Ingenio San Antonio, Nicaragua Surgical Trip

Thank You!

The Interplast Nicaragua Team
Originally uploaded by interplast.

Finally, our stay here at the Ingenio San Antonio is coming to an end. We are all happy about the surgeries we were able to successfully perform. The Interplast team 2006 says thank you to the APROQUEN team and all the staff supporting us throughout our stay at the Ingenio!

Cute Little Dilan

Ruth
Originally uploaded by interplast.

One of our favorites is cute 1-year-old Dilan. He was born with a drooping left eyelid and his mom tells us she is so excited to see him after surgery (us too!!). Our head nurse Ruth is shown here just about to take him into the operating room.

Yeris After Interplast

Marly and Yeris
Originally uploaded by interplast.

Remember Yeris? Here, our pediatrician Marly is just taking care of her while mom gets the bottle to feed her. Look how great her lips look after surgery!!

Now Andi Can Smile Again

Andi
Originally uploaded by interplast.

Now, Andi can smile again. When he was 1 year old, he was pushed into a hole filled with burning garbage, leaving him with a contracted right foot and several scars. In the past, he had difficulty walking, but now after surgery, he is looking forward to running like other kids.

Cheering Up Alicia

Alicia and Che
Originally uploaded by interplast.

15 month-old Alicia was born with a bump on her upper lip which will be excised today. Our anesthesiologist "Ché" is cheering her up before taking her into the operating room.

Patients Keep Coming

Os With Prospective Patient
Originally uploaded by interplast.

Also after clinic day, patients keep walking in to be seen by our team. Here, our plastic surgeon Os is sitting in the office screening a new patient to approve him for surgery.

Translator/Coordinators

Jeanette
Originally uploaded by interplast.

Jeanette and Maja are the two translators/coordinators of the Interplast team in Nicaragua. Besides all the paperwork like registering patients and keeping their charts updated and ready for surgery, they are busy taking the patients to the operating room on time, consoling moms and dads waiting in the holding area and helping out with translation in the recovery room.

One of the best parts of the translator/coordinator job is entertaining both kids and parents after surgery with coloring books, candy and by taking Polaroid pictures.

Maja, Alicia and Abuelita

Maja, Alicia and Abuelita
Originally uploaded by interplast.

After recovering in the PACU, Maja Neff is taking Alicia and her “abuelita”
(grandmother) back to the ward.

Solimar

Solimar
Originally uploaded by interplast.

Solimar is waiting in the holding area. For her, going to the operating room is almost a routine, at only 7 years of age, she has already had 6 operations on her cleft palate. Since she lives on the Atlantic coast, it is a long way to get to the hospital, one day by horse and another by bus. Still, she takes it easy and looks forward to getting over with this next operation.

Ana y Saida

Ana y Saida
Originally uploaded by interplast.

Our first two patients for cleft lip surgery this morning are most adorable Ana and Saida, 7 and 5 years old, respectively. Ana will have her fourth operation while it is the third for Saida. Still, both are by no means afraid of the approximately two hours surgery lying ahead of them. While Ana tells us “voy a dormir muy rico” (I am gonna take a nice nap), Saida is already looking forward to having “carne y pollo” (meat and chicken) for lunch later that day.

Ryan And Yeris

Ryan And Yeris
Originally uploaded by interplast.

This is Ryan, one of our three anesthesiologists. It is his first Interplast trip and he is excited about all the new impressions and experiences he has gained. Ryan says it is very motivating to work here as people seem to very much appreciate what we are doing. In the picture, Ryan is just about to take 4-month-old Yeris for a cleft lip surgery to the operating room.

Burn Victim Patient Martha

Martha
Originally uploaded by interplast.

19-year old Martha was playing in the kitchen, when her clothes caught fire from a gas lantern standing next to her. Although her mom immediately came to save her, she was severely burnt on her neck, chest and arm. This accident was 10-years ago, and Martha is looking forward to having her first surgery to release her neck contracture.

No Greater Joy

Debby
Originally uploaded by interplast.

"Volunteering for Interplast" says Debby, "is one of the most rewarding experiences in my 23-year nursing career." For both, it is a way of giving back to the world. There is no greater joy than to be able to watch the expression on a parent's face when they see their child smile normally for the first time.

The ABC's of Post Operative Patient Care

Claudia
Originally uploaded by interplast.

Debby and Claudia are our two PACU nurses whose daily job is the "ABC" of post-operative patient care. Once a patient gets out of the operating room, their job is to continuously monitor and maintain their Airway, Breathing and Circulation. A child's airway status can deteriorate quite rapidly so initially they require constant observation and assessment. The most challenging part of our work is to be able to work effectively and efficiently with the limited resources available. Claudia is shown here comforting a mother and patient in the recovery room

Dragoncitos Eliezer and Julito

Dragoncitos Eliezer and Julito
Originally uploaded by interplast.

