Surgery day 4 & 5

I have a lot more to post but my laptop is really slow in the hotel. Getting ready for the final party with the team at the Sheraton. Should be a lot of fun, they are going to teach me to dance!! Now I gotta see that. Then a massage at 8am. More to follow

This is Faith, she is a great nurse. Comes to volunteer from a small town by the boarder with Brazel. Her son stayed with her in-laws in town while she worked this misson, he is so cute. Her in-laws work with HIV patents.















This was the most interesting night of all. I went out with Roxy, an OR scrub nurse from Paraguay.

This is something I planned to do this week, she picked me up at the hotel. Little did I know tonight would be an eye opener for me. Although their ambulances were pretty new, they had limited supplies which I am accustomed to in the states. The ambulance is very small and have 2 small 6 inch fans, I don't think there is AC. However, they did have intubation equipment (breathing tubes) and medications. Roxy told me they are government sponsored and no one receives a bill. Up to a few months ago, there were only 5 ambulances to cover the city of Asuncion with a population of about 1.5 million, they now have 14. Roxy works one 24 hour shift a week and gets paid $300 a month. You do the math. She works every day, I think she has 4 jobs plus she volunteers countless hours for Operation Smile. I frankly don’t know how she does it. She is a single mother, with a beautiful child (around 4 or so). After spending the night with her, I am now reflecting on how I spend my life at home.
As we sat in the rear of the ambulance, they received a call via radio and had to leave. The patient was pregnant and had to be transferred from one hospital to another, about a 45 minutes ride. We left and went to the government hospital where the main headquarters was for the ambulances. I asked if I could go inside, and look at the ED. I walked passed security and suddenly the doors to the ED opened. I was astonished at what I saw. This is a public/Govt hospital (they also have private). There were about 5 beds on each side that made a square and were separated by a canvas type army curtain, with very high ceilings. In the middle was what appeared to be a supply station in metal bins, similar to a buffet line in a restaurant. It is hard to explain in words, I wish I could have taken a picture. This hospital is decades behind in technology. I was able to take a picture of CT (cat scan) that they have.




From what I’ve been told the private hospitals are a lot better but not everyone can get treated at them.




Talking with the crew.



This is a hand held suction unit, I have never seen one like this before. We have one that runs on electric and batteries

There is no outside compartments and this is where they store the backboard.


THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!! This was the last day of surgery, this kid was great. The local newspaper must have taken 100 pictures of us, looks like I'll be in the paper

These were my great teen volunteers, they translated for me every day while I was there, they were wonderful.



The only female General in the military, she is the medical director of the hospital. They keep a very small area of the hospital open