Day 5 – Feb 11
There is an amusing antidote about Mother Teresa and how one day a reporter was observing her as she cleaned a maggot-infested wound of a man on the streets, only to say that he wouldn’t do the work she was doing for a million dollars. Mother Teresa reportedly looked at him with a smile and replied, “I wouldn’t either.” The story highlights her belief that true service is driven by love and spiritual commitment and not by financial reward.
Today was a full day in the OR. The team completed 19 surgeries including 2 spine, 2 trauma, 4 knee, 4 hips, 3 sports, and 4 foot/ankle operations.
As usual, the day started with rounds where the doctors reviewed post-op x-rays, changed bandages where necessary, provided PT orders, and reminded patients of their restrictions. They then scurried off to the OR while the real fun began – time for PT!
As a translator, one of my favorite areas to spend time is in the patient wards working with the physical therapists. Spending time doing exercises with patients is rewarding in so many ways. You get to see their faces light up when they realize they can get out of bed and walk down the hall with significantly less pain than they could prior to their surgery. Even those patients that begin the day timid are often smiling and showing off their mastery of their exercises by the end of the day.
This morning while I was helping a therapist to make adjustments to a patient’s crutches, I saw another patient walking out of the room using a walker. The patient, Geidy Arreaza from Zacapa, had tears streaming down her face. I walked over and asked if she was in pain and whether I could help her with anything. She shook her head and said “I’m not sad, I’m just so happy to be walking with no pain.” She shared that prior to her hip surgery, her legs were different lengths. She’d had to walk with a very thick (at least 2 inches) orthotic in the shoe of her shorter leg. Walking was very painful and she was self-conscious about having legs that were different lengths. Thanks to a hip replacement by Dr. Neff, her legs were now much closer in length, and she was able to walk with substantially greater ease.
Another story worth sharing came to me from the Mobility Clinic. While we typically communicate in Spanish, oftentimes Spanish is the second language of our patients–with their primary language being a Mayan dialect. What we saw today highlights a challenge the teams sometimes face when trying to provide care. Today we had two patients come in who only spoke Mayan. Traveling with them was a community member who spoke Mayan and Spanish. Here is how the conversation played out: our doctors, Dr. Latimer and Dr. Schnell (English-speaking,) spoke through their interpreter, Miguel (English to Spanish,) to the community member (Spanish to Mayan) and finally to the patient (Mayan-speaking.) For the patient to respond, it required the same chain in reverse. It was like a game of telephone! Whether or not something was lost in translation, the patients left with a smile on their face and a brand new wheelchair.
Team 886