Its only been a few days since 8-year old Eliezer got a new hair cut. Before, he had worn it all the way down to the waist to hide his deformed left ear. Still, kids in the neighborhood made fun of him and called him names. However, now he knows things will change, after this and a few other surgeries he can show off his two ears.

A Brave Girl

Heydi
Originally uploaded by interplast.

Heydi is indeed a brave girl. She had been all by herself and was crossing a small stream when she fell and cut her right hand on a glass bottle in the water. Since then, she has had difficulties grabbing and holding things. Today, when she got ready for surgery, she walked all the way to the operating room all by herself – Dad was sound asleep and she did not want him to be woken up. Instead, she bravely waited in the holding area until the doc came to take her into the operating room.

Interplast And APROQUEN Partnership

Mark
Originally uploaded by interplast.

There are altogether eleven Interplast team members here at the Ingenio San Antonio these days and by and by, we will introduce all of them to you. The first to be presented is one of our anesthesiologists and our team leader, Mark, who has been on more than 15 Interplast trips throughout the past 20 years. He considers this place – especially the organization, setting and team work – unusual and unique in relation to any other site he has been to with Interplast. The site provides an extremely high level of sophisticated medical care and reconstructive surgery besides a highly organized team working with Interplast. “The partnership with APROQUEN and Ingenio San Antonio” says Mark “has been a success for Interplast. They have basically achieved their goals at this site.” In future, visiting educators might be sufficient to visit the Ingenio as the team there together with APROQUEN can very well function by itself.

Johana and Edwin

Johana and Edwin
Originally uploaded by interplast.

The screening of patients on clinic day revealed that apparently on this trip we will be treating a lot more cleft lip and cleft palate cases than on previous trips to the Ingenio San Antonio. So, one of today’s first patients – out of 101 seen the day before - is one-year old Edwin who has traveled with his mom all the way from Buaco to the ingenio to be operated on for his cleft lip. We are all happy to see how well fed and agile this cute little boy is (besides the difficulties he has when eating). His mom, Johana, tells us that eating is actually one of the things he likes doing most.

When Edwin was born, Johana was very grateful for her family’s support concerning his defect. Though everyone was sad to see the little boy not fully healthy, Johana gained hope when she saw another child that already had gone through surgery and that looked all pretty. Now, only a few minutes before surgery, Johana is very excited and tries to imagine what her little son might look like in only a few hours time. She herself was born with a little scar which looks like a former cleft lip. “Maybe,” she says, “Edwin and I will just look the same once he has been operated on.”

Burn Victim Eliezer After Surgery

Eliezer On His Mom's Lap
Originally uploaded by interplast.

Eliezer has had surgery on his right leg this morning. When he was 4-months old, he got caught in a heavy fire while sleeping in the bedroom in the back part of the house. His two older brothers with whom he shared the room remained unharmed and nowadays, they take care of him, teaching him how to walk and making life a bit easier.

"Thank You" To Del Mar High School

Luciano Showing Off His No-nos
Originally uploaded by interplast.

A very special thanks from the entire team goes to the sewing class of Del Mar High School in San José, California. They have sent a huge box filled with the most cute “no-nos” like the ones you can see on little Luciano.

Clowns!

Clowns!
Originally uploaded by interplast.

For our patients, clinic day often means enduring hours of waiting to get screened. While moms and dads try to keep their kids entertained, APROQUEN and Ingenio San Antonio have done their best to make those hours more pleasant. Apart from providing lodging and nutrition to all of them, they have set up a tent and seating to give them shade and – best of all – two clowns to keep the kids awake and laughing.

Working With Local Doctors

Approving Patient For Surgery
Originally uploaded by interplast.

Working with local doctors, nurses and personnel has been smooth and throughout this first day we have already shared quite a lot of experience and knowledge. At first, we have to gather general information of our patients like name, address and age. Then they are seen by the plastic surgeons who have to decide if they can perform surgery on them, and what procedure would be best. Before a final approval, the pediatrician and the anesthesiologists have to make sure that the patient’s general health condition allows for surgery.

In this photo, one of the Ingenio´s pediatricians, Jamilet Morales, and Interplast pediatrician Marly Larrabee are approving a patient for surgery.

Support From APROQUEN

Clinic Day
Originally uploaded by interplast.

It is Monday, February 20, 2006 and we are all busy screening people on clinic day, getting to know our patients and the various surgical problems they have to cope with every single day. We are all having a great time here due to the overall support of APROQUEN and their very helpful staff as well as the organized and dedicated people working in the hospital here in Ingenio San Antonio, Nicaragua.

Interplast Ingenio San Antonio, Nicaragua Blog

Hi. My name is Maja Neff, and I am a coordinator/translator on an Interplast surgical team trip here in Ingenio San Antonio, Nicaragua. We (plastic surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, coordinator/translators and a pediatrician) will be here for two weeks performing free life-changing operations on Nicaraguan children. Please check our blog daily for updates, and if you have any questions for the doctors or myself, just post a comment and we'll try to answer them within a few days!