The Shalom Foundation

March 2012: Vanderbilt University – Biomedical Trip

kmcquaig — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 21:57:00 +0000

Mar 4-11, 2012

Feb 2012: General Surgery Trip with Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt

kmcquaig — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:59:49 +0000

Feb 4-12, 2012: A team from Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt is at the Moore Pediatric Surgery Center in Guatemala City on a general surgery trip. Team members from Vanderbilt include: Dr Stephen Morrow, Dr Dai Chung, Dr Colin Martin, Dr Colleen Kiernam, Dr Daniel Roke, Dr Chris Karsanac, Roni Nylander, Margaret Dryden, Dr Humphrey Lam, Megan Davis, Mary Downey, Cecilia Nartey, Barbara Smitherman, Robin Matulich, Meilssa Matthews, Emily Short. Also on the team from Belmont School of Pharmacy, Dr Philip Johnston – Dean, Connie Sharkey and Mackenzie Brown. From the Shalom Foundation, Dr Ken Moore.

Oct 2012: Community Development trip to Las Conchas

kmcquaig — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:41:59 +0000

Oct 19-27, 2012

Jan 2012: Surgery Trip with Children’s Hospital Colorado

kmcquaig — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 17:23:23 +0000

Children’s Hospital Colorado: ENT Surgery Trip

Pictures: Click Now
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Visit the team’s blog at http://globalhealthblog.org/

Thursday, Jan 26:

From Dra. Ligia Figueroa – medical director of the Moore Pediatric Surgery Center:

Dear Friends,

Sorry to write you so late in the week, but this week has been just amazing !!! yesterday the team operate 17 patients and I believe was the hardest day of the week, today they are operating the last 11 patients and tomorrow will have a post operation clinic.

Working with children has always been my passion and see them recover brings great satisfaction at the end of the day, but working as one team with Denver Children’s Hospital and the Moore Surgery Pediatric Center has been a unique experience !!! to see the faces of parents shed tears of gratitude not only surgery performed but for the care provided at all times from the pre-assessments to date of discharge shows that actually we could improve the quality of life of that child and his family even a little. I always tell my staff look through the eyes of that child and family in the eyes of Jesus and to be treated precisely as if He whom are attending and I am sure that we have done.

One of the most poignant stories that touched me to hear these days is the teen Linda Beatriz, she is 17 years old and bright green eyes, but seemed to be really shy, almost didn’t want to talk and when I heard his voice very short, today after tonsil surgery seemed like another person, smiling, eager to talk, the right to remove the tonsils could breathe better and his voice was not nasal, when she left the center this morning was very happy, thanking the whole team for having attended and changed her life, her family had many years wishing could do this surgery but due to lack of economic resources had not done so.

As this now completed 41 stories of different children and families all full of thanks and blessings, we could get to 41 different families and give them a little bit of love that God gives us each morning for His Honor and Glory.

Mount the clinical postoperative morning to reassess some patients and next week we will be reassessing all patients with the Guatemalan specialist.

Blessing to all you,
Ligia

Wednesday, Jan 25:

What an amazing experience Operation Quetzal (the name of the money in Guatemala) has been, with everything running smoothly down in Guatemala City! The team here is incredible. It has been quite an experience for the groups normally working together in and out of the normal operating days to truly function as a team. We have PACU nurses placing IVs and scrub techs aiding in intubation. Dr. Mohamran (anesthesiology) even attempted to scrub an ear case today! This type of teamwork will continue as we head back to Children’s Hospital Colorado with a new perspective on the work that goes in to each piece of the peri-operative team.

The operative cases have been flowing smoothly and today we successfully aided two children with multiple failed cleft palate repairs to improve speech and closed a beautiful 5 month old baby girl’s cleft lip. The gratefulness of the families and patient is beyond compare. The patients themselves are so strong! The culture of Guatemala does not support the use of narcotics in patients in the post-operative period for multiple reasons- but we have seen out patients do well with Tylenol alone and they are smiling and drinking, blessing us, and thanking us all. There is also a cultural belief here that the tonsils can cause many ailments from headache to bone pain to cold hands! We have signed up about 17 tonsils +/- adenoids for this week (for real indications of course). The teams of MDs were able to meet this evening with the pediatric residency program at the local Children’s hospital to teach some of our specialty training and to learn about some of the differences in management which is so helpful for us to help the understanding to manage our patients here.

