We start our day off with breakfast, our morning prayers and devotional. Dr. Heinrich & Dr. Pond give a few words of wisdom and a quick pep talk-everyone is motivated to tackle the third surgery day of our mission week here in Guatemala. As a group, we walk to the Obras. This is one of our favorite moments of the day. This is a time we can take in the beauty of Antigua and sightsee a bit. We know that this year looks and feels different because of COVID. So anytime we are outside of the Obras, or the Quinta walls, we are lucky enough to be enjoying the beauty and the history of Guatemala. Rounding on the patients and we discover that are all doing great! Many can be discharged to go home.
As the doctors all seemed to be very pleased with the surgery cases, as well as our patients. One of which really stood out was a twelve-year-old girl named Stephanie. She has severe bilateral juvenile bunions on both feet which causes her to walk in constant pain. During our triage clinic, we could tell she was nervous. Of course, Dr. Ebert put her and her mother’s anxieties to ease. Although she needed surgery on both feet, her recovery would be much harder. Stephanie was up for this, even though she knew it would be hard. In Stephanie’s case, her diagnosis is hereditary. Stephanie and her mom left the triage clinic Sunday confident in their decision, along with their confidence in Dr. Ebert. Her surgery was a success, and she is doing amazingly! Stephanie is a bright, sweet, spirited girl who got her confidence back because of our surgeons, our team, Faith In Practice and Dr. Ebert. Stephanie would like to rely to all of you that she is “Thankful for this opportunity for her surgery and is grateful that this surgery is going to help her with her confidence. She is excited to share it with her followers.” She shared with us that she started a YouTube channel that she debuts her songs and singing on. Please check out the blog photos of Stephanie!
After a wonderful and uplifting day of surgeries, the team had a treat of Liz Bell. A local historian & Antigua enthusiast, visit us at the Quinta. She shared her walking tour video of some of the historic sights of Antigua. For some of our new team members, it was a great way to see the beautiful buildings, and historic monuments the local area has to offer. We are grateful to Ms. Bell to coming to see us!
As we wind down the evening, we are all thinking that tomorrow is the last surgery day of the week. How can a week go by so quickly? I think most of us agree, we could stay another 6 days, to do more surgeries and enjoy the beauty and people of Guatemala. We are feel so blessed to be here and to have this experience.
Love,
Vanessa
