Hello to all of you sharing this journey to Rwanda for our fourth trip to provide cardiac surgical procedures for adolescent and young adults suffering from rheumatic heart disease. We have all been incredibly busy on both state side and with our counterparts in Rwanda. I hope each team member will share their role, their preparation for this trip and their experience in many posts through out the next few weeks, so you can get to know each person.
Our cardiology team prepares to depart Thursday--if east coast snowstorm allows. Forms for patient assessment, echo studies and documents are flying back and forth. There is so much to gather for final bags to carry with us--and this is after shipping 6 pallets over 1200 kg of supplies for the operating theater, ICU and step-down.
I will be returning for my 9th trip to Rwanda. Although an ICU nurse by background, I am the program coordinator. I watched the shipment drive off with final paperwork, (Thank you to shipping partner FedEx) but the entire team sweats the arrival and receiving with customs. Every item is critical to the success and many of our vendors have donated the supplies needed. At this point we have shipped over $100,000 worth of supplies, with more than $225,000 of supplies traveling with us in loaned equipment from Brigham and Women's Hospital and other area hospitals.
I feel our colleagues at King Faisal Hospital have become friends and I have enormous respect for their contribution and organization-- and I look forward to you coming to know each of them on this site, as we hope they too will post their experiences and preparations.
What we do, and the impact, as we save one life at a time, hit home this morning as I received an email from the husband of one patient we saw in November of 2009. Critically ill, she could not lie down for her echo-she would have suffocated. Mother of two, a college graduate, she would die if she had to wait for our team to arrive in April of 2010. We referred her on to HHNW in February for a valve replacement. She had a prolonged recuperation due to her level of illness, but has just returned to work at the University.
Another patient many of you know from following our team, begins his second semester at an engineering program in India. And Erneste, had better be studying mathematics since he has national exams coming up, but is doing very well. Young Miss Claudine will soon travel to the US with PIH as an ambassador to show conference attendees the impact cardiac surgery can have in a resource poor setting -- saving one life at a time. None of these patients would have survived, had surgery not been an option. And the same is true for those waiting on us to arrive with our equipment and supplies.
We are incredibly honored and humbled by the trust placed in our team by the people of Rwanda. But our team is an amazing group of the most talented individuals selected for both their expertise and their commitment to give back and-- to do it as a team. It is not about one person-
I hope you enjoy following our trip. And thank you for your support.
It is Saturday, Feb. 5. The first case, a mitral valve replacement performed by Prem and Bobby, has arrived in ICU and is doing well. This is always a big step for the entire team. We have selected a list of 15 patients for the eight days of surgery. They are a combination of complex and more straightforward patients. Pat and Marilyn and Tauffic and Jabaris and Joseph and Nathan have worked very hard to screen and echo and present these patients for consideration.
ReplyDeleteAs always, we are all happy to be back here in this incredible country. The feeling returns immediately upon stepping out of the airplane, when one smells the familiar African air. It is a great privilege to do this, and we know how very lucky we are to be able to do so. Welcome to all the Team Heart members, and thank you for all the support from all of our families and friends at home. We couldn't do any of this without all of you.
Chip