The patients we are working with here have no means to healthcare and are traveling hours to be seen in our clinic for operations. There are so many groups donating to make our efforts possible with private radiology groups doing CT scans on the same day for <20$, discounted medications, rushed pathology, and Ronald McDonald house supporting our families that are not safe to travel hours away! Beyond this there are so many local volunteers that have come to help the Shalom foundation and the Moore Center for Pediatric Surgery. We have plenty of volunteer students helping us with translation and aiding the patients and the parents in the peri-operative time. Even lunch for the volunteers, medical team, and support staff has been donated by a local restaurant (which is fantastic!). We are blessed in so many ways. I speak on behalf of the entire group when I say that we feel so privileged to be here in Guatemala City serving this population of patients who are in such need!

I must sign off now- as I have to rest- 15 surgeries on the schedule tomorrow with two large neck and facial masses, a bilateral cleft palate, an obstructed nose, an open ear, and many obstructed airways to attend to!

Thank you all for your support of The Children’s Hospital Colorado’s global health initiative and the team here at Shalom foundation- Moore Center for Pediatric Surgery! We welcome your prayers, thoughts, and questions!

Pictures can be dowloaded from basecamp or

http://gallery.me.com/cadinet/100149

Thanks, Sandra

Sunday, Jan 22:

What a great day!! It started around 6:30 with staff and volunteers arriving at the MOORE CENTER. First patients were already lining up to enter. The patients were divided into 4 groups of 20 or less. Each group was given an appointment time with two hours assigned for each group. Once all the patients from a group were seen the OR Team consulted and assigned the patients from the group a surgery day. Then they could go home.

At the end of Group 2’s allotted time Annie Hagen had arranged for a special visit from Ronald McDonald. He came and put on a show. He got all the audience involved in activities. It was great. I kept thinking, where can you take your child for surgery and meet Ronald McDonald? Ha! It was such a community spirit.

At this point Monday and Tuesday are scheduled and they are back to work seeing patients from Group 3.

Colorado Children’s team, volunteers, staff are all working together great!

I want to praise the staff and volunteer organization for their preparations!!!! Today has gone very smoothly! You all can be proud of the organization and planning of your staff and their training of new staff members!!

Tommy

Feb 2012: Community Development Trip

kmcquaig — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:00:17 +0000

A team traveled to Guatemala to wire Casa Trinidad for phone and internet service as well as provide annual maintenance to the computer/phone system at the surgery center. They built bunk beds for the Hope For Tomorrow Children’s Home as well as completed installation of razor wire at the Las Conchas School.

Members include: Dan Jones IV, Dan Jones III, Nate Harward.

Nov 2011: Team 4, Community Development

kmcquaig — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 22:46:48 +0000

Nov 11-19, 2011

Team members will work on rehab of Casa Trinidad and will also be doing some projects in Las Conchas. Team members include: Bob Seay, Colon Pope, Don Gower, Paul Haines, Scott Forbes and Tommy Sanders. Thanks to West Franklin Baptist Church for supporting this mission!

We also had a team from Brentwood Baptist Church and Station Hill Church visit us to see all the programs in Guatemala. Members included Sharon Fairchild, Christine Coates and Tanya Strother.

Pictures - Click Now

Nov 2011: Surgery Trip with Austin Smiles and Dell Children’s Hospital

kmcquaig — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:20:19 +0000

Surgery trip by the Shalom Foundation surgical partners Austin Smiles and Dell Children’s Hospital . They will perform plastic and urology surgeries. Nov 6-12, 2011 Pictures – Click Now

Thursday, Nov 10: The team finished the day today around 6:00 pm. They worked diligently and have all their bags packed ready for a day of rest. We have a thank you dinner tonight.
This was the first week we have used all three OR’s. With Austin Smiles doing cleft lip and palate in two rooms and Dell Children’s doing urology surgery in the other.
This also set other records for the largest team composition yet, 37 people with 2 from Belmont making 39 total. And the most important statistic is the number of children who were helped, 67 with surgery. A new opportunity for us to help those with fistulas (holes) in the roof of their mouths was available. Impressions were taken of the children’s mouths and opturators were made. Approximately 10 were made for those whose fistulas were deemed not surgically repairable.

