Dominican Republic Day Three
It’s day three on our medical training visit to CEDIMAT! Today was our first day of surgeries and catheterization procedures. Two surgeries and two cath procedures were performed.
It would not be possible to heal these little hearts without our global network of partners! Our visiting and local medical teams, Chain of Hope UK, Latiendo por Ti, and the Rotary club of Santo Domingo are helping us make dreams come true this week.
The local and Gift of Life International medical teams, other Gift of Life International team members, the interns, the Rotary Club of Santo Domingo, and founder of Latiendo por Ti at the conference on Sunday.
Two Hearts Healed: The Week Begins
Our first surgery was done on Adriana. Adriana was diagnosed with a congenital heart disease called Anomalous Left Coronary Artery from the Pulmonary Artery or ALCAPA. This means that the left coronary artery connects to the pulmonary artery instead of the aorta, causing oxygen-deprived blood to flow to the heart muscle instead of the lungs.
Adriana before her surgery.
Adriana had her surgery this morning and came out of the operating room around 6PM. Now, she will spend the next few days recovering.
Our second surgery was done on Yareisy!
Yareisy before her surgery.
Yareisy is almost three years old and was diagnosed with an atrial septal defect (ASD) when she was one. An ASD is a hole between the two upper chambers in the heart. An ASD can cause heart murmurs, trouble breathing, and fatigue.
Yareisy came out of her surgery in the evening. Her heart was healed by the surgeons performing open heart surgery and placing a patch over the hole!
Heart-Healing From Lily’s Point of View
During this visit, four interns from Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS) joined our visiting medical team to shadow the specialties that join us for each trip. These specialties include surgery, cardiology, intensive care, and catheterization!
Today, our intern Lily was able to shadow in the operating room and see her first open heart surgery in person!
Lily, one of our HWS interns!
Lily was adopted from Wuhan, China at ten months old by her parents. Her family lived in Michigan when she was a baby, and they now live in Boston. Lily’s father is in advertising, and her mother does interior design.
Lily received an anatomy and physiology lesson from Dr. Tom Karl (surgeon) about Adriana’s procedure before the surgery began!
Lily is a junior at HWS majoring in biology and public health. She got into medicine when she took a gap year between high school and college to work as a certified nursing assistant (CNA). This summer she is working as a medical assistant at a primary care office! She is also a certified EMT, and does this during the school year.
Lily told us she originally wanted to go to medical school, but she wants to work with patients sooner than the eight years that medical takes to complete. She believes she wants to go to physician assistant (PA) school instead of medical school. While she is unsure of an exact career path, she does know that she wants to do in-patient work in a hospital and work with kids!
Lily in the operating room before surgery began.
Lily heard about the program through a platform called Handshake. As new opportunities arise, HWS posts jobs and internships on this platform for students to explore. Lily tells us she scans through this platform looking for opportunities every once in a while, and happened to come across the Gift of Life International Global Health Internship! After completing the application process and a series of interviews, Lily earned a spot as one of ten girls accepted into the program.
Lily said the internship “seemed too good to be true.” She applied, and, obviously, the internship turned out to be real! She chose the internship for its strong emphasis on international and global health. “A lot of internships in the United States are very shadow-based where you are kind of just a fly on the wall. This one seemed very involved and very purposeful and educational. It was centered around teaching you and helping you to experience things, rather than just shadowing.”
From the head of the operating table, Lily watched Dr. Rodrigo Soto and Dr. Tom Karl perform part of the surgery and enjoyed a firsthand view of the procedure.
Lily told us she is most excited to see the operating room out of all the specialties! Lily said, “I’m most excited to see the OR. I grew up watching Grey’s Anatomy. I’m sure that is not actually how it is in real life. It is probably less glamorous, more business-like and not as dramatic, but it is something I’ve always been interested in.”
Lily observed her first open-heart (or any) surgery!
After watching the surgery in the operating room today, Lily wanted to stay at the hospital later than she had to so that she could witness the hand-off from the surgeons to the intensive care unit team. “It’s really interesting and I want to follow Adriana from start to finish!”
Lily’s experience moved her so deeply that she chose to stay at the hospital longer than necessary, and we couldn’t be prouder. This is the power of healing little hearts! Seeing what happens when people come together for a greater cause is life changing for everyone involved.
The Sun Sets on Day One!
As we wrap up day one, we look forward to the rest of the week! The first four procedures that took place today went well. Lily has found a new passion for heart surgery. Heart healing prevails once again!
Part of the intensive care unit team (Bea, Mia Mesmer, Dr. Andrew VanBergen, and Misrak Taye) visited with Ian today! Ian will receive his heart healing surgery tomorrow morning.
See you back here tomorrow for updates on the kids and the day’s perspective through the eyes of intern Juliza!
Read more about the lives changed and hearts healed this week below!
Click here to read Day One.
Click here to read Day Two.
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