An amazing day!

The team began a busy day with five planned cardiac catheterizations and three surgeries. Just as yesterday, the OR team was up late at the hospital, and again woke early to start the day. There are so many stories to share from the Cemesa team, it is overwhelming. Each child has a story to tell.

The team met some challenges today. We had a couple of team members that became ill. We hope that they are feeling better soon and back on their feet! Everyone has pitched in and we are still going strong! San Pedro Sula has also experienced some power outages. Cemesa Hospital has a back up generator that supplies a large part of the hospital, including the operating room and ICU. However, it only runs very essential equipment. Needless to say, air conditioning is not considered essential. In the cath lab area we opened windows and fanned the kids. Thank goodness it only lasted for about an hour!

During the midst of a very busy morning, we had a child that came into the emergency room with a very fast heart rate called SVT. When the team placed a monitor on him, his heart rate was 240.  The doctors and nurses tried to get his heart rate down without using medication, but were unsuccessful. An IV was started and he was given Adenosine. His heart rate slowed. The mother was very grateful that the team had been there to intervene. His mother said she thought it was “no coincidence” that a heart team was at Cemesa when her child had SVT for the first time. She thanked God for our presence here.

Raul, who was the first surgical patient today, is doing well. He did have some significant bleeding after surgery requiring multiple blood products that we purchased from the local Red Cross.  His bleeding has now stopped and he is improving. He actually asked to get out of bed to walk just hours after surgery. I had the pleasure of sitting down with a translator to talk with Raul’s mother today after surgery. She asked me to convey her deepest gratitude to the entire team and FOBF. She told me that she prayed for this team and all the children having surgery this week.

Due to the recent tropical storms there has been a significant amount of rainfall in the past few weeks. Many parts of the country are flooded and phone lines are down in many of the mountain villages. The team contacts each family to let them know where to be prior to surgery. However, the team was unable to reach Daniel, our second surgical patient today. Lori, the team coordinator, questioned if the family would show up for surgery since they had no way to contact them to confirm. A popular AM radio station was notified, and broadcasted out a message to get in contact with the family. The family heard the message! They arrived and were ready for surgery!

It has been another amazing and blessed day at Cemesa. Please remember to check Facebook for frequent updates and photos during the day! The entire team thanks you for your support and prayers!

Love,

Ashley

A day of miracles

Hello from the Heart Team in Honduras at Cemesa Hospital! The team was energized and busy this morning despite the late night at the hospital. You can feel God’s hands at work here!

Yadira, the first patient in the operating room yesterday is healing in ICU. She is doing well, and her grandmother sits by her bedside. She met me this morning with joyous, tearful eyes as I walked into the ICU. She shouted, “she walked, she walked!” The ICU nurses already had her out of bed this morning. She walked, gaining strength with every step. It is difficult to believe that less than 24 hours ago she had open heart surgery.

Our second patient yesterday was Mayra. She traveled to San Pedro Sula with her aunt and grandmother. Mayra was planned to have a cardiac catheterization only. However, after another child was cancelled, Mayra was added to the surgery schedule. When the surgeons explained to the mother that Mayra would have surgery this week, mom was overwhelmed. She had not prepared for this emotionally. As Dr. Nikaidoh asked mom to sign the consent for the surgery, he handed mom the pen. She began to cry. The translator explained that the mother could not read or write. She did not even know how to write her own name. The translator pulled an inkpad out of his pocket and placed mom’s thumb in the ink. She pressed her thumb on the signature line of the consent. This was her signature, signing away the care of her child to the hands of our surgeons. This consent could not have been soon enough. As Mayra lay waiting for surgery she had a “tet spell”. This caused Mayra to have poor blood oxygenation to her body. She became a dusky blue and had a seizure. The nurses and doctors sprung into action and transported her to the ICU to wait for surgery.  We thanked God that she was in the hospital during this episode and the team was able to intervene. The surgeons were in the OR until after midnight last night and Mayra’s heart is now fixed. She is currently resting in the ICU with her mother at her side. We plan for her to be transitioned to the step down unit tomorrow!

