Mission trip 11 to Peru...I leave a piece of my heart

It goes by so fast...we will depart the Sacred Valley tomorrow at 6:45 am...then a quick flight from Cusco to Lima.  We arrive in Lima at 11:20 and have a long layover we leave Lima at 02:00 on Monday.
Each trip I come away impacted,changed and always humbled.  Sometimes it is a collection of little things sometimes there is a very poinient moment.it is always wonderful to see that we can make a positive impact on folks lives..improve their hearing, allow them to breath more easily.  They are so grateful. Despite our language difficulties we can communicate from the heart.

In Zimbabwe Tinotenda stole my heart...this year it is Saul

As most of you know I love children and just have to stop and play with all the adorable kids...And so it was on Tuesday...these two adorable kids were sitting on there stoop.  Literally 1/2 block from the clinic...so I have walked by this house for years.  But this year I noticed that the little boy had very blue lips and clubbing of his fingers caused by chronic low oxygen levels in the blood.  My friend Lourdes helped translate and mom showed me a scar on his chest so he has had heart surgery already and that he had a colostomy. She also described what appears to be a tethered spine.  I then noticed that he had two thumbs on one hand.  Usually these collection of ailments are present  with VACREL association.  Saul is 8 but looks like 4...he is very small and  he is smart as a whip.  His mom asked if he could go to the USA... She was most worried about his spinal cord which causes him to be I asked Karoline Brock a pediatrician on our team if she would examine Saul which she gladly did.  It was determined that a cardiac echo and evaluation were the next steps.  I contacted Kate Ropp a friend and pediatric anesthesiologist who was on our team last year...I knew she had been on a cardiac mission trip during her fellowship.  Well Kate came through big time!!!! She contacted a physician out of UCLA and he responded immediately.
This Dr and the clinic are now in communication and Saul will be scheduled for an evaluation and is slotted into the OR schedule in two months in Lima when the team comes down.
So I have created a  Saul fund to help get Saul and his mom to Lima. Through
Capitol City Medical Teams
3275 Crestview Dr
S Salem,OR 97302
Saul fund
They even except PayPal 😇
100% will go to help family with medical expenses.

Saul hugs 

Saul's gift

Saul

Saul and his little Sister

I said my goodbyes to Saul in his house/store this morning . Such a humble dwelling dirt floor bedrooms off the storefront. I of course balled my eyes out. He gave me a holy picture. His dad gave me his e mail.
Later he was outside my B&B with his sister and dad. They push him around in a cart. I'm sure his cardiac reserve at 10,500 feet is not great. This photo is as I was about to leave again... And his sister called me back to ask my name and then with tears in her eyes she said thank you very much. I lost it again.  She is 5.

NEWS FLASH!!!!!!

If Saul can get to Lima, he'll be seen soon for an evaluation by a local team Dr Alejos trained. Then the mission team will be down in a few months!  Boom!  Team Lima will be contacting Kausay Wasi. It pays to know people. 
Thank you Kate Ropp

Hump day...and a busy one it was

7 pm...just got back to my room too tired to go out to eat...
Jason is bringing back some Quinoa soup...thank you Jason...a glass of red wine is my hand...feet are up....
We did 7 surgeries today...6 were planned one was added on...so Teresa is 24 years old and had a mucoid cyst between left eye and nose reaching back into the ethmoid sinus.  She wore her hair to cover her left face.  Both Dr's operated to remove the cyst and creat a drainage system so it would nor reoccur.   Amazing watch.  She came alone with no family.  So Margo a clinic staff took her home to look after her.
We did 4 Septoplasty and two big ear cases one on an 11 year old girl ...she was so brave.

Two more days of operations to go...tomorrow will be a busy busy day 2 tympanomastoids, 2 Septoplasty, 1 polypectomy, 1 parodid surgery...

On my way home I got hugs from my buddy Saul

Saul

Saul and family in the store front/home

Saul

Now the whole team has fallen in love.  Karoline Brock who is a pediatrician agreed to examine Saul
Next steps he will have a cardiac echo...working on making connections with a pediatric cardiologist and the organization Cardiostart the come to Peru and do cardiac surgery.  The ball has started to roll...we will see what the evaluation shows..

Well my heart has been stolen again...

yesterday as I walked around in the village a very cute boy said hola...so I of course stopped to play...he was soon joined by his mom and little sister.
Can never really shut of the nurse brain...I noticed his lips were cyanotic and the the most severe clubbing on his fingers and nails.  Mom shared that he had heart surgery and showed me his scar.  She then pointed out his colostomy and mentioned that he was born with out an anal opening.
She then described that his spinal cord was bent...I am guessing he has a tethered spinal cord.

He is three years older than his sister yet she is 6 inches taller.

Later in the day his family was out for a walk and pushing him in a cart because he can not tolerate any exertion.

Today at the Clinic I was telling Sandy and Guido about Saul.  So Karoline Brock is a pediatrician and she agreed to see him and begin an evaluation.  We are wonder if he has VACTERL association ?
Sandy and Guido are contact a cardiologist in Ariquipa and see if we can get him evaluated. Then figure out the rest of his health issues.

I now will visit each day!...mom wants me to help him get care in the USA....we will see

Superman Saul

E

Saul

Well I just erased one hour of writing and very slow uploading

hoping that we got our bad luck all done in Portland...
One of our team members realized at the ticket counter that the name on her passport and the name on her ticket did not match...needless to say she had to remain in Portland until the travel agent was able to issue a new ticket.  She is en-route now and will arrive sometime tomorrow.

Then one of the surgeons got caught in security for a long time...an Alaska airline agent boarded the plane and was calling out Steve Long...we all jumped up and looked around....and pleaded for them not to leave without him...luckily he made it on.

And another members luggage broke at the airport and he had to go and buy a new one and repack in the middle of the airport.

Off to LAX we went.
In LA Drew Peterson and his girlfriend Melissa braved LA traffic on a Friday evening for a visit.  Great to catch up.

Then for the long trek to Lima...I actually fell asleep before the plane departed...woke up when my row mate got food...then tossed and turned.
Arrived in Lima an despite having to open every medical bag we flew through customs.

The flight from Lima (at sea level) to Cusco (12,500) in one hour is always an adventure...imagine the Andes 20,000 feet high...imagine a city in the valley...now think about a plane dropping out of the sky and slamming its breaks on for a very short runway...white knuckles every time

Today we set up the clinic. The Dr's screened patients.  Some went on a tour.  Lourdes and I had a relaxed day...we walked around the village...including the cemetery.  Very interesting we chatted with a family setting fresh flowers at the grave.  Then they asked us to pray with them.  Very touching

Then we went to Pisac to the market.  I ran into a family I had purchased weaving from before.  They remembered me fun.

Then dinner with the team.