Three Children Receive Needed Surgery

A hard days work of learning and practicing a trade, helping benefit his brothers and sisters here at the Rancho Santa Fe…placing the stones and bricks, mortar and rods, Bartolo (a pequeño himself) helped to build the Holy Family Surgery Center for NPH Honduras, during which time a small tumor in his chest began to grow. Now, four years after he helped to change a dream into sweat and sweat into walls, those same walls helped to change him.

As the first of three pequeños from the NPH family to recieve treatment at the Holy Family Surgery Center, Bartolo found out why he put in some much effort and time. “It hurts everytime that someone pushes or touches it,” he said “so I’m really glad to be here today.”

Dr. Cerna, taking the opportunity to work and share knowledge with Dr. Daly and other volunteers from Minnesota, took the lead in the operation for Bartolo. Also, the next day he performed two more operations, this time on two boys from Casa Suyapa, the babies home here at NPH Honduras. Jesús and Ángel needed minor surgeries which Dr. Cerna routinely accomplishes. With the help of nurses from the states, as well as Marta (a volunteer from Spain) two pequeñas from the Rancho studying to be nurses, and a local anesthesiologist, there was an operational atmosphere of bilingual caring.

Such a wonderful sight, of people coming together from such different cultures and backgrounds, moving beyond the borders of language and governments so that they can do a little more good in this world…and for that the children here at NPH Honduras wish to thank everyone for their time and energy. Through patience and understanding, desire and cooperation, the first kids from our NPH family here have received the care that they need. Now the next steps in the service of the surgery center come, it’s not a question of who, but a question of when, and Dr. Daly and his family will be back with another brigade of medical staff in August to finish up the work they left behind; as some of the caregivers here have torn ACL’s limiting their movements and activities. Until then however, Dr. Cerna will continue his work here every Wednesday performing small operations for the local community around the Rancho Santa Fe.

Benjamin Katz

Home Correspondent, NPH Honduras

With the scrubs put away and the patients sewn up, President of NPH International, Father Phil Cleary visited the newly opened Centro Quirujico Sagrada Familia or Holy Family Surgery Center. There he, along with Doctor Peter Daly, his wife Lulu, a group of doctors and nurses from Minnesota, Reinhart Koehler, Stefan Feuerstein, Dan Hottinger a volunteer helping to prepare the center, the newly elected student leaders of NPH Honduras, as well as a group of students from Notre Dame held a Benediction Ceremony to bless and officially open the building.

Before this day it was just a dream, a hope that many people had shared for the past four years, but now with the blessings of Father Phil Cleary and the successful surgeries performed the day before, we here in Honduras have welcomed into our home a most wonderful addition to the family—a place where people from both on and off the Ranch come to seek reliable and affordable care for orthopedic operations like the successfully rebuilt wrist that Dr. Daly and Drs. Tom Lasossa and Mike Forseth, and Nurse Becky Hines completed the day before.

After four years, three 40 foot shipping containers, countless hours, and help from around the world the small room to perform minimal surgical procedures has transformed into a beautiful and respectful center for surgeries; being run on a brigade basis at the moment but with the capabilities in the future to run a full-time center. This was no easy feat, with countless obstacles to traverse—but the result is now making a direct impact on the community here at the Rancho and the surrounding towns. When the Daly’s came to Honduras for the first time, Reinhart had created a list of children who needed orthopedic attention, unknowingly giving the little nudge that Peter and his family needed to really get into the spirit and help to build more than just international relations, but new legs, hips, wrists, and fingers.

One of the first patients to surprise Peter and Lulu was a little pequeña named Angela. She needed her legs rebuilt, a major operation that couldn’t be performed here in Honduras. The Daly’s offered to bring her back to the States with them, where Peter would perform the surgery and supervise her recovery while she lived with them for the next year. This relationship helped cement what would soon become a long-lasting and deeply connected bond between the Daly family and NPH Honduras. A little over four years ago a sentence in an article, much like this one, was written about the wish to make a new room to have small surgeries. Peter and Lulu, after reading this, decided to devote their time, love, and energy to helping the pequeños here in Honduras. They had grown tired of just seeing the example of helping and charity, and decided to become a part of that example. With this objective the Daly’s contacted Father Phil and Reinhart to put this dream into action, and that dream has now culminated with the first surgeries in the newly blessed Holy Family Surgery Center.