 Two patients were scheduled today for surgery, Emyl and Sheili. Emyl was accompanied by many family members who traveled from all over Honduras to be with him for surgery. This morning as Dr. Nikaidoh explained the surgery to the family, he testified to the mother, “God is watching over Emyl, He is watching over you, He is watching over all of us.” Dr. Nikaidoh reached over to the mother, and gave her a reassuring hand on her shoulder. The worry and concern melted from the mother’s face. God’s presence in the room was overpowering, reaching down to hold this family in His arms.

Emyl’s surgery was difficult, and he was in the operating room longer than the team had planned. It was expected that since he had been in the operating room an extended amount of time, he would come out with a breathing tube. The family waited outside the operating room, anxious to catch a first glimpse of Emyl after surgery. They waited five minutes, then ten minutes, then fifteen. The mother and father clung to one another and wept in each others arms as the anxious minutes ticked by. They questioned, “Why has he not come out?” Joe, the respiratory therapist, emerged from the door, he gave a quick thumbs up. The breathing tube is out! After a long and challenging surgery, Emyl emerged from the operating room. The team rolled Emyl’s bed down the long ramp out of the operating room. Dr Biby, the anesthesiologist touched Emyl. “Wake up Emyl, here is your mommy.” His eyes slowly opened and locked with his mothers. They shared a precious moment, and the team quickly took Emyl to the intensive care unit. After Emyl’s bed rolled past the family, they shared joyous kisses and hugs. Prayers were shouted, and they began thanking God for His gift.

When I left the hospital this evening, Emyl was stable in the ICU.  The most skilled doctors and nurses care for him. As I write, the surgical team is still in the operating room with the second patient of the day, Sheili. They are expected to be in the operating room past midnight tonight, and will arise early to begin again.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement and prayers. Our team is dearly blessed to have the support and love of so many! The internet is slow here, and I am uploading lots of team photos to facebook. Please come and join The Friends of Barnabas Facebook page to see photos!

Love,

Ashley

Hello from Honduras!

Hello friends and family,

The cardiac team is on the ground and in action in Honduras! I had some trouble getting into this blog to update it when we got here. The page was all in Spanish and I couldn't figure out how to get in! But, I'm in now, and am going to start daily updates with photos. You can also "like" the Friends of Barnabas Foundation on facebook and stay up to date with updates of our progress throughout the day! Here is the blog that I wrote yesterday....

Greetings from the Heart Team in Honduras! The team came together yesterday, arriving from many destinations, Virginia, Texas, Colorado, and others.  We arrived in San Pedro Sula and immediately went to Cemesa Hospital to begin unpacking supplies. We had many boxes of supplies to sort that were so generously donated by Friends of Barnabas supporters and shipped to Honduras. It is amazing that the team can all come from many different places, yet we can come together and quickly spring into action.  As we began to sort, the ICU, operating room, step-down unit, and the cardiac catheterization lab began to take shape.

Our first priority was to get the supplies needed to begin cardiac caths. Dr. Zellers and his team began two diagnostic catheterizations almost as soon as they arrived. One child, Henry is being referred to the states for surgery. The other child, Mayra will be having surgery today.

This morning the team met for breakfast and a moving devotional by Doug and Kip. Kip explained to the team that there are many people praying for the work that is being done this week in Honduras.

Two surgeries are planned for today. Yadira, 8 years old, is our first surgical patient. She traveled from La Ceiba with her grandmother to have surgery to correct her heart defect.  Her grandmother cares for Yadira and her other 9 grandchildren. Dr. Nikaidoh sat with Yadira’s grandmother and explained the surgery. He told her how they were going to make an incision on Yadira’s chest and place her on the heart-lung machine to stop her heart during surgery. He explained that her body would still receive oxygen from a special machine while they worked to repair her heart. Yadira’s grandmother began to weep. She was comforted by the words of Dr. Nikaidoh, he comforted her by explaining that we would take care of her granddaughter in the operating room. Watching Yadira’s grandmother as they prepared her for surgery I reflected upon how difficult it would be to place your child in the care of a team that does not even speak your language.

As I type this, Yadira is in surgery. Please pray for the guidance of the surgeons hands as they work to repair Yadira’s heart. We will send updates as she comes out of surgery.  Thank you for all of your support that allowed this amazing team to come together to perform miracles in Honduras!

Love,

Ashley