon out and mom and dad were in awe!

Dilon was placed in his mother's arms and slept for a short time.

The swelling and bruising is normal but in a week will look so much better.

Brayon kept us entertained before his surgery.  He had quite an audiencee as he was waiting to be taken back to the operating room.

Brandon and Dilon have won the hearts of the staff this week!

When Brayon came out of surgery, he was very restless.........but after some medicine, he was able to rest better.

We will be sore and uncomfortable for a few days but he will heal quickly and then be back to playing!

When Santiago's grandmother told him that we wanted to take a photo of him, his two thumbs popped up and he struck a pose for us. Everyone went to grab their camera to capture the moment!

Santiago was very sleepy after surgery so he stayed in the recovery area a little longer than usual.  He then woke up and did well.

Nelson and his mom had a rather boring day.  He will have surgery in the morning so today was just a waiting game for them.

We are so thankful that all of the surgeries went well today.  To God, we give all the glory and praise.

Tomorrow, we will start early and have fourteen surgeries planned. 

First Day of Surgery!

Let the surgeries begin!

I met everyone at the airport yesterday as their flights arrived.   We were disappointed to hear that Quinton and Ann would not be coming due to illness.  We pray that they recover soon.

Jan and Drew missed connecting flights so they arrived today.

Last night we began the consults and things went smoothly.  Today we finished with four plastic surgeries and four GYN cases.  It was a day to get everyone acclimated.   We have several new people with us and I believe that they will rise to the occasion.

I took some photos before we worshiped this morning with the Montellano Church.  All of the patients from the Chichi and Panajchel areas arrived without any problems.

This is Nelson with his mom. He is being sponsored by Beverly and Doris, who are aunts of our Doctor Philip.  He was pleased when he had the opportunity to meed Nelson and His mom last night.

This is Dilon and if you have read the blog before, his surgery is being sponsored by Ava. Ava is a young lady that made bracelets and sold them to raise the needed support for Dilon's surgery. Ava's story does not end there, so please continue to read.

 

This is Santiago and his surgery is being sponsored by Frank and Evelyn.  Frank and Evelyn also sponsored his lip surgery in August of 2016.

This young lady is Aida and she was almost ready to go into the operating room to have a small mass taken off her thumb.  This is the other part of Ava's willingness to help others.  She raised enough money by making and selling bracelets that she could help another patient!  I have  loved telling this story to those that have not heard yet.  With her, is our Chaplian for the week, Jerry.   He has spent the day with patients before they do into the operating room.

This is Brayon and he has been running around most of the day playing.  His surgery is being sponsored by Angie.

It has been a full day but things have gone well.

We will continue to pray for each patient at the end of the day and give praise to God because all has gone well.  As Marie would say, if she were here........"Tomorrow will be exactly like today but a whole lot different!"

Clinic in Chuchipaca

On  Saturday, I went to Chuchipaca for clinic.  Lisa and Kemmel went to the wedding of Noe and Kathlyn.  We had a good clinic with 30 patients. 

We saw a young man who is a patient of  Dr. Lisa and he is a severe diabetic with bilateral cataracts.  His blood sugar has been so high that the machine could not read it.  Today, it was 256!  Yes, he has a ways to go but we are seeing some progress.

I saw another lady who had something enter her right eye a month ago.  She has been going to a clinic in Solola but has not improved at all.  Sadly, her left eye has a dense cataract.  I called Sandra at ASELSI and got her an appointment in about two weeks.  I was very excited about that. Carol, a friend of mine, introduced me to Dr. DeLeon that goes there monthly to see patients and he provides a great service.

This is the Chuchipaca congregation.

Every Saturday afternoon, the ladies clean and prepare for Sunday

So after clinic today, I went to Chuchipaca to have their first ladies Bible class.  Maria went with me to translate into K'iche'.  Maria is Mauri's aunt, for those of you who have been down before. The ladies had given me a theme for today and that is what we did.

Love your children as you love God, was our topic today.  It was a good class with between 60 and 70 ladies there.

When we finished several helped me pack up everything and asked if they could ride down the road with us.  Before I knew it, six ladies had crawled into the back seat!  They did not care how cramped they were!  They laughed the whole ride and had a fun time.

We will return on March 19th for a class on Ruth and Naomi.