After a lavish buffet breakfast which is typical at our hotel on Sunday, we gathered at 8 am for a team meeting. Dr Quatela, the mission leader, spoke about good behavior and obeying the hospital rules. It’s the usual stuff. We introduced ourselves. Many of us are old friends from previous missions but there are always a few new people.
We walked the 4 long blocks to the hospital and had a team photo taken. It was a beautiful sunny morning. I am certain the photo is on the HUGS site. We then had a welcome from the hospital administration and a reciting of rules. It’s always the same. Keep us informed if there are problems. Don’t wear scrubs outside the OR. AND on and on..
The real work began in clinic. There were over 100 patients to be evaluated. The cleft team had about 65 babies to see. We had about 37 microtia patients. Nancy speaks enough Spanish to do the interviews alone. I asked Carolina, who is from Colombia and fully bilingual, to help me. Once we got all the paperwork sorted out, we saw everyone by about 4pm. We have a few challenging cases ahead with difficult airways. But Nancy and I will work together and perhaps even recruit one of the pediatric anesthesiologists who do babies to help if we need. There are always a few kids who have multiple abnormalities which can include some rare facial deformities. If you are really curious, look up Treacher Collins syndrome.
After clinic, everyone wandered off into town or back to the hotel to relax. The surgeons were having team dinners. A group of us had planned to go out together. We chose Las Palmas, the same restaurant where Nancy and I had dinner with Lesley. The sky looked threatening but we got there before the usual afternoon/evening deluge. We were safely inside when the rain came in buckets for a full 20+ minutes. It is impressive to watch the streets flood as the rain bounces off the cobblestones that aren’t yet under water.
We had a variety of nice choices. Guatemalan food is tasty and much of their food can include a tomato/sweet red pepper sauce called pepian. They also have chimichuri sauce for steaks. Black beans are a common accompaniment but rice is not.
After a lavish buffet breakfast which is typical at our hotel on Sunday, we gathered at 8 am for a team meeting. Dr Quatela, the mission leader, spoke about good behavior and obeying the hospital rules. It’s the usual stuff. We introduced ourselves. Many of us are old friends from previous missions but there are always a few new people.
We walked the 4 long blocks to the hospital and had a team photo taken. It was a beautiful sunny morning. I am certain the photo is on the HUGS site. We then had a welcome from the hospital administration and a reciting of rules. It’s always the same. Keep us informed if there are problems. Don’t wear scrubs outside the OR. AND on and on..
The real work began in clinic. There were over 100 patients to be evaluated. The cleft team had about 65 babies to see. We had about 37 microtia patients. Nancy speaks enough Spanish to do the interviews alone. I asked Carolina, who is from Colombia and fully bilingual, to help me. Once we got all the paperwork sorted out, we saw everyone by about 4pm. We have a few challenging cases ahead with difficult airways. But Nancy and I will work together and perhaps even recruit one of the pediatric anesthesiologists who do babies to help if we need. There are always a few kids who have multiple abnormalities which can include some rare facial deformities. If you are really curious, look up Treacher Collins syndrome.
After clinic, everyone wandered off into town or back to the hotel to relax. The surgeons were having team dinners. A group of us had planned to go out together. We chose Las Palmas, the same restaurant where Nancy and I had dinner with Lesley. The sky looked threatening but we got there before the usual afternoon/evening deluge. We were safely inside when the rain came in buckets for a full 20+ minutes. It is impressive to watch the streets flood as the rain bounces off the cobblestones that aren’t yet under water.
We had a variety of nice choices. Guatemalan food is tasty and much of their food can include a tomato/sweet red pepper sauce called pepian. They also have chimichuri sauce for steaks. Black beans are a common accompaniment but rice is not.
A few of our group walked back to the hotel but the rest of us took Ubers to avoid puddle jumping. The rain had stopped but many streets are quickly flooded and they drain slowly. My sneakers were completely soaked yesterday. I didn’t want a repeat use of a hair dryer and towels to make my shoes usable.
We were told that breakfast was at 6a and we were expected to arrive at the hospital at 7. Everyone went to bed early!!!
A few of our group walked back to the hotel but the rest of us took Ubers to avoid puddle jumping. The rain had stopped but many streets are quickly flooded and they drain slowly. My sneakers were completely soaked yesterday. I didn’t want a repeat use of a hair dryer and towels to make my shoes usable.
We were told that breakfast was at 6a and we were expected to arrive at the hospital at 7. Everyone went to bed early!!!
The Adventures of Anne 