Another two busy days of interesting surgeries has passed. More pathology and familiar faces from Sunday´s screening. These children are amazingly tough and take these major reconstructions with such ease. We are continuously reminded of the difficulties of living in a developing country.

This is truly a life changing experience. It really makes you take a step back and realize how fortunate we are.

We ventured out to San Salvador for dinner, a few margaritas and to celebrate two birthdays of Dr. Gunzy and Cathy.

Unfortunately our last day of surgery is tomorrow. Looking forward to it!

We woke up bright and early to the surprise of a small earthquake ( approximate time was 5:10am). After our complimentary breakfast at the hotel we loaded everything up on the bus and we went to the hospital. There were 8 scheduled patients to treat, both the lower and upper extremities.

Our great OR staff set up the rooms and got all the appropriate surgical equipment. It was a huge help having the best Nurses in the country joining us. I have to also point out that the best residents from the country were at this trip too : )

The youngest patient we operated on was 8 months old and we will never forget his beautiful smile. We took many pictures of the surgical cases. These cases were children with neglected and complicated deformities that our wonderful attendings came down to correct.

Early Morning. Late Night. Excellent Day

Patient waits in line to be seen on Day 1

Everyone arrived safely to El Salvador coming from different parts of the USA . There were some minor delays in luggage, and passports (will not give any names).  The hotel was very nice and accommodating with a lot of security. The hotel also had a nice pool and Jacuzzi.

We left early Sunday to the clinic where about 115  patients with their  family members were waiting patiently for the docs.  There was a lot of help and support from the local Rotarians.  After being dropped off the nurses went to the hospital and set up all of the materials. The Doctors examined the patients efficiently to determine if they were a surgical candidate or could be treated by our orthotist Mark Holowka. Kevin the anesthesiologist then medically evaluated each surgical patient. We also had the pleasure of having 2 orthopedic surgeons (Dr. Denowitz, and Dr. Pegano) evaluating the children as well.

A local Doctor loaned us his office to evaluate the children. From what we heard this was a big improvement from the previous years.  All together we saw 115 pts in 5 hours. We ended up scheduling  about 41 surgical cases and unfortunately had to put a few in the waiting list. The calmness and optimism of the kids was amazing! Many El Salvadorians traveled long distances to the clinic in Zacatecoluca.  We as residents were overwhelmed by the experience and excited about the upcoming week.