Rotaplast Missions

Retalhuleu: Joyce Kuhn - In Her Own Words

With this being my first mission I wasn't sure what to expect. Just trying to think of words to express the emotion brings another wave of the tears welling up in my eyes, the lumps in my throat and the warmth in my heart for being able to help these children. The looks on the parents faces and the gratitude they express are things I won't forget.  I've never been this hot or this tired for so many hours of a day or for so many days in a row and I can't wait to do it all again on another mission.

~ Joyce Kuhn is a PACU nurse and spends all day in the recovery room, where she is one of the first to see and interact with the families after surgery.

Retalhuleu: Bella Mahoney - In Her Own Words Part 2

Our experience over the last few days has reaffirmed my sense of our shared responsibilities as Rotarians.  These procedures changes the lives of the children and families in ways that we cannot fully appreciate.  In one day their lives are transformed.  This transformation allows these families to do something that we in the US often take for granted. They can plan for a better tomorrow for their beautiful child.  The older children have a happier outlook about tomorrow. Sometimes I feel somewhat inadequate when I am interpreting for our patients and families.

It is not always possible to translate a phrase from Spanish to English and retain the same emotions and passion.  The sense of faith and gratefulness in the responses I hear are heart wrenching.  Like many others on this mission, I could have found a thousand reasons to cancel my participation this year, but I am so grateful that I am here.  When I experience the stories and interact with the families, they give me their gift of faith and hope.  In their stories I can hear the call to continue to serve.

~ Bella Mahoney (Interpreter and Saratoga Rotarian)

Retalhuleu - Day 9 (5/25/10)

Day 9

This morning we had a candle light breakfast. Sounds romantic right, not exactly, the electric power went off at 5:15am. Good that we have battery operated alarms or we would all still be sleeping.  Well, probably not, Rosalie would have been knocking on all or our doors.  Rosalie is not only our Mission Director but better known as our 2nd La Jefa.  Of course you know that Evelyn Abad is #1 La Jefa, mother of Rotaplast.

 

It was a very long day yesterday, some of us back to our quarters at 7pm, but a late scheduled and very complicated surgery kept some of the team at the hospital until 10:30pm.

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Little Valerto Aqusto is a 9 year old boy who came with a cleft palate and a lower lip distortion. After two hours in surgery Valerto now has a closed palate and a reconstructed lower lip. We always ask how they got here, bus, walk, not many have a car, so that question is never asked. In this case the grandmother, Valerto and a family friend from the same village walked here to Retalhuleu.  The family friend speaks both Spanish and one of the 22 Mayan languages, which is how we were able to communicate with them. In the picture below you can see how similar the woman are dressed, this indicates that they are from the same village. We asked the grandmother through two interpretors where the mother and father of this little boy are, the answer was a little shocking. The father left soon after the baby was born and the mother left before the baby was 1 year old.  Here again you see another beautiful blanket from the people of the Saratoga Rotary, which all the children get to take home.

 

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Little Juan Siana is 11 months old boy, he had a cleft lip until our fabulous surgical team repaired it. This is another interesting story I am going to tell. Juan has 2 sisters and one brother, and of course he is the baby of the family. His mother and grandparents brought him here from an almost village about 2 1/2 hours from here. Why almost, because they are one of 107 families who have come together to purchase this plot of land near San Lorenz. They want to build their own pueblo (village) so they can give their children a better life.  Someone in their pueblo brought them here in the back of a pickup truck. The friend could not stay, so these 4 people have no way to get home but to walk. They have no money, nothing. You can see from the pictures, that these people are really poor. To add to the problems they have, Little Jaun's father, the father of 4 children took off about 6 months ago and now Juan, his mother and his 3 siblings live with the grandparents. No, I am not done with the story yet. A couple of months ago one of Juan's uncles was shot to death by a jealous neighbor. Now the grandparents have taken in his wife and two children. We ask the grandfather how they heard about us. His Answer, " God told him in a dream that these doctors are coming to fix his grandson's face". He asked a friend to take him to this place, Retalhuleu. Even though I don't understand spanish, I can tell you that you would know in your heart that he truly believes that God sent him here. They are so greatful for all that Rotaplast has done for them. You will notice on one of the pictures below that Juan has a red mark on his neck, this is a yeast infection that will not go away on its own. I don't know if Dr. Al is going to like me telling you this but I'm going to tell you anyway. Dr. Al went to the pharmacy and purchased the yeast medication himself and gave it to the family. The grandmother was so appreciative she went up to Dr. Al and gave him a big hug. See the pictures below.  

