Another Day

9/9/09

Imagine if you can, being told that you have a heart condition and need surgery immediately or you will die. Imagine again, hearing the same thing but having no possibility for the surgery. Although we are able to help some people here, there are still so many they we are not able to help. The hardest part of coming here is being present when the doctors inform the patients who can’t have surgery. Many of the patients we have seen are in need of heart transplants and have absolutely no possibility of having that in Nicaragua. There is no possibility for bringing the back to the United States either because there is already a waiting list for patients in the U.S. . The hardest thing I ever had to witness was our doctors telling a twenty two year old that her heart was too bad to have surgery and that she would likely die very soon. I think of my own daughter and I can hardly bear it. We are so fortunate in the U.S. to have access to the health care that we do. You can’t even imagine how different things are here.

The internet is really slow here so it is very difficult to post our blogs and upload the pictures. We may have to upload our pictures when we get home. Adrienne was able to upload some of the pictures on Facebook so contact her Facebook page if you want to see them (Adrienne Barnhardt). It has been a very busy week and a wonderful learning experience for all. I lost count of all the patients we scanned but it was a lot. So far six surgeries have been successfully performed and two more are scheduled for tomorrow. We will do post op scans on the patients tomorrow but so far all is going very well.

We are learning to live without a lot of things but are looking forward to the conveniences of home. The internet has been down since Friday in all of León and we have experienced several blackouts. Thankfully our compact equipment will run on batteries so we were able to continue scanning even in the blackouts.

Wendy

From: Natalie Inge

How can I pack all my experiences of the last two days into one blog entry. Those who know me know that it is never a short story, so I will give it a try. The places God takes us in our lifetime are never by chance or mistake. You learn about yourself through others. You also learn the importance of your individual gifts and feel a greater calling and duty to share them with the world not just for your own benefit. We scanned more patients and collected data on their particular conditions. We met beautiful people with hopes and dreams as big as their hearts. We brought back 12 patients that were candidates for surgery. Meanwhile the team of surgeons and their staff arrived. We spent time cleaning the ICU and trying desperately to remove the infestation of cockroaches. We bleached the entire room including the equipment, walls, and stretchers. The hospital is extremely dirty and poorly maintained. The surgical team reviewed the cases and chose 8 patients for surgery this week. It was very difficult to turn people away, some cried and some quietly left. The people were so thankful and gracious. Being here is not only a pleasure but a necessity. We all have a duty to share our gifts with those whose government has forgotten them.
In the late evening we visited the Cathedral that is over 1500 years old. It is the largest cathedral in Central America. Faith is a very important part of the culture here. The cathedral was so beautiful with paintings of the life of Jesus. We also walked through the large plaza where families played, danced, cooked on the street while visiting with friends.
We also visited the orphanage today to take the toys. A dear sweet friend made beautiful dolls that the little girls loved. They were wonderful. We passed out cars to the little boys. They were beautiful children that were so happy to see us. We were so touched by the children there. We met another surgical team at the orphanage.
Through the brokenness here we are finding so many things to be happy about. We are learning about new pathology and new ways to treat patients. I have learned more ways to not only treat patients with not only my hands but also with my heart. Thanks again to the many people that help get us here. You are a blessing.

From: LaTosha Malloy

The last couple of days, I have seen more pathology than I have seen in all my clinical sites. Some of the things I have seen are things you only see in the text books. I mean unbelievable things such as left atrium that are not able to fit on the screen in young adults. I have had 1 on 1 teaching from pediatric cardiologist and adult cardiologist. My confidence in my scanning ability has improved tremendously. I feel it is great because when you are in a room with 5 to 10 people at a time, no time to be timid. My highlight of the day was providing hope to someone who otherwise would not have hope. All though every candidate for surgery may not be chosen at least some will receive help. It was so touching when a family member of a patient was helping me in spite of her family member diagnosis. It made me realize in spite of circumstance that the people here are very gracious and caring. It made me want to do more for my own community. I know everyone is not called to go on medical mission trips but everyone can support the people who do go in many ways.