Tuesday, March 8th
All in all, today was a very successful day! 2 scoliosis surgeries were successfully completed, education of the doctors and nurses was done and renovations of the cast room continued. We left in the dark and came back to our hotel in the dark.
We started our shift in the dark of the AM, and ended in the dark. 14 hours done! Exhausted but a day well spent!
Dr. Rich Nigro gave rounds on anesthesia at 6:30am.
These are the screws and surgical instruments that are inserted into the patient’s spine during scoliosis surgery. Thank you to DePuy for the donation of instruments.
Here is patient 2, Laisha, giving her mom a kiss before she has surgery in the morning.
Nursing rounds mid-day today were about infection prevention for scoliosis patients by POP’s very own Director of Marketing, Lisa Simani-Oren, APN. She did a wonderful job enabling a cross-cultural conversation where we learned a lot about what is done here in Santiago.
One of our operating room nurses, Kelly, got ill and our team took care of her by putting in an IV. It’s amazing what some replacement fluids will do.
Thanks to one of our newest supporters in Massachusetts, POP was able to provide gowns to parents visiting their children. Here Dr. Phil Oren holds one up.
Laisha’s surgery went very smoothly. Her mother sheds a tear after seeing her daughter. She is doing very well after her surgery but it’s an emotional experience.
Monday’s patient, Karina, sits up in bed for the first time after surgery. Her incision looks good. Our former patient Melissa observes (right). Dr. Madelyn Stazzone, POP’s co-founder, and Nurse Beth examine Karina.
The operating room before the c-arm machine started to smoke, and spark. The machine didn’t make it but the patient, Melany, did very well with her surgery.
The planning phases for the cast room renovation are under way and the ortho ward decorations have been ongoing. Stay tuned to see the final product in the days coming. Here POP volunteers project the POP logo onto the wall of the cast room in order to stencil the outline and prep to paint. The hospital wanted us to paint the POP logo onto the wall because we were able to donate so many new pieces of equipment. They are just so loving and appreciative. We couldn’t do this without the generosity of our many donors.
Mothers of patients, new friendships made.
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