Day 6 and 7: Mission Accomplished!!

Saludos everyone!

So the thing about CAMTA missions is that one gets to really feel the gratitude of the patients whose lives we touch. They all express their gratitude in different ways. One of our patient's mother brought hand made jewellery and bags enough for all the female volunteers. Little Emilio's grandparents brought flowers for one of CAMTA's co-founders just to say thank you. The admin area is filled with fruit that one patient's family brings for the entire team. Team members do develop special bonds with patients and their families and that is what brings most of them back every year.

In the last two days, I made a little friend and this blog post is mostly about him.

Alexander Samuel Simisterra Enriquez is a happy 8 year old who passionately loves soccer. He was a last minute CAMTA patient who turned up for assessment on Thursday and was lucky enough to be scheduled for surgery the next day which also happened to be our last day. Alexander needed a Tibial Derotation Osteotomy to correct the abnormal twist on his right leg. In layman terms, this means that the doctors would have to make a cut in the front of the lower leg, cut the shin bone and then rotate the bone to the correct position. A simple procedure but one which his parents could not afford to have done on him.

From the minute he turned up, Alexander charmed everyone including me. I couldn't help but see my 8 year old Mandla in him who loves soccer just as much. Below are pictures of Alexander in the little time he spent with the CAMTA team.

Alexander arrives for admission at the CAMTA clinic with his mum and soccer ball. 

Alexander showing off his soccer moves with translator Toby.

The next day, Alexander arrives at the pre-operative clinic. 

The Pediatric Anesthetist (Kate Fry) and Recovery Room nurse (Bev Runka)

prep him for the hour long surgery. 

The surgery is successful. Here, the surgeon, puts a cast on his leg before he is wheeled to the recovery room.

Alexander in recovery room with Recovery Room nurse Pauline and Anesthetist Kate

Once the effect of anesthesia wears off, Alexander is transferred to the Ward where a team of ward nurses

and physiotherapists attend to him. One of the GP's will also keep an eye on him while on the ward.

Alexander approximately 4 hours post surgery. All smiles as if the surgery was a walk in the park! The next day Alexander is discharged. 

And so we come to the end of yet another successful CAMTA mission. Our last night is spent dining together as a team. The general mood at dinner is happy yet sad. Happy that we succeeded in what we set out to do but sad to be saying goodbye to the patients and to each other.

Thank you all once again for your support and for indulging me by reading my blog posts. I hope the work that CAMTA does inspires you to make a difference in someone's life.

May God bless you all whichever corner of the world you happen to be!

Much love to you all!

Sandra

With my lovely roommate, Alyssa

With Pediatric Anesthetist, Kate who travelled furthest to be on the team...Australia!

The lay team. Dan, Rachelle, Becca, Alyssa Karen and I

With Ward nurse, Erica.

Sightseeing Ecuador! In front of a house that belonged to the famous Ecuadorain artist: Guyasamin. 

Day 4 and 5

So what exactly is my role on this mission? Working in the CAMTA "kitchen". This is dirty business people (literally) but somebody has to do it. That somebody is me and 5 other lay volunteers. Hundreds of instruments are used by surgeons to perform surgery on patients everyday. On a typical day, 8 patients will be operated on (4 adults and 4 peds) which means 8 sets of instruments will need to be cleaned and sterilized. The minute a surgery is over, the OR nurses bring all the dirty instruments to the kitchen for cleaning. Folks, this is not a job for the fainthearted. Initially, I was fighting the urge to gag every 5 minutes. By the next day I was hardly fazed. Blood, little bone pieces and tissue is all over the instruments and it all has to be thoroughly cleaned before sterilization. My team members and I create an assembly line and pass the instruments along 4 stages of cleaning. Once cleaned, they are wrapped and placed in an autoclave for sterilization for about an hour and a half before they  are considered ready for the next patient. One wrong act (e.g. overlooking a teeny weeny spot of blood) and the team has to redo the entire process which delays the next surgery. Not fun.

