Jan. 31-First Day in the Amazon

Just where do I start?

It’s unbelievable how much of what the surgeons/doctors do/perform is at a state of being nearly, if not, too late!

Today, we filmed cleft palate, lip, and ear reconstructive surgeries – procedures these doctors consider “standard.” Just when we started getting into a rhythm, a pregnant woman rushed in ready to deliver. Luckily, our team of doctors were with her for every push. At home, in the US, this would have been a birth by C-section as the baby (a boy) was literally swimming in his feces, umbilical cord wrapped around his throat, but all ended well and mom and baby are okay. It is survival of the fittest here – with seemingly little or no regard for human life for the poor. There’s been a lot of “butchered” procedures; our surgeons have had to go back in to repair the damage done by the first surgery. They have also done second procedures for 3-stage surgical jobs … on repeat patients.

Perhaps the saddest story today was a man who came in to get a pin repaired on his finger. When the surgeon opened it up, the bone had no flesh and there was still dirt still inside the bone. The other finger is damaged and it won’t be long before he loses this one too. The poor man went to sleep thinking he was going to get a repair and when he woke up he had one less finger!  He will lose the other finger in a matter of time and they’ve offered to operate amputate the hand which will give him more function but he’s refused. He only wants to spend the night because his home is several hours away and I hope the doctors can persuade him to operate.  There are numerous stories like this, a boy who broke his arm eight years ago and just came in – after all the nerve damage is done.  A cleft nose that the cartilage is too hard now to do anything about – and the scariest anesthesia story – where the hospital team from Ecuador installed an air tank instead of an oxygen tank and the child nearly died. You’ll see all this in the film unless every day turns out as intense as today.

People are coming out of the woodwork and they have the doctors continuing to screen potential patients – even though the scheduled is already filled. Some of the lucky patients will be sent to Latacunga. Fortunately for them the doctors are spending two weeks this year rather than one.