Over the last two days, our team has performed 34 surgeries. The ripples from this work spread wide. Each patient, and his/her family, their village and school are changed for the better. Like Angelica, their terrible physical and psychological burdens are suddenly lifted.
Many of those ripples affect the members of the Rotaplast team as well. There are few pleasures as satisfying as having a five year-old hug you as she’s leaving the hospital with her mother. Or to have a small boy give you a fist bump before he goes into the OR.
This cheerful lad gave fist bumps to team members on the way to the OR.
Also, there are Rotarians across the United States who make colorful quilts for the patients, who then take them home with a physical reminder of the generosity of thousands of people who support Rotaplast’s work.
Sewing circles and Rotarians across the nation make quilts for Rotaplast patients.
Detail of Rotaplast quilt.
All of us on the team, and there are newbies as well as veterans with as many as 24 missions under their surgical caps, are so grateful for the generosity and support of Rotaplast donors who make this miraculous work possible.
PACU nurses Blaire Buehring (left) and Ellen Adams prepare meds for recovery. Blaire turned 30 years old today.
PACU nurses Ellen, Blaire, anesthesiologist Dr. Neil Bailard and pediatrician Dr. Paula Rand attend to a very young patient.
Nurse Ted Daley and anesthesiologist Dr. Mary Rhee bring a young patient from the OR to the recovery room.
With three ORs, the work can come fast and furious. As the patients come into the recovery room and are stabilized, the mothers and/or fathers come in to see their children with their new faces. Their reactions range from tearful gratitude to unalloyed joy.
A mother comforts her son after surgery.