Day 4 Wednesday, October 7th
Wednesday was another full day at the Obras as Team 921 continued serving patients throughout Antigua. With a busy surgical schedule, nurses and surgical teams prepared to stay late to ensure every patient received the care they needed.
One surgical patient arrived with both hardware and a bullet in his knee that needed to be removed. The bullet had been there for 12 years, and previous surgeons had determined that it was too close to an artery to safely attempt removal. Working together, Dr. Harris and Dr. Yarboro were able to carefully remove the bullet from behind the patient’s knee before Dr. Harris completed his total knee replacement. When the bullet was shown to the patient as he woke up from surgery, he grinned from ear to ear, celebrating a successful procedure that had once been considered too risky to attempt.
Our mobility clinic also reflected on the unexpectedly busy day they had experienced on Tuesday. Caroline Keinath, a physical therapist who works in a burn unit at her hospital, found herself treating a patient whose needs aligned closely with her experience. The 38-year-old man had been involved in an electrocution accident while holding onto equipment on the back of a truck. The electrical current traveled through his body, leaving him with limited movement in one leg and extensive scarring along his leg and back.
When Caroline met him, she got down on her hands and knees to clean and assess his wounds, carefully dressing them before fitting him for a wheelchair to help accommodate his new limitations and provide greater comfort and mobility.
Across the Obras, each team continued to work through the challenges of the day. Interpreters, scrub technicians, nurses and dental assistants adapted to changing needs while supporting their teams and keeping the focus on providing each patient with the best care possible during their time with Team 921.
