The first day of surgery starts with the Heinrich/Pond team and the staff of the Obras, setting up the 5 ORs in preparation to meet their first 18 patients of the week. While the team prepares, the patients gather in the waiting area and sit together quietly with their families. The Friar meets with every family to pray with them and calm their nerves before surgery. Some patients are visibly nervous, and some are very stoic, either way, they are ready for this special day.
The first 5 patient names are called. Each patient is escorted to pre-op where they will meet with their Doctor and Anesthetist to go over their procedure. Great care is taken to confirm with each patient which procedure they will have and where, to talk about their health, and to confirm no one has eaten. This is when we hear some laughter from patients when their doctor tries to make jokes in their broken Spanish; it’s a joy to see the patients start to relax!
After surgery, the patients will meet with Heather or Edith, who have joined the team, they provide Physical Therapy for everyone before they go home. Heather and Edith join the team from Green Oaks Physical Therapy in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, who generously send PTs every year to Obras. They are joined by Mario Fajardo who lives in Guatemala and is studying to be a Physical Therapist at Rafael Landivar University.
Meet Evelyn, she traveled to Antigua for 1.5 hours from the Pacific Ocean coast town of San Jose to have a tumor excised from her ankle by Dr. Ebert. The growth had become so large that she could no longer wear a shoe on her right foot, and this made walking very difficult. After Evelyn’s surgery, Heather and Mario fitted her with crutches and taught her to use a walker. Evelyn found getting around on crutches much easier for now, so the hospital will provide them to her when she goes home.
Meet Bernada, she traveled 5 hours to Antigua from Morazan, an agricultural municipality in central Guatemala, by bus with her daughter. Bernada needed a knee replacement and heard about Faith in Practice from her friend, who also had surgery from the Heinrich/Pond team. Bernada did her research and was so hopeful that she waited a full year for the team to come back to Antigua for her surgery. Edith showed Bernada and her daughter the exercises to do when she went home after staying the night at Casa de Fe. Bernada will make the return trip home and travel another 5 hours home with her daughter by bus.
~ Wendy Kirsner
