Meet Hermegildo, he came to Obras for a knee replacement and had learned about Faith in Practice and the surgical teams from his friend Pedro. Pedro also had a knee replacement 4 months ago. Hermegildo did not have to wait long before he was in Antigua to meet Dr Pond for his surgery!
Hermegildo is from La Nueva Libertad, Guatemala. His community team leader Juan helped him arrange his surgery and travel with his wife to Guatemala, a 14 hour bus ride from his town. The bus made many stops picking up a total of 30 patients and their companions along the way.
When Dr Pond met with Hermegildo he noticed how much pain he was in, hunched over and just struggling to walk at all. There was concern that he may also be having issues with his spine and it would be difficult for Hermegildo to coordinate and meet with a specialist.
Almost immediately after Hermegildo had his knee replacement surgery he was up and walking, up and down the hallways of Obras, straight as an arrow and totally out of pain! This morning he told me he was much more calm and so happy to be walking around without pain!
Update: Keily is all smiles this morning! She is up and around using her new walker, a pink walker at that! Edith showed her how to use the walker during her PT session so she doesn’t put any weight on her foot for the next six weeks. Keily is looking forward to going back to school and making new friends!
~ Wendy Kirsner
