It’s Day 2 of our mission; everyone, bright-eyed and cheerful, sat down for breakfast, talking about the fantastic adventure in store for the day. After breakfast, we had a great devotional befitting for the first day as we all anticipated seeing the Obras (Hospital where all the work will happen) and the patients. We now make the 20-minute walk to the Obras, going along the cobblestone roads and noticing significant local buildings and artifacts. We arrive at a beautiful facility that is yellow and looks like a church. The church is next door, and we are actually at the newly renovated hospital, Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro. Again we are welcomed by the Faith In Practice staff members, and everything is so well organized that it is hard to believe the dedication of the people of Guatemala.
Once in the hospital, we could see the patients inside and outside, just waiting to see all the doctors that had come to help. We go through another round of orientation and a quick tour of the newly renovated hospital. Many of the folks on the team could hardly recognize the place as it was bigger and better than before. The team is split into groups, pre-ops consulting, OR setup, and triage. The doctors on the team started meeting with patients with the help of translators, to ensure that the communication between the doctors and patients was understood to help determine the best course of action. The second team of nurses was busy all day getting the OR rooms ready for the week’s surgery efforts. As the doctors and nurses were busy, it gave some of us non-doctors a chance to visit with some of the patients, hand out coloring books/crayons to children, and get sound cards from a group in Houston. Wow, it is just unbelievable the stories these patients have and their struggles. They were coming from hours away, living with the pain for so long until they could see the doctors. The doctors were able to see over 80 patients today to help understand what was calling them and get them set up for surgery during the week. It took all day to see the patients and get the OR ready for the week.
Day 2 was incredible as you can see the heart-felt enthusiasm from each team member to ensure the best care for the patients they were seeing. After a long hard day, we head back for some much-needed relaxation and dinner as everyone looks forward to Day 3.
