22 patients, six surgeries scheduled, 4 in-office procedures done (biopsies and polyp removals), just over nine hours.
By far the best part, though, was when one family finally told me why they looked so familiar to me-- they were there with the grandmother of one of our cleft lip babies from back in 2007 or 2008!!! Maria Buchan was one of the group of 10 or so babies that we took down to Antigua for surgery over the course of a few months when we lived here. Dad didn't have a photo with him, so he went home and got her to bring to me! I was hoping he would bring her sometime this week, but there they were knocking on my door just as I finished with the last patient... She is now 8 (must be nearly 9?) and has two healthy little brothers. Isn't she beautiful?! (First picture before repair, too bad I don't have one on this computer from the front, but you can appreciate that she had a pretty gaping cleft even so...)
What a blessing to see her-- What other short-term mission workers in the world ever get an eight-year follow up on one of their patients?!! Just another reminder of how awesome it is to be a part of what God is doing here in Guatemala.
I also couldn't help taking my first ever Guatemalan selfie with one of our operative patients for tomorrow... I actually got her to smile a little!
Tomorrow we will see whoever shows up in the clinic in between three major surgeries-- an abdominal one to remove a large abdominal cyst (Dr. Luis sent her to me, so he will get some good follow-up on that referral for sure!), then one "vag-a-thon" as we so lovingly call them (vaginal hysterectomy with repairs for prolapse) and one just plain old vaginal hysterectomy. "Theoretically" should be pretty striaghtforward, but stay tuned.
Can't wait to have Dr. Luis and Don helping!!! Today did get a bit lonely... plus, I have to wash the speculums all by myself ;-)
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