Mission accomplished -- for now

Deepa Bharath

CHAPTER 8

It’s never the end

Like a toddler with a mischievous grin on his face, thoughts of

home played “peekaboo” with team members.

Their walks had gotten a little slower. There was talk of going

back home, about seeing “the kids.” The nurses were talking about

their schedules and shifts at Hoag Hospital.

The excitement had, sort of, died down.

They began to dismantle equipment and pack up supplies. The team

was going to donate about $40,000 worth of goods to the hospital.

That included a boom box with a CD player that Robert Burns had

bought at an electronics store in Downtown Macas.

“You need to make work more fun,” surgeon Robert Burns told the

smiling Ecuadorean doctors.

They also donated anesthetics sufficient for about 100 surgeries,

intravenous fluids, dressings, staples, sutures and a set of

laparoscopic instruments.

As team members presented these items to hospital staff, Nichter

told them that Macas was very much in Plasticos’ future.

“This is our second step in a long journey of what we’d like to

accomplish,” he said.

Nichter talked about his vision of having a “much more expanded

operation,” teaming up with local plastic surgeons in Ecuador “who

will converge in Macas.”

“We want to help the indigenous people,” Nichter said. “Especially

those who can’t afford medical treatment.”

He thanked the hospital staff for their cooperation and for

teaming with Plasticos.

“These are memories we’ll keep an entire lifetime,” he said.

WORDS OF GRATITUDE

Hospital director Julian Cuesta thanked team members for their

compassion.

“We give you our friendship,” he said. “And we open our arms to

all of you and thank you for this grand effort you’ve made for the

poor people of Ecuador.”

Cuesta, who got emotional as he thanked the team, said he was

speaking on behalf of all the people in Morona Santiago, the province

that includes Macas, surrounding towns and the jungle communities.

“There’s very little help that we’ve received of this kind,” he

said. “There are not enough words to thank you. What you’ve done is

something that is invaluable to us.”

Cuesta said he hoped his hospital would forge a lasting

relationship with Plasticos.

“This is not a second or third time,” he said. “This doesn’t end

here. This doesn’t end today. This is forever.”

Anesthesiologist Lisette Hernandez, who was among those listening

to Cuesta, wiped away tears as she hugged nurse Kathleen Fodor.

Hernandez, who is originally from Cuba, came to Macas four years

ago. She had worked with the Plasticos team in November, as well.

“I’ve learned a lot from team members,” she said. “This time was

better because I have a better understanding of how they work now

than I did last year.”

Americans have a totally “different work culture,” Hernandez said.

“They work more as a team than Ecuadoreans do,” she said. “In

their case, everybody works, everybody is around the patient and

everybody is focused on the patient.”

Also, with a specialist like Nichter, patients get exactly what

they need, she said.

“There are no plastic surgeons in Macas,” Hernandez said. “A lot

of times, it’s frustrating for us here because we can’t help people.

We want to, but we can’t.”

WORKING TOGETHER AS A TEAM

For Aurelio Zuniga, an anesthesiologist from a neighboring town

called Sucua, it was the first time he had worked with Plasticos.

Zuniga said he was impressed with the care and concern team

members showed to patients.

“I haven’t seen so much interest in patients here,” he said. “And

nurses [in Ecuador] are so overworked that they don’t really have the

time to look after the patients.”

Zuniga said he “got a lot of satisfaction” from his weeklong

assignment.

“I’m glad I could help these people who don’t normally get the

care and attention they so badly need,” he said.

The need in the underdeveloped Morona Santiago area is

overwhelming, said Juan Leon, a doctor and an official with the

Ecuadorean Ministry of Health. Leon was the main liaison between the

hospital and Plasticos team members.

“The indigenous populations suffer from congenital problems and a

host of other problems, like machete injuries and burns,” he said.

The challenges faced by the people who live in the deep jungle are

“too many,” Leon said.

“They have no roads and no medicines,” he said. “There are very

few nurses and doctors in the jungle, and the populations that live

there are at great risk to fall sick and die.”

The Plasticos team’s visit is a welcome break for these people,

Leon said.

“These doctors and nurses not only helped these people and helped

the hospital take care of these problems, but also provided a

learning experience for our own doctors and nurses,” he said.

Team members and local officials had their differences of opinion

about how things should be done, Leon said.

“We had our little fights,” he said with a smile. “But it’s OK. It

happens. And ultimately, it all works.”

A SAD FAREWELL

The farewell was bittersweet for team members.

“I’m ready to go,” Fodor said. “But it feels sad at the same

time.”

Ruth Ann Burns was looking forward to going home and scooping her

15-month-old granddaughter into her arms.

“But I feel horrible leaving all these people behind,” she said.

“It feels like they’re part of our families, too.”

Recovery room nurse Jane Collins was tearful as she hugged Alba

Sarmiento, a nurse at the hospital in Macas.

“We exchanged e-mail addresses and mailing addresses,” Collins

said, wiping away tears.

“Oh, Alba, I’m going to miss you,” she said, hugging her friend

again.

Collins gave her jungle boots to Sarmiento, who lives by the river

in the outskirts of the town with her husband and daughters.

“She needs it more than I do,” Collins said.

The 14 red suitcases that traveled with the team were all packed,

weighed and piled in the back of two trucks.

“This is not the end,” Nichter told his team and hospital

officials. “It’s only our second step in a long, long journey.”

Seven-year-old Brigit Aray had her hand still bandaged. But she

had gotten her smile back. Nichter had operated on her thumb.

“Are they leaving, daddy?” the little girl asked her father,

Orlando Chica.

“Yes, they have to go a long way,” he replied.

“Will they be back?” Brigit asked, seemingly anxious.

“Yes, my daughter,” he said, hugging her as she giggled. “They

will come back.”