Day nine brings a mixture of emotions as we gear up for our final day of surgeries. By day’s end, eight more children will have an opportunity for a brighter future.
Our Rotaplast non-medical volunteers, PACU, and pediatric teams have played pivotal roles in the success of our mission. Head Nurse and Rotarian Sharron Newton collaborates closely with the pediatric teams on the day before and the day of surgeries, ensuring that each child is healthy and ready for the procedure. Families scheduled for the next day typically spend the night on cots in the open-air gym, under the watchful eye of the Adventist Hospital Cebu nursing staff. The following morning, our pediatric team updates the charts, and the information is passed on to the Head Nurse for final scheduling with the Medical Director.
After surgeries are completed, patients are transferred to the PACU ward, where the team monitors their recovery from anesthesia, administers necessary medications, and provides significant support as parents enter the room to see their babies for the first time post-surgery. Their compassion shines through with hugs, encouragement, and warm smiles, bridging language barriers when words fail. Families are then transported to recovery with the pediatric team, where they are monitored overnight and prepared for discharge the next morning.
The morning routine for pediatrics also includes discharging the previous day’s patients once they have been cleared by the surgeons. This entails updating post-op records and providing detailed recovery and follow-up instructions to the families, thankfully with the help of the Adventist Hospital Cebu staff and Cebu Port Centre Rotary Club volunteers.
Head Nurse Newton also emphasized that all of the coordination of hospital logistics, staffing, transportation and any needed supplies wouldn’t have been possible without the invaluable support of Cebu Port Centre Rotary Club. Their boots on the ground before our arrival were essential to the success of this Rotaplast Mission
Another beautiful thank you from one of our families could speak for all the families – “As I held my baby in my arms in the recovery room, I know she will do greater things in the future, and you are gonna be a big part of it.”
Saving Smiles. Changing Lives!