Day 5 January 28, 2026: Surgery day 3
Ever run out of hot water in the shower, rinsing off the suds and shampoo in cold water? Gosh, how annoying. A rough start to your day. Now, picture having no shower in your home at all! Or indoor plumbing, or air conditioning. Those are some of the living conditions Team 885’s patients may live with every day. Then, compound that life with a health concern that could lead to issues later in life, if not right now. Or a physical abnormality that is not only scary, but could lead to teasing or bullying in school.
The Faith in Practice team encounters these types of situations on a regular basis, and through its skill and expertise and curative powers offers its patients what one might consider priceless: a chance for a normal, if not extraordinary, life.
The first minutes of that normal life begin in the PACU, the post-anesthesia care unit, where the patients wake up to a parent at their bedside and a crack team of post-op nurses ready to help. In a minority of the cases, it could have a rocky start, according to one of the team’s nurses, if the anxiety and nerves and tears going into a surgery are the first conscious thoughts a patient has coming out from under anesthesia. But largely, the patients transition smoothly and calmly to full awakeness.
The PACU uses a wonderfully innovative scale to measure a patient’s responsiveness, playfully called the popsicle scale, ranging from 0 to 29 (prime numbers only, please!). Offered a popsicle (“Quieres una paleta?”), a patient registers a 0 on the scale if asleep and does not wake with stimulus. A 5 on the scale means the patient wakes but declines the popsicle with slurred speech. An 11 means the patient endorses the popsicle, is able to grip it but is unable to direct it into his or her mouth. At 19, the patient holds the popsicle but is unable or unwilling to stop eating to answer questions. At 29, the patient holds the popsicle with his or her own hand, manages the drips, and is able to stop eating to answer questions correctly. Mission accomplished!
Then, it’s on to the recovery ward, where the team doctor makes sure everyone is settled in for the night and will be ready for discharge in the morning. 60 patients have taken steps toward a normal, if not extraordinary, life.
Team 885
