This was the third consecutive surgical oncology trip to Hospital San Felipe in Honduras in Tegucigalpa, the capital city. This was trip was organized by Health Volunteers Overseas, an organization that supports many medical mission trips to many countries worldwide. I had the opportunity to travel with Doctor Sayuri, one of the chief residents in our surgical program. It was a pleasure to have her on the trip and the surgical oncology resident of the San Felipe program really enjoyed her expertise and company as well.
Of course, this trip starts in the wee hours of the morning. My boys were both tired and sad that I was leaving again. Gunnarr is in the foreground and is especially sad. Fionnegan is in the background and also had very sad eyes. They all had a shirt of mine place on their beds to comfort them. Even Shorty was looking a bit down. They all know the suitcase means I will be gone ofr a while. But I always come home!
This is teh Hospital San Felipe taken from the upper deck of the hotel where we stayed. It is a mix of old colonial style and modern. They are in the process of building an ICU. I was told this process is "a brick a day"! Perhaps next year we will see a lot of progress or it may be completed. I do enjoy walking around the olf sections. Apperantly so do the pigeons! They are always in the courtyards.
Here are a few pictures from the operating room. This is Dr. Sayuri operating iwth the local plastic surgeon and the intern Samuel.
She was our OR assistant. Here is Fernando, the OR tech. Yes, every one has a cell phone!
Dr. Karina is the Chief resident, although she has one more year to complete her training.
Dr. Jason, the surgical oncology resident and Dra. Zyama, a gynecology resident, assisted me with a case.
Dra. Karina with medical students from one of three medical schools in Honduras. They were observing on this day. One of teh medical students scrubbed with us on our first day.
Dra. Karina, Dr. Samuel and a local surgical oncologist.
Dr. Sayuri operating.
On the first day I worked with Dr. Junior on two really big cases and do not have a picture of him operating. Here is a picture of Drs. Sayuri, Junior, the anesthesia tech, and Jason.
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As per our tradition, we are provided with a little site seeing on the last day of our week. Karina and Samuel took us to the national park wiht the Cristo del Picacho. The view of the valley is spectacular. There are beautiful gardens and a chance to do a little bird watching. There were a lot of school children up there that afternoon.
Couldn't resist the pigeon on the head of the statue. No disrespect intended. But the pigeon does have a "birds eye view".
Here is a photograph sans pigeon.
School kids running up the stairs. We walked !
Everyone takes pictures!
Cristo statue. One cannot get a photograph of the front due to the cliff.
Here is a domestic bird.
A great horned owl.Yes, he was looking right at us. Beautiful bird.
Look at those claws.
The grounds keeper took us to see the owl after he observed us looking at orioles, blackbirds, and sparrows. That was really very kind of him as he had to lead us down the backside of a trail and point it out to us. What a special treat.
Basilicia.
Samuel, Sayuri, Karina
After the walk in the park we headed up to Santa Lucia for lunch. A beautiful little town in the mountains, it has an old church and a lake with ducks and turtles. There also is the opportunity to rent a paddle boat!
Tres Puntas, the restaurant where we had lunch. It was delicious.
Boating on the lake.
Some pretty flowers.
A little bird watching as we walked around town. He thought he was hiding in the leaves but we found him.
View of Santa Lucia.
This was again a very rewarding trip to volunteer at the hospital. I do hope to be able to continue this for a long time! I enjoy all aspects of th etrip, from taking care of some wonderful patients who are grateful for our work, to the residents in their program who enjoy our company and the chance to learn from us. They are good doctors, and I am always impressed woith the skills and knowldge of the local surgeons. It is an honor nad provelege to participate in the training of their residents and provide care for their patients.
And yes, the Christmas trees in the hotel. Love it!
Until next time, may you all enjoy good health and happiness.
Of course, this trip starts in the wee hours of the morning. My boys were both tired and sad that I was leaving again. Gunnarr is in the foreground and is especially sad. Fionnegan is in the background and also had very sad eyes. They all had a shirt of mine place on their beds to comfort them. Even Shorty was looking a bit down. They all know the suitcase means I will be gone ofr a while. But I always come home!
This is teh Hospital San Felipe taken from the upper deck of the hotel where we stayed. It is a mix of old colonial style and modern. They are in the process of building an ICU. I was told this process is "a brick a day"! Perhaps next year we will see a lot of progress or it may be completed. I do enjoy walking around the olf sections. Apperantly so do the pigeons! They are always in the courtyards.
Here are a few pictures from the operating room. This is Dr. Sayuri operating iwth the local plastic surgeon and the intern Samuel.
She was our OR assistant. Here is Fernando, the OR tech. Yes, every one has a cell phone!
Dr. Karina is the Chief resident, although she has one more year to complete her training.
Dr. Jason, the surgical oncology resident and Dra. Zyama, a gynecology resident, assisted me with a case.
Dra. Karina with medical students from one of three medical schools in Honduras. They were observing on this day. One of teh medical students scrubbed with us on our first day.
Dra. Karina, Dr. Samuel and a local surgical oncologist.
Dr. Sayuri operating.
On the first day I worked with Dr. Junior on two really big cases and do not have a picture of him operating. Here is a picture of Drs. Sayuri, Junior, the anesthesia tech, and Jason.
r As per our tradition, we are provided with a little site seeing on the last day of our week. Karina and Samuel took us to the national park wiht the Cristo del Picacho. The view of the valley is spectacular. There are beautiful gardens and a chance to do a little bird watching. There were a lot of school children up there that afternoon.
Couldn't resist the pigeon on the head of the statue. No disrespect intended. But the pigeon does have a "birds eye view".
Here is a photograph sans pigeon.
School kids running up the stairs. We walked !
Everyone takes pictures!
Cristo statue. One cannot get a photograph of the front due to the cliff.
Here is a domestic bird.
A great horned owl.Yes, he was looking right at us. Beautiful bird.
Look at those claws.
The grounds keeper took us to see the owl after he observed us looking at orioles, blackbirds, and sparrows. That was really very kind of him as he had to lead us down the backside of a trail and point it out to us. What a special treat.
Basilicia.
Samuel, Sayuri, Karina
After the walk in the park we headed up to Santa Lucia for lunch. A beautiful little town in the mountains, it has an old church and a lake with ducks and turtles. There also is the opportunity to rent a paddle boat!
Tres Puntas, the restaurant where we had lunch. It was delicious.
Boating on the lake.
Some pretty flowers.
A little bird watching as we walked around town. He thought he was hiding in the leaves but we found him.
View of Santa Lucia.
And let's not forget the dogs enjoying the beautiful day!
This was again a very rewarding trip to volunteer at the hospital. I do hope to be able to continue this for a long time! I enjoy all aspects of th etrip, from taking care of some wonderful patients who are grateful for our work, to the residents in their program who enjoy our company and the chance to learn from us. They are good doctors, and I am always impressed woith the skills and knowldge of the local surgeons. It is an honor nad provelege to participate in the training of their residents and provide care for their patients.
And yes, the Christmas trees in the hotel. Love it!
Until next time, may you all enjoy good health and happiness.
