Entries by AST President Roy Zacharias, CST, FAST, unless otherwise noted

Our First Day in Ecuador

You may ask where is Guayaquil, Ecuador? The best answer is to drive south about 152 miles south of the Equator and you will be there. Holly Falcon, CST, FAST; Chris Keegan, CST, FAST; Renee Nemetiz, RN, CST, FAST; Libby McNaron, CST, RN FAST; and myself left Miami International Airport for a 4 hours flight to this beautiful country. We are setting the foundation for future AST sponsored surgical mission trips and Hospital Leon Becerra De Guayaquil was our chosen destination.  We are working in conjunction with Healing the Children out of Hawthorne, New Jersey.

Joe Charleman, LPN, CST, a member of AST’s Education and Professional Standards Committee has been working with “Healing the Children” for many years is serving as one of the mission trip administrators.

I just wanted to share a few photos from our first day. There will be an in-depth article in the AST Journal after our return. I will say that after our first day of seeing patients and surgery, I thought I was going to be tired. I wasn’t. The excitement of changing the lives of children most assuredly overcame any thoughts of being tired.

Monday

The day started at 5:45 am and we got back to the hotel at around 8 that night. This is such a rewarding day of surgery. Today, we changed the life of 25 kids … FOREVER!!! With the half day of surgery Sunday combined with today we have completed 37 surgeries. I knew this would have an interesting change on my life, but didn’t truly understand how much until today. The large group picture is of the kids, their parents and the CSTs, MDs and RNs that are on this mission.  

Wednesday

I am sure everyone is aware of what strabismus is, but to make a long story short, strabismus is a disorder in which both eyes do not line up in the same direction, so they do not look at the same object at the same time. Today was such a rewarding day for the entire team. We had the opportunity to say farewell to some of our patients who had surgery on Monday. Words can’t describe the emotions that have been running through our minds. The final count for the two and one half days of surgery is 62 cases. As you can see from the pictures we posted on the blog, the hard work is so rewarding.

I can’t begin to describe the emotional uplifting we are all experiencing. Please pass this information to your friends and tell them to check out the blog. We will be receiving a visit from the US Embassy today. Chris Keegan, Renee Nemetiz, Libby McNaron and Holly Falcon have found a new respect for 8-0 suture. I am behind on posting pictures from yesterday since we have been running nonstop since this morning, but more will be coming soon!

I know there are many out there that talk about going on a mission trip, but have yet to do so. Coming up, I will break down the trip in hopes of helping everyone to understand what really is involved in a mission.

Thursday

We finished up Thursday’s surgery schedule around 6:30 pm. It was a big day for the children of Ecuador. Twenty-six cases for the day. We have managed to stay on track with at least 25 surgeries a day. While this trip isn’t about numbers, it is still wonderful to be able to provide surgery for even one more child than we had anticipated. Our current surgical case total is 112.  The biggest problem now will be supplies. This is why there are only 12 cases on the books for Friday. It is going to be very hard to close the books on this wonderful work, but that will happen Friday after that final case.

I apologize for sporadic posts during this week, but the Internet was much more uncooperative than expected, but you can expect an in-depth article very soon concerning this work and mission trip involvement for the future. As I have said previously, my life and the lives of those that have come here has been changed forever. Holly, Chris, Renee, and Libby will be providing their thoughts of the week and will be posted soon. 

Friday

By Chris Keegan, CST, FAST:

What an exciting, exhausting and heartwarming experience. The children are so precious and the families are so thankful for the surgeries that otherwise may have never been possible. I had the privilege to meet and witness the handiwork of the ophthalmic surgeons who are at the top of their field and have hearts of gold. The anesthesiologists, nurses, CRNA’s and pediatricians joined together with us to form an awesome surgical team. It feels as if we had known each other for years rather than days. I will forever be thankful for the memories and the opportunities that this surgical mission trip to Ecuador has given me.  

By Holly Falcon, CST, FAST, AST vice president:

In no way was I prepared for the range of emotions I would feel participating in a medical mission trip. I was extremely excited and filled with anticipation trying to prepare myself for the process behind what we were doing. This excitement quickly turned to humbleness as I stepped off the bus: the site of people standing in line outside the hospital hoping to be seen by a doctor, the guard outside the door trying to keep order, and most of all, walking through the door and seeing the patients we would see first sitting in the waiting room waving, smiling and taking pictures of us like we were heroes there to save the day – was more than I could handle without my eyes filling with tears.

Reality set in as I realized the impact we would have on these children and their parents who so desperately wanted their child to have normal vision. During this week, we pulled together and worked as a team with surgeons, nurses and anesthesia personnel to transform three near empty rooms into functional ophthalmology operating rooms using supplies we carried with us. During the week, we performed 124 strabismus surgeries. As the week progressed, one of our greatest challenges was conserving supplies in hopes we would not run out of supplies before we ran out of patients. By the last day, I was loading ophthalmology sutures wearing size 7.5 gloves when I would normally wear 5.5.

The thankfulness extended to us by the hospital personnel, patients and families was endless. I end the week with a sense of pride in our success, but will forever be humble.  

By Libby McNaron, CST, RN, FAST:

I have found a renewed passion for the work that we do in the OR. With each strabismus repair the improvements for their life were immediately evident. Each child was especially precious when asleep. Some sat and held their masks while others required being held closely while the anesthetic took effect. The rhythm of the OR was not different. In our element, we functioned in our roles the same way.

I have a new appreciation for the resources of the United States. Equipment was functional but years older than some of the oldest equipment that I have seen for training in our schools. Small challenges such as a Mayo stand that did not move up and down created opportunities for a greater sense of teamwork as we worked to accommodate the small things.  We learned to conserve, adapt, and problem solve as we worked as a team to facilitate sterile procedures.

My heat is full from the well wishes, the appreciative faces, the improved sight and the new friends made. We had many opportunities to explain what AST is and what we do. We wore hats and uniforms representing the organization with humble experience developing rapport and gaining respect. It is an honor and privilege to represent AST in this wonderful joint venture. 

A Life-changing Event

I can’t begin to share all the feelings from this past week in a few sentences. What I can say is that this has been a life-changing event for me. Holly and I are in the process of writing an extensive article for the AST Journal which will include personal comments from each member of the AST team that was on the mission as well as to provide in-depth information for anyone that is contemplating participating on a surgical mission. Please stay tuned for this article. I hope it creates more involvement in the care of our patients all over the world.