Honduras

November 4 - 11th, I went to Honduras on a surgery mission trip. My good friend from work Bradie went with me. We performed ear nose and throat surgery. It was an experience like no other. We Stayed in the bishop's home and "worked" at the only hospital in town. I didn't know this before we arrived, but we were not in a nice area. It is very very poor and a little dangerous. Our group was driven any where we wanted to go by the bishop's driver, Rolando. Any restaurant or shop we went to had armed guards at the doors. Despite the danger, we survived unscathed. The preparation was almost tiring than the work. We had to make all of out own packs, make all of our own instrument trays, and find all of our own supplies. We washed the our instruments by hand once in honduras. The pictire of the blue bowls has the cleaning solutions. The ones we brought are all old or almost broken. It is amazing what you can work with when yhou have no other choices. We had to make do with in a lot of areas - suture, dressings, drains, OR table, cleanliness, etc. One of the best experiences we had was at the orphanage. We visited an orphanage that was run by some nuns. These kids are almost all the the product of inscest and would have been killed if not for these ladies. They raise money for the place by sewing. The kids were great! Everyone of us had at least two kids hanging on us. They were so much fun and really loved playing with us. It was not all work and no fun. We went out a couple of nights for some cervezas and anafres - Honduran nachos. They were wonderful. We had so much fun - I would absolutely go again!

I have posted some pictures - approach with caution if you have a weak stomach. There are real surgery pictures.