Today is the last day at the hospital! Sad it is coming to an end, I feel like we all just got here! I will start my post about Tuesday now that I am at the hospital. Here is a beautiful picture of the first COMPLETELY clear day on the walk to the hospital!! So beautiful.
Yesterday was a wonderful day. Rita, Joe and I went in a little early so that we could feed the babies that are in the nursery.
On the first day of the mission, we had a tour of the hospital which is where we saw the nursery as I said in an earlier post, so we thought it would be special to go do that. Some of the babies are very happy and others are rather stoic. We really have no idea what they have been through, given the fact that they are taken into this nusery, so maybe this is why they are more calm and not necessarily smiley babies. One of the babies that I was holding was very happy and curious, but that was obviously not the case for all of them. A lot of them have many disabilities which is difficult to see, but it is important for there to be new, smiling faces for these kids. There were some older children who were in wheelchairs that we got to feed. This was also sad, but important as I said. The boy I fed was 7 years old and it appeared that he had cerebral palsy. One of the nurses said that his mother had malnutrition when he was pregnant with him, but it seemed that he had more than that. Despite this being hard to take in, it was very special to spend one morning there.After feeding the little ones, I did some more interviews. They really flowed nicely yesterday because of all of the practice I have been getting. I got nervous to talk with the families initially, but it truly is enjoyable now because I can understand most of what is going on, even with incredibly fast talkers! I feel I have come a long way since Sunday at screening.
I briefly said in the last post that I got to help Dr. Quatela out in the O.R. which was quite an experience! I have scrubbed in as an assistant to my Dad on missions to the Philippines before, but that is my only experience and that was quite a while ago. So it was exciting to be a part of a surgery again just doing little things like holding skin hooks and cutting stitches. The coolest part was watching how he carves the rib. For those who are not familiar with the surgery, the surgeons need to take 3 pieces of rib from the patient which they mold and bend to the shape of an ear.
This is then placed into the area of the patient´s deformed ear which the surgeon has loosened and cut up so there is room for the framework of the "ear" made from rib to fit. The carving and sewing of the rib pieces together takes a good amount of time. Dr. Q needs to make sure that the durability is just right. Although the ear will not be as durable and bendable as a normal ear, it is still much better than having a deformed ear. 3 or 4 surgeries are necessary to complete the transformation, so little by little the ear looks more and more natural.After watching the 2nd patient I scrubbed in again for the 3rd, but then I left when I was not needed to take some more pictures of the hospital and the team.
At the end of the day, I went on rounds to see the patients with Chris, Dr. Quatela´s new fellow, and Dr. Q. Some of the kids got nervous for their drains to be taken out which was sad to see, but they are all just a bit pain sensitive a few days after their surgeries which is understandable.
Today, Wednesday, has been pretty regular and low key. The Padre, who had given us the tour and introduction at the hospital, came today to say thank you to the team, share the hospital´s hopes, dreams and plans, and hand out certificates for us! After that, I have just been doing my normal interviews. Lexi, who is Tony´s daughter, tagged along with me to my interviews since she is learning Spanish also and wanted to be exposed to the interactions with the families. I have had the opportunity to talk to all of the kids in my interviews today which is rare!
Later I am going to go to post-op and talk with the kids and families from the previous days to see how they are doing. After that, I will probably just be taking more pictures and helping to pack things up! It has been a nice and easy last day so far. Can´t complain. I am sad to leave, but also very excited to go home to start on this project with making this book! Tonight we are having some sort of last night dinner along with a celebration for Penny´s birthday which will be nice. Some people are staying for some extra time, but most of the Rochesterians will be making the trek home together tomorrow! We should be getting home around midnight. It will be a long day of travel but it all has been worth it.
The volunteers are starting to get crazy as the trip comes to an end...
Will post more tomorrow about our last day!
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