Today was triage day for Team Hope in Motion at Obras Sociales del Santo Hermano Pedro Hospital! The goal for the team was to meet the patients, perform triage with detailed diagnoses, organize the space for operating room activities including implants, instruments, anesthesia equipment, immediate post op care, recovery room care and physical therapy.
The day started with a HIIT workout for those ambitious souls who wanted to rise at 5:30a.m., a wonderful breakfast and an inspiring devotional message from Gavin Dozier. The team walked a brief 10-minute jaunt under clear skies over to the Obras Hospital. Andres gave the team a brief tour of the hospital, instructional briefing on hospital protocol including when and where to use scrubs, head and shoe coverings and clinic dress code. This year we have 5 operating rooms, consisting of two knee rooms, one hip room, one hip and knee room and one foot and ankle room. The clinic was humming with activity as the team started to digest the complexity of the patient conditions and whether we have the right implants to treat the wide variety of lower limb conditions.
Within the first hour, several very challenging knee, hip and foot and ankle patients presented in the clinic. One knee patient had an auto accident 15 years ago that has gone untreated and will require a rotating hinge knee implant. Another two knee patients have had infections of previously implanted total knee replacements and that are now clear of infection and ready to be re-implanted but with substantial bone and ligament loss. Multiple hip patients came to the clinic with no functioning hip joint that had been damaged by previous trauma or debilitating conditions that lead to major destruction of their hip joint. From the foot and ankle perspective, patient after patient hobbled into the examination room with malaligned feet, unequal leg lengths and other conditions that have presented major challenges for these patients to perform the act of walking. The images and videos really provide great examples of the types of knee, hip and foot patients who will be surgically treated starting tomorrow.
At the end of the day, it appeared that the team was feeling very comfortable and that we are ready to wake up tomorrow and start treating arthritis, repairing physical abnormalities and transforming the lives of many Guatemalan patients, and by association, their families.
Stay tuned for more, and thank you for your support.
-John
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