Day Six in the Dominican Republic
It is our final day at CEDIMAT in Santo Domingo, in partnership with Chain of Hope UK and Syosset High School Global Health Club! Today we had two surgeries and three cath procedures.
Our last morning rounds with the entire team!
Danelly and Darianny
Danelly before her surgery.
Danelly was our first surgery done today. Danelly is an eight year old girl who had a Rastelli procedure. A Rastelli procedure is used to create a tunnel to help blood from the right ventricle flow to the aorta, and to place a channel between the left ventricle and pulmonary artery.
Nurse Kelly and Nurse Rajul smile with Danelly before her procedure.
Darianny
Darianny before her procedure.
Darianny is a fifteen year old girl who received a Glenn procedure. A Glenn procedure is the second in a series of three surgeries. During a Glenn procedure, the superior vena cava (the large vein in the upper chest that transports deoxygenated blood from the upper body to the right atrium of the heart) is connected to the pulmonary artery (the blood vessel that transports deoxygenated blood from the right atrium of the heart to the lungs to be oxygenated). This allows deoxygenated blood flow to the lungs without help.
Nurse Kelly and Nurse Rajul pose with Darianny before her surgery.
Eymer, Esmeralda, Luisenny
Eymer after his procedure!
Eymer was our first cath case of the day. He is an eight month old boy who received a patent ductus arteriosus closure by catheterization.
Esmeralda after her procedure with her Gift of Life International teddy bear and t-shirt!
Esmeralda was our second cath case today. She received treatment for an atrial septal defect (ASD), or hole between the upper chambers of the heart. An ASD is healed by placing a patch over the hole!
Luisenny rests before her procedure.
Our third and final cath of the visit was done on Luisenny! Luisenny is eleven years old, and received a diagnostic catheterization procedure to decide whether or not she is ready or able to have open heart surgery.
A Look Into the Catheterization Lab
During this week at CEDIMAT, fifteen cath lab procedures were done thanks to the cooperation between the local interventionist and our visiting interventionist, Dr. Greg Fleming.
Dr. Gregory Fleming gets ready for the first cath procedure of the day.
Dr. Greg Fleming is a pediatric cardiac interventionist. In the States, he works at Duke Hospital in North Carolina! Dr. Fleming has been an interventionist for fifteen years, and that is NOT including training!
Dr. Gregory Fleming and Dr. Ada Baez prepared the catheter for their first procedure this morning.
Dr. Fleming and the local cath team perform the first cath procedure of the day.
Dr. Fleming went through eleven years of schooling to be able to pursue this career. Beginning with four years of medical school at University of South Carolina. Then, at Vanderbilt, he did general pediatric training for three years, a pediatric cardiology fellowship for three years, and interventional cardiology training for one year. If you count undergrad, that is a total of fifteen years of school!
Dr. Fleming is doing some teaching of his own to some of the local medical team before we leave CEDIMAT tonight!
Dr. Fleming got involved with Gift of Life International when a coworker at Duke introduced him to Dr. Rodrigo Soto, our surgeon on this visit (and many others)! Since then, he has been to Guyana six times, Monterrey, and Romania.
Final Updates on the Children for Now
Aaron resting this morning.
Aaron is doing amazing and has been extubated. He had a whole bottle of milk for lunch today, and got to spend time with his parents multiple times today! Aaron is well on his way to a full recovery.
Aaron’s parents spending time with him while he rests.
Dr. Carisa Nieves fed Aaron his lunch!
Mael
Mael with his mother this morning.
Mael left the hospital this morning with his mother and grandmother!
The Other Kiddos
All of the other children have either left the hospital because they have had their little hearts healed and are moving onto the next chapter in their life, or they are still resting and recovering in the ICU.
Ever is still in the step-down unit and being a firecracker! Deylan, Neythan, and Ian are still recovering in the ICU and will be there until next week as their operations were complicated to complete. They are currently stable and doing well! The catheterization patients operated on today will leave the hospital tomorrow.
The ICU team receives Darianny after surgery.
Danelly and Darianny, treated today, will leave depending on how quickly their recovery goes, but it should be within the week!
Goodbye for Now to the Dominican Republic!
At the end of the day, Aaron’s parents stopped by the ICU to hand out presents they brought for the entire team! They were so sweet and said that they are so grateful not only for Aaron’s operation, but for all the children’s hearts healed this week!
Aaron’s parents pose with Dr. Andrew Van Bergen.
Here they are with Dr. Andrew Van Bergen, whom they gifted a baseball and a Dominican flag keychain!
Dr. Rebekah Boyd and a local doctor finish the final surgery of the week.
Our week in the Dominican Republic may be over, but the lasting impact of healed hearts will remain for years to come with the children and families that have been affected. As we finish our final rounds on this last night, we reflect on the week with fondness.
We will return to the Dominican Republic in June of this year. Until then, see you next time DR!
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