Cusco, Peru Surgical Trip

Kathy Gallagher: Forget Privacy!

I am Kathy Gallagher, the pediatrician on this trip. I am especially grateful for the opportunity I have as a pediatrician to visit our patients and families on the wards. My job is to write admission and discharge orders, dispense medications, and check on “our kids.”

Often in the surgery and recovery areas, the children are frightened or uncomfortable, although they may put on a brave face. By the time they are settled in the ward, the smiles and chatter really blossom… and the fun begins!

It is wonderful to see the sense of community on the wards – everyone cares for everyone else. Forget privacy! If we are answering questions or giving instructions to one family, several tiers of other patients and families gather, deeply interested, and ready to offer advice and assistance.  Yesterday, I came into the ward to see one mother helping another learn to feed her child with a dropper after cleft lip surgery. Another time, we found a patient not in his bed, and a neighbor was able to tell us where the family was and if there were any problems. And if one family has trouble wrestling the child-proof caps, another comes over to help every time.

Kathy: Families Helping to Translate

  Families Helping to Translate 
  Originally uploaded by interplast.

Here in Cusco, it is particularly gratifying to have our patients step forward to help with translation. Often it is to untangle my rudimentary Spanish, but we also have many patients from the high Andes who only speak Quechua. Whenever we have a Quechua family who cannot understand our translators, there always seems to be another mother who speaks both and steps out of the gathered assembly to translate for us.

And the families! Peru seems to have a particular abundance of caring extended families. Patients who have traveled two days for their surgery often have friends or family here with whom to stay, and tias (aunts), tios (uncles), and primos (cousins) who visit them in the hospital.

Kathy: Fidel's Family

  Fidel's Family 
  Originally uploaded by interplast.

We have all been particularly touched by Fidel’s family, whom we told you about a couple of days ago. I am happy to report that Fidel’s surgery appears to have been a success; he will now have more movement of his right hand, particularly the important use of his thumb. I first met him when he came to see the Interplast team in Puno, Peru in September 2002, but I had not met his three delightful children – Rodrigo (12), Ana (9), and Haiderly (7). They waited patiently in the hall during Fidel’s surgery, and inquired often about how he was doing. As soon as Fidel awoke from surgery, his first question was about the children. And as soon as the kids were allowed in the recovery room, they gathered around Fidel’s bed to stroke his head and pat his hand.

Kathy: Fidel And His Family With Mary

  Fidel And His Family With Mary 
  Originally uploaded by interplast.

Fidel is a single father, so his children were allowed to spend the night in the bed next to his. I was so touched to see how they jumped in to put away his clothes and smooth the sheets to make their own bed – as always, with a “Gracias, Doctora…” Here is a picture of the kids with their father and Mary Whitehead, our trip coordinator/translator.

Encounters such as these remind us of what is really important in life – the power of a smile and warm hearts…