"It is not how much you do, but how much love you put in the doing."

My first OR patient!
The best patient I EVER saw wake up from anesthesia!
<3
One of my favorites!!! 3 months old!
It was her birthday! So we wrote it on her head!

What a week! A 21 person team of doctors and nurses from the states came to do a surgical brigade last week here at San Benito, the hospital where I work! The non-profit organization that they work with is called The Light of the World Charities, http://www.lightoftheworldcharities.com/ . I thought I would just be doing translating stuff, and working on the recuperation side, after patients came out of the recovery room, because they already came with a full team, but I was pleasantly wrong! At the last minute one of the recovery room nurses could not make the trip, and they asked me to do it! With much trepidation, and a lot of encouragement from Br. Damiano (who is also a nurse) I said yes! It proved to be one of the most educational and stretching weeks, but I LOVED it! Being such a new nurse, it was amazing to use all the skills that I don’t use everyday in the clinic here. Things like IV meds, suctioning, foley’s etc! To all the non-medical people sorry, but these are some of the things that make healthcare professionals tick! I grew so much in my confidence! One of my patients was Kaidey, she was a 2 year old cleft palette patient. Her surgery went well, but afterwards she spiked a high fever, and was having trouble breathing. What we later found out, and this happens frequently, is that the parents always will say that the child has not had a cold or fever, even if it’s not true. The parents are not educated enough to know the dangers of doing surgery on a sick child, and all they know is that they have waited so long for this, and they won’t have this opportunity again. I can’t imagine what I would do as a parent, especially seeing this surgery as her only chance for repair. For Kaidey, after many hours in the recovery room, she began to perk up and we put her in a regular room. But by the end of the day, it was obvious that she was getting worse, and she needed a chest X-Ray to check for pneumonia. It was now past hours, and most of the team had left except for 5 of us. I was so touched by Dr. Carlos who is the chief of medicine at the hospital. He told the parents what was going on, and what Kaidey needed. We then got in his car and took this little girl for all the tests she needed, and then Dr. Carlos personally cared for her for the night! His shift was over at 5pm, and at 10pm we were still getting blood tests! I see here everyday how blessed I am to work with people who truly care for these individuals, sacrificing there own preferences to help one little girl. Another highlight of the week was working with Dr. Steve, a GYN surgeon from Ohio. Just watching the way he worked with each patient, without even being able to speak their language, he put them at peace, and cared for them so beautifully. This Doctor talked so beautifully about his wife and children, it was so encouraging to work with a man of such dedication and integrity. I could write about Jeanne, Mark, Arnold, Kathy, Judy…the list goes on and on… To come across people who are so genuine, and authentic has truly been one of the greatest gifts here. After talking to Theresa Banks, the President of Light of the World, I am now a part of the team! I am looking forward to the next brigade in November, and many more to come! Each day brings new lessons, and new challenges, I am striving to live moment by moment. Keep the prayers coming, I need them! You are in my prayers as well!
God Bless~

Therese