Pete- Yesterday, I played with the children at the burn center most of the day. The children somehow remain upbeat after very traumatic events in their lives and this demonstrates the extraordinary outlook on life that kids have. One young boy, Jhonathan, celebrated his birthday in the burn clinic, and only his mother was allowed to see him and feed him lunch. She saw her little boy for an hour and then left as visiting hours were over. It dawned on me that a mother on her child's birthday would want to celebrate, but under the circumstances and short time frame she used the time to show how she loved him, by holding, talking to and feeding Jhonathan.
Mark - I spent another day in the burn clinic yesteday and had a great time. In the morning, Pete and I went on rounds with Dr. Robles and the students and then we played rock, paper, scissors to see who would go into surgery. I won, so I had the pleasure of scrubbing in on two surgeries. The first was a dibridement of one of the childrens legs which only took a few minutes. The second, however, was a lot more in depth than that. We had a three year old girl that had been burned all over her face and chest. She had an expansor put in her neck to strech out the un-scarred skin that was there. The expansor became infected so Dr. Ramero had to remove it and use the skin flap to replace the scarred skin on her face. The surgery lasted 5 hours and I got to do a couple sutures at the end.
Craig - This morning I was back in the emergency pediatric department and was able to follow around an intern named Carla. She spoke a few words of Engish so we were able to communicate effectively for the most part and I also learned a lot more Spanish. It was slow during most of the morning but I had the chance to help care for Bianca, a two year old girl who had been severely burned on her neck and chest with hot water. It was tough to help imobilize her while they drew blood and put in an I.V. while she cried for her mother the entire time. She was then rushed off to the burn clinic to be prepped for surgery so myself and the others will be able to follow her healing process over the next few weeks.
Cory - Yesterday in the morning, I spent a bit of time with Craig in the emergency pediatrics department. Shortly after Bianca was taken to the burn clinic, Cindy and Dr. Montona came and helped me make my way up to the labor and delivery department. After I changed into more sterile scrubs, a nurse named Irma escorted me to the newborn area. There, a doctor was busy placing a line in a premature baby's umbilical cord. This is how the doctor got a blood sample and also hooked the baby up to an IV to feed it. Because the little girl had trouble keeping herself warm, they had her lower body wrapped in a plastic bag and also in a blanket to keep her temperature up. One interesting thing I found while looking at the equipment in the newborn area is that a lot of it is donated from foreign sources. The hospital itself was built by the Japanese; and I found equipment in Japanese, Chinese, and English in the hospital.
Mark - I spent another day in the burn clinic yesteday and had a great time. In the morning, Pete and I went on rounds with Dr. Robles and the students and then we played rock, paper, scissors to see who would go into surgery. I won, so I had the pleasure of scrubbing in on two surgeries. The first was a dibridement of one of the childrens legs which only took a few minutes. The second, however, was a lot more in depth than that. We had a three year old girl that had been burned all over her face and chest. She had an expansor put in her neck to strech out the un-scarred skin that was there. The expansor became infected so Dr. Ramero had to remove it and use the skin flap to replace the scarred skin on her face. The surgery lasted 5 hours and I got to do a couple sutures at the end.
Craig - This morning I was back in the emergency pediatric department and was able to follow around an intern named Carla. She spoke a few words of Engish so we were able to communicate effectively for the most part and I also learned a lot more Spanish. It was slow during most of the morning but I had the chance to help care for Bianca, a two year old girl who had been severely burned on her neck and chest with hot water. It was tough to help imobilize her while they drew blood and put in an I.V. while she cried for her mother the entire time. She was then rushed off to the burn clinic to be prepped for surgery so myself and the others will be able to follow her healing process over the next few weeks.
Cory - Yesterday in the morning, I spent a bit of time with Craig in the emergency pediatrics department. Shortly after Bianca was taken to the burn clinic, Cindy and Dr. Montona came and helped me make my way up to the labor and delivery department. After I changed into more sterile scrubs, a nurse named Irma escorted me to the newborn area. There, a doctor was busy placing a line in a premature baby's umbilical cord. This is how the doctor got a blood sample and also hooked the baby up to an IV to feed it. Because the little girl had trouble keeping herself warm, they had her lower body wrapped in a plastic bag and also in a blanket to keep her temperature up. One interesting thing I found while looking at the equipment in the newborn area is that a lot of it is donated from foreign sources. The hospital itself was built by the Japanese; and I found equipment in Japanese, Chinese, and English in the hospital.
What a great opportunity for you all. You will not be the same people when you return to the states. I keep seeing the value of one small child's life as you write of your work each day. That God would have so ordered all things so that each of you would be there to help each of those people at this time in history. Its really amazing. Thanks for going and thanks for writing and including us in these days. Patty
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