Great people ministering to beautiful children and families. First day after surgery I saw a little girl whose face had been marked by a cleft lip. Here little face was beautiful! It was a reminder that many times we miss seeing the beauty of people because of one aspect that draws our focus and sets our judgment.

When you say your prayers, offer a blessing for all the Austin Smiles team, the Dell Children’s team and our great team of servants in Guatemala!

Blessings,
Your Brother in Christ,
Tommy Sanders

Monday, Nov 7: Surgery team members arrived at The Moore Pediatric Surgery Center yesterday from Austin, Texas! A large group of patients and family members were awaiting their arrival for clinic day. The team will provide pediatric urology and plastics surgical care. The children are so precious! Their mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles were so patient and thankful! Lots of preparation, planning and generosity will provide transformations for these sweet children!! Their lives will change as they are more accepted by the community and can function more fully, attend school and church. Thank you to this great team of doctors, nurses, therapists, translators, helpers!

Surgeries begin today! Gracias to all!

Allison Bender

Articles:

Médicos y voluntarios se unen: Siglo21.com.gt: Click Now

Realizarán 100 cirugías para niños pobres: Siglo21.com.gt: Click Now

Team Members:

Bob Clement, MD, Stella Denny, Kendyl Richards, Wayne Porter, MD, Bob Clement, MD, Dan Ernst, Paige Pearson, Janice Ryan, Jim Cullington, MD, David Wainwright, MD, Carlos Murillo, MD, Cindy McWhirter, Barbara Powell, Andrea Guidry, George Seremetis, MD, Stephanie Shields, Leilani Briseno. Patti Tabin, Genevieve Mounce, MD, Margaret Willis, Cindy Thomas, Mary Kay Lauden, Daira Wilson, Gayle Cullington, Tom Kirk, Elizabeth Stephens, Gene Cummings, Elsa Colunga, Pat Connally, MD, Carolyn Cummings, Melissa Leech, Tara Kessler, Jill Baumhover, Tom Sentz, Liz Fox, Brandyn Raymond, Deborah Kirk, Dee Dee Ritzinger, Jamie Barship, Danielle Terrell, Rebecca Lucas.

March 2012: Belmont University Pharmacy Clinic Trip

kmcquaig — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:16:41 +0000

Mar 5-9, 2012

May 2012: Belmont University OT and PT Clinic Trip

kmcquaig — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:48:25 +0000

May 6-12, 2012

Graduate students and faculty members from Belmont University will travel to Guatemala to provide physical therapy and occupational therapy for children, as well as specialized training for Guatemalan OT/PT students. A team of 30 participants, led by Tamara Garvey, are planning for another year of service at Hospital Infantil de Infectología y Rehabilitación. The team will also provide instruction to students attending Universidad Mariano Galvez.

March 2012: Belmont University OT and PT Clinic Trip

kmcquaig — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:45:44 +0000

Mar 4-10, 2012

The Shalom Foundation

March 2012: Vanderbilt University – Biomedical Trip

Feb 2012: General Surgery Trip with Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt

Related Trip

Oct 2012: Community Development trip to Las Conchas

Related Trip

Jan 2012: Surgery Trip with Children’s Hospital Colorado

Related Trip

Feb 2012: Community Development Trip

Related Trip

Nov 2011: Team 4, Community Development

Pictures - Click Now

Related Trip

Nov 2011: Surgery Trip with Austin Smiles and Dell Children’s Hospital

Related Trip

March 2012: Belmont University Pharmacy Clinic Trip

Related Trip

May 2012: Belmont University OT and PT Clinic Trip

Related Trip

March 2012: Belmont University OT and PT Clinic Trip

Related Trip