It’s day four and we are back at Hospital del Niño!
We are incredibly thankful for the newly established ICU, which has become a reality thanks to the generosity of donations.
A heartfelt thank you goes to the City of La Paz (SEDES), along with 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.
Today we will have two surgeries in the OR instead of one. We will also continue our work in the cath lab, with three procedures happening there!
Our first two patients from the beginning of the week are doing well in the ICU! They are resting and recovering their little hearts.
Dante’s Path of Perseverance:
Dr. Jessica Asencio, Dr. James Horstmann, and nurses Allison Reilly, Michaela Behrmann, Sarah Linton, and John Albers this morning during their shift switch!
The visiting and local teams during rounds this morning.
Adhemar and Santiago resting this afternoon.
Dante was our first surgical patient this afternoon. Dante had a ventricular septal defect (VSD) and his surgery went smoothly! Dante is now recovering safely in the ICU. His surgery was done by Dr. Ericka Perez, the local pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon!
Dante before surgery!
Dr. Perez performing surgery on Dante this morning.
Dr. Ericka Perez on the Impact of the New Pediatric Cardiovascular ICU:
We had the privilege of sitting down with Ericka Perez and being able to discuss her thoughts on the new ICU in Hospital del Niño. “I feel very happy and excited about the new ICU,” says Perez.
She explained that Hospital del Niño needed to do more heart cases and have a better set up for the recovery of the children. This is exactly what the new ICU will help to do!
Perez explained that they used to only be able to do one heart surgery a week, which averaged to fifty surgeries a year. She expects that with the new ICU, they will be able to do three surgeries a week, averaging in a little over 150 surgeries a year! “I’m very, very happy with that,” she says.
Before the new ICU was created, the cardiology program shared ICU beds with all of the other programs in the hospital. That means that beds were not always available for the children who needed heart surgery.
When they were available, these beds shared a room with patients from all over the hospital. Dr. Perez explained that this situation was not great for patients because the nurses could not focus solely on one type of patient, but would have patients healing from heart surgery, patients dealing with sepsis, neurological patients, and others all at the same time.
This situation also increased likelihood for infections from patient to patient. Now that there is a dedicated pediatric cardiovascular ICU, the staff at Hospital del Niño will not have to deal with these issues anymore.
“In many cases the opening of a dedicated ICU begins a very big difference [within the hospital] from before and after,” Perez said. “I’m not just expecting to be doing more cases, but to do them better.”
Dr. Perez operating this morning.
Perez began working here at Hospital del Niño eight years ago, in 2016 and her first surgery with Gift of Life International was in 2019.
When she first started working here she said she wrote down a dream for the hospital, and it was to have a dedicated ICU for cardiac patients. Eight years later and here we are!
Perez told us that she loves when Gift of Life International comes and the surgeons always give her amazing advice and inspiration. “My dream is operating every day, because that is the best way to do this kind of surgery. You do the same thing everyday, you have a routine. Everybody is aware of what is happening,” Perez says. “Operating everyday is the next step!”
Dr. Harm Velvis, Dr. Ericka Perez, Rob Raylman, Karla Patzi, Dr. Rodrigo Soto at a meeting with the director of the hospital, Dr. Pasten, this afternoon.
This afternoon, Gift of Life International CEO Rob Raylman, Dr. Harm Velvis, Dr. Ericka Perez, Dr. Rodrigo Soto, and Karla Patzi met with the director of Hospital del Niño, Dr. Pasten. During this meeting the director confirmed that Hospital del Niño will continue to support the new ICU, as well as allocate two operating days per week to the cardiothoracics program. This leaves Dr. Perez one step closer to her dream!
Leydi’s Path to Healing:
Leydi today before her surgery.
Our second patient today was Leydi! Leydi is thirteen years old and had an atrial septal defect (ASD). Leydi will come out of surgery later tonight, and we will get an update on her tomorrow!
The day crew in the new ICU at Hospital del Niño this afternoon.
We are extremely lucky to have a local team that is as dedicated to the healing of children’s hearts as the Gift of Life International team is. As mentioned before, everybody’s determination is key to the success of an operation like this.
Tomorrow, we will continue to follow the journey of the little hearts we are healing! We also will be speaking to the night crew and getting Dr. Jessie Asencio’s thoughts on the progression of the cardiothoracic program she has witnessed at Hospital del Niño over the years!
Brenda Small is the Operations Consultant at Gift of Life International. She assumed this role in 2012.
Brenda was inspired to help children in need with heart disease after her third child was born with a complex heart defect and underwent successful open-heart surgery in her first year of life. Brenda learned of Gift of Life International in 2006 at which time she established Gift of Life Los Angeles where she holds the position of President. Between 2008 and 2012, Brenda volunteered her time to help with Gift of Life International in addition to running Gift of Life Los Angeles.
From 2012 to 2022, Brenda held the position of Director of Operations for Gift of Life International. Today, she continues this lifesaving work as Operations Consultant. Brenda also implemented the Nutritional Program in El Salvador in 2008 which has now provided nutritional support to more than 250 children and their families. Brenda has traveled with many of the Gift of Life training teams and witnessed these precious lives being saved.