All decked out "Breaking Bad" style cleaning OR instruments. With Rebecca, Karen and Dan

OR Instruments just before a surgery. Nice and clean courtesy of CAMTA lay volunteers.

In the wrapping room. Couldn't tell you exactly what I am wrapping!

In between cleaning instruments, I sometimes get an opportunity to meet some patients. Ronal is a curious six year old boy who needs surgery on his left leg. (I forget for what exactly!) He watches everything and everyone around him. Nothing escapes him. It is hard to coax a smile out of him but when he does smile, his whole face just lights up. You can tell he knows that something big is about to happen. His mother has explained to him how the surgery will allow him to run and play just like other kids.

With Ronal, his mum and CAMTA translator, Adam.

By end of day Wednesday, mid-week fatigue sets in. It's an early night for me tonight. I can hardly believe the mission is halfway through. Time sure does fly when you are having a blast!

Miss my boys...

Buenos noches!

Day 2 and 3

Saturday Feb 28th: A day at the market

If there is one word that describes Quito, it's colour. Everywhere you go, you see and feel colour. Quito is a city nestled in an Andean valley flanked by volcanic peaks and at almost every turn, you see houses and buildings painted in bright shades of colour. Go to the any market and it's almost an assault to your eyes. Colour everywhere. Ecuadorians themselves radiate so much warmth, it's impossible not to feel it.

Photo courtesy of Shan Lu

With Erica (nurse) and Karen (layperson) outside Otavalo Market.

The first day in Quito is all about acclimatization. You have to give your self some time to get used to the high altitude. Quito being the highest official city in the world (9350 ft or so above sea level), one has to be prepared to experience serious altitude sickness. One flight of stairs and you are out of breath. (Or maybe I should just revive that gym membership?)

But I digress.

On Saturday, (resting day) a few of us take a two hour drive outside the city to Otavalo market. Highly recommended if you are ever in this part of the world. Bargains galore. In the evening, the two teams have a chance to meet and socialize at the CAMTA Team dinner. It's the only night all the members are together in one place. The buzz and chatter is non stop. As team one leaves, team two steps in for 10 days. At least 60 Ecuadorians will be be operated on by the time the mission is over.

Sunday Feb 29th: Clinic Day

It's clinic day today. The real work begins. Too bad if you haven't acclimatized! About 80 patients are assessed by a team of doctors, anesthetists, physiotherapists and nurses. Some are turned down mostly because it's too risky to perform surgery on them. Those that qualify for surgery leave with beaming smiles and hearts full of hope. Imagine the joy parents of a child who has had club feet all their life, unable to have a normal childhood, feel when told that a mere 3 hours of surgery will change their child's life. Or the pride a man who qualifies for a Total Hip Replacement surgery feels knowing that he will finally be able to live a pain free life and more importantly, provide for his family. Small things we all take for granted.

My main job on clinic day is to help register patients who will be assessed by the medical team. Many have come from miles away and still, they wait ever so patiently for their turn. Each of them hopeful. They hug you for simply registering them on the system. To them, this is the first step towards a better life. To me, this mission if anything, is a personal lesson on gratitude.

A little girl called Paulina (about five years old) shyly tugs at my scrubs and motions to her mum holding a cell phone. She wants a photo with me. I happily oblige and ask the mum to do the same on my phone. She gives me a hug and runs back to her beaming mom. I am guessing they made the cut.

Hard at work. 

With Greg (IT person). 

Beautiful Paulina! 

 With Rachel, 16 year old local student who translates for us whenever she can. (Note to self: teach my kids the importance of volunteering)

Clinic Day.

Bus ride back to the hotel. 

The day flies by so fast. We leave for the hotel at 6:30 pm. A quick chat with my boys before I call it a day. Mandla cheekily informs me that their dad made them popcorn and BURNT it! (Seriously Syd?). Tatenda, who loves all things popcorn, said it was delishas (delicious). Not sure who to believe here...

Buenos noches!

Love,

Sandy