Carnival and University UMC Eye Surgery Team.

Last week I hosted the University UMC surgical team from San Antonio, Texas. I had briefly worked with this group last year while they were in country, so I was eager to spend the entire week serving alongside them this year. This team brings down the same 2 eye surgeons every year, Dr. Evans and Dr. Sponsel. The team did over 100 eye procedures and were really fun to work with. Here are some of my favorite moments from the week.

Sunday was triage day, so I got to the clinic super early and after the welcome meeting with the team I spent the week scheduling the patients for their surgeries. After the patients went through the triage stations and the doctors determined what surgery was needed they came to me and I inserted them into our schedule for the week. This may sound odd, but I actually really impressed myself with how independent I was when it came to scheduling the patients. I asked Jose to help translate for me, but then ended up really only needing to use him when the patients didn't speak Spanish but K'iche instead. Otherwise for the most part I was able to schedule the patient and also give the pre-op instructions. May not sound like much, but I am always amazed when I can talk in Spanish about medical things and they understand!

The team did did surgery Monday through Friday. My role on those days was just to make sure everything was running smoothly. It is always completely hilarious to me when surgeons are all standing around me asking me medical questions that I am able to answer. So many times I walk away from a conversation and just start laughing to myself and asking myself how did this become my life? I also had another pretty hilarious moment when my phone (which quacks like a duck) went off while I was "in surgery" aka watching while taking pictures. The doctors just looked up at me and laughed really hard and told me that was the first duck they had in their OR. I then went outside and called my mom back and told her that I couldn't answer before because I was scrubbed in. A sentence that I never thought I would say.

On Tuesday at the school we celebrated Carnival. I am still not really sure what is behind the celebration, but I don't really care because it was one of the most fun things I had done in awhile! The way you celebrate Carnival is you crack eggs filled with confetti on each other's heads. Janet brought me a bag of eggs that morning into the clinic and told me to get ready for my attack at recess. I spent the morning watching a few surgeries and holding a few family member's hands while their loved ones were in surgery. Then at 10:00 I heard the bell ring for recess, and when I went outside I could not stop laughing. All the precious kids in our school were wearing decorated masks and throwing eggs at each other. The following pictures are my favorite moments from the celebration.

The next 2 pics are with the extremely precious Luisa Elaina. Her and her sister Reyna are without doubt 2 of my favorite things about Guatemala.

I love this picture of me, Carol Ann and Janet. They have recently roomed out of the clinic and into the school to office which I was a little bummed about. However, not I have my one little escape from the clinic when I need to go sit on their floor and complain/cry/or laugh.

Below I sat on the ground so the kids could reach my head better and got COVERED in confetti. A team member took my camera and took the following couple of pictures.

This little boy is Danny. He used to not let anyone touch him and would try to run away from school almost everyday last year. Now he has grown so much and loves to hug. He ran up to me and threw his entire bag of confetti on my head, so clearly I had to attack him with tickles. His laughter in that moment was precious.

This cuteness is Karla Marlaney. She has been another favorite since she had surgery in our clinic last year. Before her operation and then after I sat with her in her bed holding her hand. I think my profile picture on this blog is still of me and her right after surgery.

Beyond happy that Carol Ann is not only my friend but now my coworker as well. It is so amazing having her around at the clinic! However, I was a little mad that she didn't send me the 'wear a hat' memo that morning.

Below are a couple of pictures of me with my sweet friend Mary. She is one of the teachers at our school and the one who came to Houston last December before I moved here. She is very special to me.

Last picture from Carnival is of me and Saydie. She kept running up to me and trying and then succeeding to throw her confetti down my pants. I then got her back by smashing about 5 eggs on her head. Such a fun celebration!

So after having a ball celebrating Carnival with our school students and staff I had to clean myself off and go back into the clinic to continue hosting the surgery team. I could pretty much get the confetti off of my clothes, but it wouldn't come out of my hair and also while I was walking back in the teachers threw blue glitter at me which COVERED my neck. The surgeons just laughed at me and politely suggested that I take the rest of the day off from surgery. :)

This is a picture of our normally office space and lunch room which we transform into pre and post op care during surgery weeks. This is the pre op area where the patients get the numbing medications for their eyes and wait for an OR to open up.

Another picture of our mini "hospital" that gets set up for the week.

This picture came out a little burry, but I still love it. Archy was the translator for Dr. Evans, so when I went into that OR it was hard not to constantly laugh at the fact that we were both "scrubbed in". Also some of the patients when they say bye and thank me as they leave call me doctora. Again hilarious. 

Next up is Dr. Evan's OR, and also a picture of me with 2 team members (Christine and Paula). When I said I was going into the OR they took it upon themselves to "dress" me while laughing the whole time then decided of course we needed a picture. 

This picture was taken on Valentine's Day. Obviously you can see the cute little heart shaped sticker on the surgeon's face. :)

This is Dr. Sponsel's OR. On a side note the Shirley, the team member in black, pulled me aside on the last day and asked if she could pray with me. She then put oil on my hands and held them tightly while she prayed. The phrase that she kept using about me was that I was in a "moment of transition". Her and I had not spent much time talking throughout the week, but she said that while watching me she just got the sense that I was constantly growing in both my position and my faith. She then said that the night before while she was thinking about the week and thought about me that is what kept coming to mind. I actually think it was pretty fitting. Even though I have now been here for over a year I am still everyday in a moment of transition. I thought it was a pretty special moment for her to want to pray with me. 

During the week Dr. Sponsel did 7 child surgeries. Below are 2 pictures of 2 of the children who had operations. The first one is Wendy (wish it wasn't so blurry). She had to come back for an additional surgery and while she was walking into the clinic I asked her if she had any pain and she smiled and said no. Then she took my hand and kissed it. I can't remember exactly how old she was, but she had to have been so scared but yet she came off so brave. She later told me that her little doll that she carried around had a little bit of pain, but not much. :)

This is Rueben. He had surgery with us on Monday. Him and his father traveled for about 8 hours to get from their village to our clinic. It is constantly amazing to me how far our services reach. We paid their transportation to and from surgery, and they spent a few nights staying in the salon before they were cleared to return back home.

I worked with this team Saturday morning while they were doing their final post op appointments. Then while they were cleaning up I got picked up at the clinic to go to Guatemala City to pick up a team of 34. The team this week is from Fort Smith, Alabama and my part of the team is serving in Cunen. More to come in the next blog because now I need to actually get out of bed (and by bed I mean mattress on the floor in a storage room (get excited for that story)) and go host the team. Please pray for another beautiful week of service!