Melina, PA joins us for a week

Last Saturday, Melina joined us for a week and assisted Marta with clinics. Marta continues to progress in her new role and seeing patients. She has been very helpful and it was great having her with us.

She went with Marta on Monday to Santa Clara. They did not have as many patients there as we had hoped for but on Tuesday and Wednesday, they stayed very busy.

On Wednesday, we hit the street for some lunch. One of the mother of a young patient, asked for our photo with her son.

The mother later sent me the photo and said, Thank you Gringa Amiga!

On Friday, Melina helped Silvia in the sterilization room packing towels.  I am not sure that Melina would want to take this role on full-time.

 

Many people do not think of the time and amount of work that goes into preparation for a surgical team.  The group works hard and I appreciate all that they do.

 

Melina, thank you for visiting us. Remember that you always have an invitation to return to Montellano and I hope that we see you in the near future.

Diabetic Club at Hospital Ezell

We have noticed over the several last years that the population of diabetics in on the increase.  We are seeing more patients with high blood pressure and complicated histories.

It is  a challenge to maintain diabetics but it is something that Health Talents has been interested in. With the collaboration of two other areas close to Montellano, yesterday we had the first meeting of the Diabetic Club.

Dr. Allen, welcomed everyone to the meeting and discussed topics that diabetics should know about.

The members of the group, were diagnosed less than six months ago.  They will be maintained in their community and be followed by their primary physician.  They will meet monthly at Ezell and will have access to come to the clinic to walk.

 

We are hoping that with proper education, medical supervision and the assistance of a support group, that patients will remain controlled and have a productive lifestyle.

 

At the next meeting on September 21, Noe Chan, will be at the meeting.  He will discuss physical therapy and exercises that can be useful to diabetic patients.

Plastic, Urology and General Surgery

The time goes by so quickly between two surgical trips.  We clean, restock, clean again and then greet our guests!

Remember that TV show, Fantasy Island? As I wrote that last sentence, I thought of how they must have felt. Each team is different.  Each group of surgeons and nurses arrive with different talents and expectations of how the week will go. I hope that we can surpass what they had hoped for.

The patients are on the other side......coming for care, usually expecting and hoping for surgery that will ease their pain and make life more enjoyable. Often, their pain is not only physical but also emotional and spiritual. Seeds were planted and we pray that they fell on fertile soil.

As usual we prepped the week before the team arrived. People may not think about the work that goes into preparing the surgical packets and gowns. Amadesi helps us with the the surgical teams.

Jacklyn, is one of our nurses and she also preps.

 

Not only do we prep materials but we also prep the patients with labs and evaluations.

 

Saturday afternoon, a group arrived early to start the consults early for patients needing plastic surgery.

On Sunday morning, we worshiped with the Montellano Church of Christ. Bode spoke and Oscar translated for him.  He then lead a song, which should be our daily prayer.

Father God, just for today, help me to walk your narrow way. Help me stand when I might fall. Give me your strength to hear Your call. May my steps be worship, may my tho’ts be praise. May my words bring honor to your name. May my steps be worship, may my tho’ts be praise. May my words bring honor to your name. 

One of our patients waiting for surgery.

This young patient enjoyed her walks with her mom.

By the end of the week, we had cared for 56 patients. It was a busy week but we are so thankful that all went well.  There were no complications and all of the patients will be seen the next Friday by Dr. Walter.

On Friday morning, it was time to take the final photo and load the bus up.

A drone took the photo for us.

We prayed for everyone's safe travels and look forward to the time that we can serve together again.

GYN and General Surgical Week

Prior to the surgical trip, we had our first Zoom meeting with nurses. Alice, our vice president, led the meeting after sending out multiple invitations. The goal of this meeting is to improve communication before a team arrives. During the meeting, everyone is encouraged to ask questions and it gives us/me more information to help the week run smoothly.

Elaine, who previously was an HTI president, also participated in the Zoom meeting

First is Isabella. She is a nursing student at Abilene Christian University. In the navy blue is Kerri, who is an RN and this was her first trip with Health Talents. Miranda is also a student at ACU and Ann Cross who has many years with us here in Guatemala. It was great to see Ann again and also have some new people with us!

The week progressed and all went well.  He had sixty five surgeries between GYN and General.

Victor, one of our evangelists, went from bed-to-bed to pray with patients.

 

One night, we needed to give a patient some blood.  We needed three donors and within minutes, we had them!

 

The first donor was Kerri. 

 

The second was Kimmi.

 

Masson completed the third unit.

 

The week flew by fast.  Soon, it was time to be packing up and taking that last photo.

 

We prayed for safe travels to Antigua and that all would go smoothly. We are looking forward to the next time that you will be able to serve with us again!

A New Microscope Arrives!

Today we had a new microscope delivered. Darling, Silvia, Sergio and I were there to welcome our new friend to Ezell, and to understand the general maintenance that it will need to stay comfortable.

The truck parked near the new entrance.

Once they had removed everything to secure it for the transfer, they were able to lower it.

It was like waiting for Christmas.

 

 

Piece-by-piece it was taken inside.......

 

 

and slowly assembled.

 

 

Sergio and Silvia found the manual and started researching.

 

We finally have a finished product! 

 

I am so excited to welcome this piece of equipment to the team! It will serve many people and I hope that it serves HTI for many, many years to come!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Talented Young People

Many people have mentioned how nice and professional the last group of new employees are.  I am so excited that they are now working with us and they are continuing to grow.

I have showed photos of the flowers around Ezell and that primarily is due to Milton and Javier. Milton often preaches for the Montellano church and often lead leads singing in our weekly devotional time.

Sergio, primarily works at the entrance gate. He is great with the public, leads singing and is very electronically minded. When we need him, we have someone cover for him at the gate and he comes running to help.

Another great guy is Luis David or sometimes, I mess around and call him David Luis. This young man continue to grow his resume with us from working in triage, working in dental and helping with the laboratory.

He now has expanded his skills into carpentry.  He took apart a doorway in one of the apartments and replaced it. I am not going to give you his phone number because I know you would call and leer him away from HTI.......just kidding.

Ya have to get started.

 

Then it is looking like there is some hope.

 

Then you have the finished product!

 

We are very fortunate to have young men step up and take ownership and pride in what they are able to do.

They are a blessing for the current and future church.

Sheri is One Year Old

It was just a year ago that Javier and Evelyn had their baby and they named her, Sheri. What an honor. She almost received the name Sherif but Odbulio rushed to the legal office to be sure the spelling was correct.

This afternoon at church, we celebrated her special day.  Of course, every birthday needs a couple of cakes.

 

She liked being around the cakes but when it came time to bite one, not sure that she enjoyed it very much.

Javier, Evelyn and Sheri. 

 

 

Then joined by Lorenzo and Octavia, who are Evelyn's parents.

 

It was a fun evening and a perfect day to celebrate her birthday!