Day three has arrived and it is a beautiful sunny day here in La Paz, Bolivia! We have one surgery at the hospital today and four procedures in the catheterization lab!
The new ICU has become a reality thanks to the generous donations we’ve received, and we are deeply grateful to everyone who helped make this vision come true.
A special thank you goes to the City of La Paz (SEDES) and our global network of partners—Gift of Life Florida, Gift of Life Rotary District 7505, Gift of Life Metro New York, Gift of Life New Jersey, Gift of Life Long Island, Gift of Life Rotary District 7490, Gift of Life Central New York, Corazones Chiquitos, Hospital del Niño, and Herz Bewegt in Austria—for supplying the crucial equipment for this life-saving facility.
A catheterization lab (or cath lab) is used to perform minimally invasive procedures on hearts. The cath lab used during this trip is located at Clinica Obrajes, and the use of this lab would not be possible without our generous device donations from Abbott Laboratories!
At Clinica Obrajes Dr. Abe Rothman, Dr. Gabriel Echazu, Dr. Nicolas Ortiz, Dr. Harm Velvis, Dr. Farzana Afroze and Dr. Oscar Ballivian all work together to get these procedures done. Dr. Abe Rothman and Dr. Gabriel Echazu are the two cardiac interventionalists.
Today, they performed 4 different procedures on 4 different children!
Madison’s Story of Hope:
Madison’s Gift of Life International goodies waiting on her bed for her while she was in surgery this morning!
The first procedure in the cath lab today was 4 year old Madison.
Dr. Abe Rothman, Dr. Oscar Ballivian, Madison, Dr. Harm Velvis, and Dr. Nicolas Ortiz.
Madison had what is called a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). A PDA is an opening between two blood vessels coming from the heart!
To fix a PDA you must close it by using a catheter. Doctors feed this catheter through a vein that begins in the groin and goes all the way to the heart. At the end of the catheter is a device made out of nitinol (nickel and titanium) that has shape memory. This device is created in the shape of the vessel it will be closing.
Since the device has shape memory, it gets smaller to squeeze through the catheter, then once out of the catheter and into the heart, it regains its shape to fit into the vessel to close it! Then, the doctor releases the device from the catheter and removes the catheter from the body.
Gael’s Journey of Resilience:
Madison before surgery.
The second case in the cath lab this morning was performed on Gael!
Gael with his mother this morning before his procedure.
Gael was supposed to have the same procedure done, but the opening between his blood vessels in his heart was too tight and could not be stretched out enough for the device to be placed properly! Gael will now have to get open heart surgery instead. Luckily, his case is non-emergent and this instance will not cause any harm to his health!
Dr. Gabriel Echazu and Dr. Abe Rothman during Gael’s procedure.
Dr. Abe Rothman, Dr. Harm Velvis, and Dr. Nicolas Ortiz looking at X-ray pictures during Gael’s procedure.
Dr. Farzana Afroze (anesthesiologist) during Gael’s procedure.
Diana’s Path to Healing:
The third case this morning was performed on Diana! Diana had a coarctation. Coarctation is just the narrowing of the aorta (a large blood vessel) in the heart.
Diana receiving her new GOLI teddy bear before her surgery this morning.
To fix this narrowing a stent (small mesh tube) is placed into the narrowed part of the aorta, stretching it back to the width it is originally supposed to be!
Diana with CEO Rob Raylman this morning.
Jadiel’s Brave Heart Story:
Finally, the fourth case today was done on Jadiel.
Jadiel with CEO Rob Raylman this morning.
Jadiel has such a goofy, sweet personality and really took a liking to our CEO Rob Raylman this morning!
Jadiel is four years old and had an atrial septal defect (ASD)! ASDs can be healed with catheter procedures by using an umbrella device to plug the hole. To do this, the team must use images from a transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE). This device is placed down into the esophagus and produces great images of the heart for the doctors to use in order to place the patching device!
Jadiel blowing kisses this morning before his procedure.
Dr. Harm Velvis helping to operate the TEE so that Dr. Rothman and Dr. Echazu can get a good view of the heart.
Dr. Rothman, Dr. Echazu, and Dr. Afroze during Jadiel’s procedure.
All of the surgeries in the cath lab went great today, and the children whose hearts were healed are resting and recovering!
As you can see, cath lab procedures can be an extraordinary alternative to open heart surgery, if the conditions are right! These operations use incredible technology to heal little hearts with minimal invasion of the body, which leads to a quicker and more comfortable recovery for the children.
We are grateful and excited that the total number of hearts healed in the cath lab this week will end up being around twenty!
Tomorrow we are back at Hospital del Niño to check in on our children who have had surgeries in the OR there with the amazing Dr. Ericka Perez and Dr. Rodrigo Soto. Dr. Ericka Perez will share her thoughts on the new pediatric cardiovascular ICU at Hospital del Niño.
We will also get a look at how things are going in the new pediatric CVICU, for we will have made it halfway through the week! See you then!
Rob Raylman is the Chief Executive officer for Gift of Life International. He assumed this role in 2008.
Rob is a life-long resident of New York State. He graduated Hobart College in 1984 with a BS in Political Science. Over the years, he worked for US Senator Alfonse D’Amato and held the position of Vice President for Browning-Ferris Industries (at the time, the second largest international solid waste company in the world). In 2008, Rob created the position of CEO for Gift of Life International. Since then, he was visited 38 countries on 5 continents to build the Gift of Life Global Network of 84 affiliates. During Rob’s tenure with Gift of Life International, 30 affiliates have been created while over 35,000 children have received care for their heart defects.
Rob focuses on strategically building bridges between Gift of Life programs, foreign Governments, Rotary Clubs and Districts, like-minded organizations and hospital administrations in order to address the Global Crisis of congenital heart defects.
