Day in the OR

Today was the big day and what a cool experience. Riley's grandfather, Poppy, was here in Honduras with some special people from NJ so we had a chance to all go into the OR with him and watch him operate. The little boy's name is Carlos, a 14 month old with a cleft lip and palate. This was his third time trying to get surgery since he was born. The first time, he had a cold so they could not operate, the 2nd time this past December, he was so chunky, they could not find a vein to place his IV. After 8 times trying, they said they would have to wait. They actually put him on diet! Today had to be his day, right? After a bit of a wait, we put on our scrubs and had a chance to play with Carlos in the Child Life room. He has quite the personality.. He enjoyed playing with the ball with Riley. When the anesthesiologist came to get the baby, I was amazed by the mom's calming presence. She barely even said goodbye to him saying that he would just cry harder if she went to hug him. Riley, Gustavo and Giselle got a brief run down from my dad on the rules of the OR and we were in. The anesthesiologist Mark from Michigan, tried for a quite a bit to get the IV in and finally it worked! Not knowing how their bodies would handle being there, all three stood to the side for a short bit. Since we were not scrubbed in, we could not touch anything sterile, which was not so easy considering their were two tables running in each room. Once they realized they wanted a better view of the operations, all three went right to the top of the table and listened carefully to my dad's teachings. Gustavo was very concerned with the extra pieces of flesh hanging out, and constantly asked my dad if he was going to do anything about it. With a bit of laughter in the room, he told Gustavo that with patience, all would fall into place. The thumbs up picture was when the lip was finally closed... something Gustavo could not wait to see. It was fun having his curiosity in the OR. Everyone was extremely patient with us, teaching anesthesia and surgery along the way. I was proud of all of them. With only a couple of dizzy spells throughout, they were all able to witness the miracle of a smile. I think if given the chance, they would have gone back for more! We also had a chance to see Carlos handed over to his mom and that was the moment that everyone talks about and why we work so hard to help these children. She was very stoic for a few brief moments and then her tears started to flow. After all of this time waiting, her baby boy finally had a beautifully complete smile. You could feel in her tears and in the gratitude of her eyes when she looked at us that she was grateful. It was a beautiful thing to witness. My dad even had Gustavo translate that even though he was quietly crying, he had been given pain meds so that he would not be in pain. It was really a one of a kind experience and I am so grateful that Riley's new Hondorian friends could do this along with him.

Isabelle, check out your hospital gown on little Maria! She is wearing it with pride! love all of you, brigette and riley