After four years, three 40 foot shipping containers, countless hours, and help from around the world the small room to perform minimal surgical procedures has transformed into a beautiful and respectful center for surgeries; being run on a brigade basis at the moment but with the capabilities in the future to run a full-time center. This was no easy feat, with countless obstacles to traverse—but the result is now making a direct impact on the community here at the Rancho and the surrounding towns. On the morning of the first surgeries a young woman and her elderly friend came to the center after having heard about the new surgeries that could take place. The young lady found out that she didn’t actually need any surgery, great news for her. However, the older woman, who the doctor’s believe has Rheumatoid Arthritis in both wrists and both knees. She may need her knees replaced, something that they were not prepared for this time. Sadly, the brigade could not help her this time, but they asked her to get X-rays on her knees and wrists to find out exactly what she needs and to return in wo months when Doctor Daly plans to make a return trip to Honduras and the new Holy Family Surgery Center. Even this unhappy news had an upside to it and the woman left with the hope that she will find help in the future.

Now, there are a couple of final kinks to work out. In mid-May a new container will be arriving at the Rancho with an automatic generator switch to start a flow of electricity immediately when the power goes out, as well as a water purification system so that we can maintain the sterilizer in proper operation. After these Doctor Daly has described his desire to expand the center from having just an orthopedic focus to being capable of performing other operations from other disciplines like: Ear, Nose and Throat, Hernia repairs, Gynecological and Urological surgeries, and other general procedures. In order to fulfill this dream we will be looking for continued financial support and donations of needed medical supplies like: instrument sets for these specific surgeries and funding for a permanent Honduran staff through an endowment fund (the specific list of items needed will be placed in the projects page shortly). But until then this dream-come-true continues to change lives of the poor and afflicted with a new a beautiful reality.

Finally, we here at NPH Honduras would like to send out a big thank you to the Daly’s, our friends in Holland, Reinhart Koehler, Stefan Feuerstein, Dan Hottinger, and all the other countless people from all over the world that have put forth such terrific efforts to bring this inspiration to life. We look forward to the future visits and the greatness that goes with such wonderful love.

Benjamin Katz

NPH Honduras Home Correspondent

Diligence and collaboration pay off as first surgery is performed at our on-site surgery center.

Photo: American volunteers Tara Ashleman and Natalie Klinkenberger pose with Doctor Cerna after performing a series of minor surgeries in our newly operating on-site surgery center.

On Wednesday, March 26, 2008 the first surgery was performed in the septic surgical room of the NPH Surgical Center. With news of the sterile surgery center getting out, many local villagers are coming to the sterile facility for minor surgeries. Every Wednesday morning patients who need minor surgeries, such as mole and wart removal, are scheduled with the Honduran doctor, Dr. Cerna, with assistance from volunteers Tara Ashleman and mylself. Our volunteer optometrist, Christiane Hensel, has also been working out of a small room in the center, performing eye exams and improving the quality of sight for patients both from the external clinic and our children.

Over the past 11 months the Quirofano, or Surgery Center, has come a long way. A team of workers and volunteers, nicknamed Team Q, both from the NPH family and community, have been diligently working to put the final touches on the Surgery Center. The sturdy sheetrock ceiling was completed in early October, with enough space to allow electricians to walk through and repair. Air conditioning was installed in late December by a team from Tegucigalpa, and students studying in the metal workshop built anti-corrosive metal stands outside for the units. These same students have also constructed the metal doors placed throughout the clinic. Osman, one of our talented university students studying Electrical Engineering, has been a consistent key player in the electrical setup of the clinic, installing the large 200 pound surgical lights within a weekend.

Visitors, current volunteers, and ex-volunteers have also played an essential role in the finishing touches of the Surgery Center. Carl Stevens, an ex-volunteer, helped renovate the floors during a short trip in March with a high school team, producing the non-porous floor required by the Ministry of Health. With the majority of the construction done, volunteers Laura Vincent, Finn Ehrlich, Klaus Groot, Soraya Palmer and I took time to help clean the Surgery Center in preparation for a large shipment of medical supplies.

Dr. Peter Daly and his wife, Lulu Daly, visited the Ranch in January to help unload a considerable amount of donated office equipment and surgical supplies. With an inventory of materials received, Dr. Daly, Lulu, and I walked through the Surgery Center and made a list of tasks and minor projects that needed to be completed. Throughout February and March, the wooden doors made by the students in our woodshop were refinished, the walls repainted and the whole building cleaned from ceiling to floor. The clinic is starting to resemble a Surgical Center one would expect to see in the United States, and the different components of a clinic are distinguishable, with tinted glass doors dividing the sterile white area from the warm yellow and blues of the administrative/waiting area.

We have completed numerous construction projects, overcome many obstacles, and are currently working on the final stages of preparation for outpatient surgeries. Our current development is the addition of tubing for anesthesia and suction, with a completion date of July 2008.

Many thanks to those who have helped bring the Surgery Center along, and have motivated and supported us all throughout this project.

Natalie Klinkenberger

Surgery Center Project Manager