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Recovery
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Recovery It is 10:00 am and all is quiet in post operative recovery. The two latest arrivals are snoring as nurse Cynthia Abraham and EMT Kathy Schrage conduct Spanish class 201 along with some of the Hospital del Nino staff. It is a time of relaxation and laughter, a calm in storm.
Cynthia and Kathy ask if I would like to take a trip up to the pediatric ward in the old wing of the hospital. The ward is jam packed with beds. There are no empty beds. The children’s families are sandwiched in between beds, performing most of the essential nursing work, as the nurses are extremely busy with the most serious cases. Four or five of the children from yesterday’s surgeries are in the ward. They seem to be thriving compared to the exhausted state we last saw them in the day before. Most will be home soon. Jose Luis is doing exceptionally well. It is hot in the ward. Window air conditioners struggle to keep up with the heat created from outside and the body heat inside. A concerned family member approaches us and pleads with us in Spanish. None of us speak the language well enough to understand but follow him as he leads us to a bed at the end of the hall. In the bed is a child, perhaps not even a year old with a growth on the bridge of its nose larger than a golf ball. The child’s beautiful brown eyes are profoundly crossed as it gazes up at us. We nod to acknowledge the situation and to assure that we understand. We retrace our steps back to recovery . The morning went quite smoothly. It would not be the case in the afternoon.
As the patients are brought in for surgery, they wait on orange plastic chairs in recovery to be called into surgery. Most patients have mothers with them, others grandparents or another family member. The mothers are all very much alike. Their appearance so similar with strong Mayan features; the high cheek bones, dark brown eyes and beautiful long black lashes. They are anxious and concerned, and young, very young. When I would look at them and smile they smile back widely as if to mask their trepidation. The mother’s knees fidget as they wait for their children to return from the O.R. Some are on the verge of tears. Some cry, unable to contain their emotion any longer. No matter how simple the surgery, the risk is always there and the fear in a mother’s heart can be overwhelming. The afternoon patients present problems. One small infant manages to pull out her i.v. tube in recovery. Dr. Joe Nicotra patiently searches for a vein to reinsert it. Such a small child makes it a long difficult procedure. The baby only fusses a little under his gentle touch. There is one child who comes out of surgery only to be returned so that her bleeding could be stopped. Fatique is setting in on the Rainbow staff. The Operating Rooms are hot as the air conditioning has been malfunctioning.
As the children recover enough to be moved from recovery they are moved to the other side of the wall where a make shift pediatric ward is created for the Operation Rainbow patients. We move beds back and forth all day to accomodate the need. Hospital del Nino gaciously staffs the newly created ward with an overnight crew so that the Rainbow staff can get some desperately needed rest. There are eight children across the wall from recovery with two left in surgery. The majority of them are under four years of age. Their mothers hold them and comfort them. The children seem to sleep in unison and cry in unison. When one screams they all scream. They tear at your heart as you watch them not understanding what is happening to them. It has been over a twelve hour day when the last two patients are in recovery. The doctor on call for the night shift has reported and we clean up the area. The Rainbow staff arrives and leaves together. Everyone is more than ready to return to the hotel and relax. En mass the 17 of us exit, not stopping to change out of scrubs.
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Day
Four