 

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Let me introduce you to Elvis Hernadez, a little two and a half year old boy with a cleft palate. Elvis is one of 4 children and the 2nd youngest.   He came here with his parents and it took them over 9 hours hitchhiking in 3 different vehicles.  Two years ago, little Elvis was operated on by the last Rotaplast mission that came to Guatemala City.   His mother said that the cleft lip repair allowed him to eat more and get the nutrition a young boy needs.  Now he is beginning to talk and having his cleft lip repaired will allow him to learn how to talk correctly.  His mom said "This will change his life forever, he can go to school and learn without being teased by the other children".  She thanked us for all the great work we do and "will always be grateful to Rotaplast for their generosity and love for their son."

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The Rotaplast team here in Guatemala has completed another great day with the completion of 17 surgeries. 

I want you to see the following before and after photos so you can appreciate the miracles these surgical teams perform:

Patient #10 before surgery:

Patient #10 before surgery. This child, like many others had a cleft lip and a cleft palate. You can only see the cleft lip results, but this child now has a palate.  This shows the mission palate:

Patient #10 before surgery, cleft lip:

Patient #10 after surgery, here you can only see the cleft lip repaired, the palate is also repaired:

Patient #11 before surgery:

You will notice this child's mouth is extended in to the left side of her cheek.

Patient #11 after surgery. Here you can see how the surgical team repaired her mouth.

Retalhuleu: Marilyn Willis - In Her Own Words

What a happy birthday I'm having helping this great team change these babies lives. At breakfast yesterday the entire mission wished me a happy birthday by singing happy birthday!  Thanks to all my new friends.
 
How can I explain how I feel? Tears when I learn that we can't fix all of the children, we had to turn many away because we just don't have the time. I'm sad when I must take the babies from their mothers arms and have to watch them cry because they are afraid and scared of this strange person carrying them in to the operating room.  Happy when I see the mom and dad holding their beautiful baby in the recovery room.

~Marilyn Willis is one of our OR nurses.

Retalhuleu: The Quilts and Blankets

by Scott Wheelwright - Saratoga Rotary Rotaplast Chair 2010

You may notice in some of the pictures the beautiful quilts and blankets that enfold the children.  As each child is brought to the  operating room, she is accompanied by one of these handmade gifts.   The operating rooms are air conditioned to provide comfort for the  doctors and patients, but to keep the children warm during the  operation, each is covered with a blanket or quilt.  The child keeps this covering as a gift when he or she leaves the hospital.

The Rotary Club of Saratoga was blessed with gifts of over 300 quilts or blankets.  Many of these quilts are pieced together and sewn by hand.  Some blankets are hand knit or crocheted.  The effort and  skill present in each is readily apparent.  We are grateful to the many people who contributed their time and money to supply materials, make quilts or sponsor quilts.  Contributors include local quilting organizations, church groups, family and friends of rotary club members, and others with an interest in serving these children.  We are grateful for the selfless contribution of those who have provided a warm gift for each child.

Retalhuleu: Joanne Wessels - In Her Own Words

A story contributed by Joanne Wessels.  Joanne is an in-country facilitator that is helping Rotaplast on this mission. She speaks spanish fluently and has been living in Guatemala for 4 plus years doing NGO type work helping many different organizations like Rotaplast. She just wrote this beautiful story about ESMERALDA.
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Mr. Bartolon, Esmeralda's father has never left his community before. He spends his days growing some crops on his little piece of land in Tacaná, a rural community in the province of San Marcos, close to the border with Mexico. He lives from day-to-day, trying to maintain his wife and 12 children. But this time, he traveled for almost 10 hours to seek help for his 13 year old daughter, Esmeralda. Esmeralda is his only child born with a cleft lip and cleft palate. She is very shy and embarrassed to speak. While her brothers and sisters are going to school, she stays home with her mom to take care of the younger children. According to her father, she doesn’t want to go to school because the other children were teasing her. When I asked her father why he had waited so long to seek help, he responded that he had taken his daughter to a “Centro de Salud” when she was six months old to get her vaccinations. However, nobody told him that Esmeralda’s problem could be “fixed”. Lack of knowledge about surgical opportunities is only one of the many barriers impoverished Guatemalans face. Most indigenous women speak one of the 22 Mayan languages which cause major problems at hospitals and health centers where only Spanish is spoken. In addition, there is a lot of distrust and fear of health centers and hospitals. Many rural hospitals have a bad record when it comes to patient care, and hospitals are looked upon as a place to die. This, and social economical barriers such as the lack of financial resources and access to transportation make it really special that so many parents made the long trip to San Felipe Retalhuleu to seek help for their children. Esmeralda’s father not only was unaware of the opportunities available to help Esmeralda, he also knew that he would never be able to pay for a surgery. More children came, and life went on, until a good neighbor heard about the Rotaplast mission through the Rotary Club of Quetzaltenango, and she decided to accompany the family to Retalhuleu. Today is Esmeralda’s surgery and her father, who is anxiously waiting outside, has promised to give her the opportunity to go to school and give her a normal life!
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Joanne's commentary:
I’ve been living in Guatemala for 4 years and it shocks me to see how many children have no access to surgical care. Considering this country’s violent history it is amazing that parents have the trust to put the lives of their children in our (Rotaplast) hands. I’m very impressed with the combined efforts of Rotaplast International and Rotary Club Guatemala de la Asuncion to reach out to hundreds of children each year, and I hope we can work towards a system to keep track of each patient we see, and refer those we are not able to help. Thanks for a very special mission and I hope you’ll come back to Retalhuleu next year. Guatemala needs you! 

