Iraq Update - Week 1

After a few unexpected days in Istanbul due to delays in acquiring our visas for Iraq, we finally arrived on Wednesday and went straight to work! We have a really great team, and everyone works together very well.  

Just for fun, I came up with some future career ideas for these first few kids we've operated on. Without ICHF, they would not have lived into adulthood, but now, with fully repaired hearts - they have a whole new life ahead of them! Since they've spent their early years suffering from congenital heart disease in a country with no means to save them, maybe they haven't had a chance to think about what they want to be when they grown up. Now they'll have a few ideas! =)

First patient to leave the ICU - everyone was trying to get a photo before she wheeled out the door! Future career: Race car driver, Olympic speed skater 

  This little boy is five years old and he was the third child to get surgery this week. He's a bit drugged on morphine in this photo, but that didn't dampen his personality much at all!  He's very bright and talkative, and was constantly telling us hilarious things in Arabic which our translator couldn't help laughing as he translated! My favorite: "I give you my word, if you take these tubes out of my chest, I will do anything you say."

Second day post-op: smiling for his chest x-ray!               Future career: Actor, Comedian, and/or Lawyer

This gorgeous girl woke up and REALLY wanted to come off the ventilator, then had to wait a few extra hours due to some bleeding complications. Those were resolved, and she finally got her tube out!! She got scared when we started to take it out, so she just clamped her teeth together and bit down on it hard. I put her hand on the tube and let her just pull it out herself - she did great! All the makings of an excellent future Respiratory Therapist. =)

 The first word every kid says as soon as they are extubated is "mai!" which means "water!" She desperately wanted water when she was still on the ventilator, and all she could have was a wet sponge in her mouth. After her tube was out, we gave her a cup with a tiny bit of water - and she still drank most of it by dipping the sponge before she realized she could just drink it! So sweet.
Future career: Respiratory Therapist, Ice cream tester, barista

This little guy is 15 months old, and several times throughout the day he would wake from peaceful sleep, yell, and then fly off the bed! Right in the middle of morning rounds, he was rescued by Kristin, one of our nurses, who caught him in mid-air halfway to the floor! We don't have the option of a crib with railings, and didn't want to keep him tied down all day - most of the time he was very sweet and easy to contain. So we just had to keep a close eye on him every time he woke up. Anytime he stirred, whoever was nearby would run and catch him if he made a move! Future careers: base jumper, skydiver, bungee instructor, astronaut

 

That's all for week one!! More to come during week two! =)