The Team! (5/29/2002)

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We had a great two weeks!

The Christian Medical Dental Association Gynecologic Surgery Team was a tremendous success! We performed thirty surgeries in two weeks. The last patients went home on May 27th. The main glitches were due to power (we lost one day the first week and two partial days the second week due to power outages) and autoclave (sterilizer) problems.

We logged a number of “firsts” for Hospital Loma de Luz:

·      First surgeries in our permanent operating rooms.

·      First patients go through our permanent recovery room.

·      First patients in our in-patient wards.

·      First planned in-patients.

·      First major abdominal surgery (mostly hysterectomies)

·      First cystoscopy (looking in the bladder with a scope)

·      First laparoscopy (looking in the abdomen with a scope)

·      First spinal anesthesia

·      First in-patient pharmacy

·      First transfusion from our “walking blood bank” (Dr. McKenney was the first donor)

·      And for me personally, my first time as “anesthesiologist” giving spinal and general anesthesia without someone supervising me! (I was “apprentice” the first week to our anesthesiologist, and “soloed” the second week when he left.)

In addition to all the firsts, this team helped us reach into the future to test and refine our in-patient surgery system. They brought valuable supplies, medications and equipment, provided training for our staff, and broadened our base of stateside contacts. The team also saw many GYN, pediatric and family medicine patients in the out-patient clinic.

We now have a clearer vision for the future! Our main needs include hiring and training additional staff for surgery and the inpatient wards, acquiring a generator and large autoclave, and recruiting an anesthesiologist or anesthetist.

We are certainly thankful to our Lord for the opportunities and successes of the past weeks, and to the team members who sacrifices their vacations and personal resources to be a part of this landmark event at Hospital Loma de Luz!

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