Retalhuleu - Day 8 (5/24/10)

Day 8

Were back!  We had our day off yesterday and now we are back, rested and anxious to get to those children. On the bus at 6:10am (we have to be, otherwise Rosalie makes us walk, only kidding about the walking, we do get penalized but I won't tell you the punishment). See the pictures below and you see us on the bus leaving our armed encampment we call our sleeping quarters and arriving at the emergencia entrance to the hospital.

 

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This is a cute 4 year old boy who just returned from surgery where he had a cleft palate repaired. See the pictures below of him with his blanket (gift from the people of Saratoga Rotary) rolled up along side him to help him while waking up.  Notice the mom and dad giving him a lot of attention and the mom with the little baby in a Papoose. Also, notice the black suture taped to the boys cheek. That is a temporary suture is attached to his tongue, this is keep there until the next day and can be used to move the boys tongue up and out of his airway in the rare event his airway gets obstructed, this gives the nurse and doctors an easy way to open his airway.

  

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Anderson Elias is 6 1/2 years old, he and his mother came from Guatemala City. He had a cleft palate repaired and when he woke up after surgery he had the biggest smile, he was so happy to see his mother, and his mom was extremely happy to see him. He has a 10 year old brother who is does not have any facial problems. Two years ago Rotaplast surgeons repaired Anderson Elias' lower lip. His mom said "A big thank you to Rotaplast from the bottom of my heart. You people of Rotaplast have the biggest heart God could have given and I hope he gives you the strength to continue this great work.

 

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"My name is Santiago Yaxon.  I am 9 years old.  My father has taken me to Rotaplast to have my mouth and nose repaired.  I can read and write.  I have written many thank you notes to the Rotaplast doctors. They are very kind to fix my mouth and nose.  I will be forever thankful."

Santiago drew two pictures, one featured above.  Translation:"Thank you for helping me and my PaPa." 

"I am Santiago's Yaxon's father.  We walked 5 hours to get here.  I am so proud of my son.  He can read and write better than I can.  I am so proud.  During the operation, I sat on the bench outside the operation room.  When Senor Dennis or Senior Ricardo walked by, I could not help but raise up on my toes.  I did not stand and ask them how it goes with my son.  I am so proud of him.  My wife stayed home with our other 5 children. Santiago will no longer be teased at school, especially when he reads out loud.  I can only smile when I think of Rotaplast."

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Prado is an 18 month old with a cleft lip, now a repaired cleft lip. Below you see the happy mommy and daddy holding their little angle. Also notice the blanket the parents are holding, this is one of almost 300 beautiful blankets the Saratoga Rotary brought with them on this mission, one for every child coming through surgery. The dad told me "We don't have the words to express our appreciation for all you have done for our Prado and us. Without Rotaplast our son would have not received this care. God will always bless your for the work you do for the poor of Guatemala. We ask god to bless you and protect you when you return home to your families.

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WOW! It looks like a day off has invigorated our Retalhuleu team, I have just been told by Evelyn our dynamic head nurse that we completed 17, that's right 17 surgeries (or as children's parents like to call them miracles) today.

I want you to see the following before and after photos so you can appreciate the miracles these surgical teams perform:

Patient #8 before surgery:

Patient #8 after surgery:

Patient #9 before surgery:

Patient #9 after surgery:

Retalhuleu: Bella Mahoney - In Her Own Words

Coming here from California to work side-by-side with all of the team demonstrates that we are all very connected. Just try to imagine the daily challenges and struggles these families have faced every day mostly on their own without any real formal support. Then we arrive to provide a gift that truly changes their lives. We are bridging different cultures and creating a bond that is very significant. Their way of thanking those who have touched their lives is through their God.

-Bella Mahoney's reflection after 7 days here in Retalhuleu, Guatemala.

