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
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