Well, here I am with my 8th and final update from Guatemala...sad!

Today started incredibly early! I got up around 5:30am, went downstairs with the team for breakfast, and we were on our way to the hospital for surgery. We got there, did rounds, then I watched Dr.'s Joe and Mark cast this little girl's leg. Cool stuff I tell ya!

After that, I went to the surgical area of the hospital to change into scrubs...I was dressed so haphazardly! I had a top that was a bit snug, pants that were too big, and mismatching booties. I was quite the fashion statement...even for being in scrubs...a sight to behold, I tell ya! LOL...anyway, I have a pic or two to show people. Hehehe...so this little 2 year old boy named Carlos was the patient of the day. (For the surgical team I was with and myself, of course). ;) He had 2 club feet, so the surgeons, Dr. Walker and Dr. Al operated as anesthesiologist Dr. Dan...anesthitized the patient, and charge nurse Mary and OR nurse Susan assisted. And I...well, I just stood around watching from start to finish without getting in the way. They put me to work...kinda...I helped mop brows in the OR. Pretty exciting stuff I say! ;) hehehe...

It was really interesting to see surgery in real life...experience I will never forget, is what it is! So cool to see what Carlito's (or Tiny Tim, as Dr. Dan called him) feet looked like beforehand and what they looked like after surgery. Absolutely amazing. Even though the room was sweltering with 6 people inside an OR the size of a bedroom, we all got along well and had quite a few laughs along the way! Dr. Walker and Dr. Al were sweating like pigs. It was so bad that they were sweating out their elbows of their surgical gowns...eyuck. But surgery was just under an hour...about 1:55 for the left leg and 1:40 for the right leg. So totally cool. I wanna watch some more! But alas, I can't...because I'm leaving Guatemala tomorrow!

So after surgery, we went to have lunch (that Healing the Children provides for us) upstairs on the unfinished rooftop (that was covered, thank God). Then it started pouring...but at least we didn't get caught in the rain or anything like that. During lunch, Terry and Dr. Dan had gone to a bakery nearby and gotten 40 pasteries for about $2. Amazing...and they were pretty darn good, too! So after lunch the surgical teams and I (minus Dr. Don and Terry) went to Camino Seguro to take a tour around. That was really exciting because I had been there the previous week (to teach First Aid, if you all don't remember) and I got to see about 6 or 7 of the people I had met and/or taught the week before. So much fun.

Always an eye-opening experience, this time we actually went inside the dump to this terrace-like viewing area they have there and it was such a sight to see. I mean, this was amazing. You got to see all the people in action as the garbage trucks rolled by, saw the vultures or buzzards...whatever they are...circling overhead (they are gigantic and there are TONS of them) and saw the valley they use as the dump. I took this picture of lush greenery in the valley on one side and MOUNDS of trash on the other. Pretty amazing. I wouldn't be surprised if there really wasn't much of a valley left in about 3 years. It's that bad.

So we went around to the different Camino Seguro sights (as we did last time) and also went to the clinic that they have there. Along the stops I saw Isabel, Alejandro, Julio, Maribel, Lisette, Jenny (a little girl who hung around quite a bit when we were teaching First Aid), and Chris (from the States, been here 6 weeks, and organizes all of the volunteer efforts at Camino -- but doesn't speak a word of Spanish). After the tour, we went to the new hospital site "The Ritz," that Healing the Children is building. Amazing plans they have...quite ambitious, but they definately need some financial support in terms of donations...SO GET OUT YOUR CHECKBOOKS AND HELP OUT! The projected costs are about $15 million (US), and they hope to have a few floors open by January. And they have another site for another larger hospital. Hope it all works out! *I'm keeping my fingers crossed.*

After that, we headed back to the hospital to drop off a few docs for last minute rounds (post-op, of course) and to check on some new patients...then came back here to the Holiday Inn. Oh, and during the entire time of the tour, with about 10 stops along the way, I sat on a bench in the shuttle 2 times. Total. All the other times I was crammed in the trunk area with at least 2 other docs. It was interesting alright. I really felt like I was getting the full Guatemalan experience then!

So now I'm headed back to the room...we've got a pizza party poolside at 7:30pm, so I'll be there in about 20 mins or so. Good times, good times...use up the rest of my film, pack, go to bed, and head out to the airport in the morning! And with that, my next email will be from Seattle. Take care and I'll see some of you in the next few days!

Love,
Jessica