Thank you Bella for sharing this wonderful insight. Bella is one of our translators and spends most of her time in the recovery room where all these beautiful children come to immediately following surgery.  She assists the pediatricians and nurses to communicate with the parents and the older children.

Retalhuleu - Day 7 (5/23/10)

Day 7 

Sunday, our day off!  No, not for all.  Healing doesn't stop when the children come out of surgery, healing continues 24/7.   So Dr. Ron Gemberling, Dr. Don LaRossa, Dr. Al Goldberg, Dr. David Rosenberg, Dr. Julie Herndron and one of our beautiful interpreters, Bella Mahoney are up before 6:30am and on their way to the hospital to do patient rounds.  So here you will see the doctors taking vital signs, removing sutures, giving the parents instructions for the child's care and building confidence in the children and parents.

 

 

 
 

   
 

The Sunday hospital rounds team is now back and some of us are off to visit a Mayan Archeological site. This site is most interesting because it is in the early stages of excavation and new discoveries. Here we see the beginnings of where the archaeological teams have unearthed some Mayan stone carvings from 3,000 years ago. You will also see the beginnings of the unearthing of stone pyramids some of which provide boundaries and seating for spectators watching some kind of ball game, and other pyramids which stand alone are religious sites.  We actually saw a couple of Mayan families burning ceremonial fires nearby and we're asked not to take pictures.  During the burning of these fires, the head of the family asks for something from the gods.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

While on this Archaeological walk I noticed that one of the doctors had something written in Spanish on the back of his shirt. See the picture of the shirt below. 

Translation: "No, this is not a SCALPEL, it is a MAGIC wand".

We all believe it is a magic wand, we see it every day. The magic that's achieved on every child that comes here to be healed is truly a miracle, just ask one of the children's parents, you see it in their eyes, you hear them praising God and the doctors, their fear of the unknown is overcome by their joy in seeing how beautiful their child is.

Retalhuleu - Day 6 (5/22/10)

This morning I had the opportunity to watch surgeons Dr.Ron Gemberling, Dr. Don La Rossa and Anesthesiologist Dr. Bert Drop perform surgery on 2 year old named Josue Adonias.  Little Josue came to us with a severe cleft lip and palate.  During his two hour surgery a miracle that transformed this beautiful little guy took place. When I spoke with the mom and dad after his surgery, they had the biggest smiles on their faces. Every operation performed by this team in this remote area of Guatemala is a miracle on the same scale.

 

Yesterday, a 22 year old man with a severe cleft lip came in to the hospital with a severe cleft lip.  Soon after he arrived his mother called one of our Rotaplast volunteers and told her that her son had been suicidal and she was very concerned.  We talked with Armando and he told us that as a young boy he was never allowed out of his home, he never was allowed to attend school and had still never had a full-time job.  He lives with his parents and does odd jobs when he can get them.  He has been ostracized for his entire life because his family and others in his community were ashamed of him.  The Rotaplast medical team quickly evaluated him and scheduled him in an open slot for surgery the same day.  The surgery was a success, and Armando was discharged late that day with a different future in front of him.

We have now completed 4 days of surgery with a total of about 60 operations. Day 4 of surgery complete with 15 surgeries successfully completed. We are halfway there, and looking forward to the rest of our work here, and a little rest on Sunday, too.

I have been writing about all the wonderful work the surgical teams, pediatricians and nurses have done this past 5 days, so now I think I would like to tell you who they are.  We have been completing 15 surgeries per day with most of the children being discharged the following day and we hope to have them all back the last day of our mission, post surgery clinic.

Left: Dr. Don LaRossa (surgeon), Dr. Bert Drop (anesthesiologist), Dolores Dougherty (OR nurse), Manuel Eseteban Ramos (Scrub nurse) and Dr. Ron Gemberling (Medical Director).
Right:  Dr. Dennis Dundas (surgeon), Dr. Joe Walia (anesthesiologist), Yipi Yang (OR nurse), Willie Pelico (Scrub nurse - not pictured), Dr. Julie Herndon (Dentist) and Dr. John Lee (Lead Anesthesiologist). 

Dr. Milton Solis (surgeon), Joel Buhyoff (CRNA), Marilyn Willis (OR nurse), Flori Pachaco (Scrub nurse), Evelyn Nombrado Abad (Head nurse and the lead task master) and Scott Wheelwright (sterilizer).


Pediatricians Dr. Al Goldberg and Dr. Dave Rosenberg

PACU Nurses Jacquelyn Arata and Joyce Kuhn.

I want you to see the following before and after photos so you can appreciate the miracles these surgical teams perform:

Patient #7 before surgery:

Patient #7 after surgery: