Guatemala 2013

I remember when I was dating Billy at BYU, he told me he wanted to go to dental school. He said he wanted to become an oral surgeon. He said he'd really like to learn how to help kids with cleft lips and palates; to go on mission trips and help those kids who otherwise wouldn't get the help they needed. An Operation Smile thing.

I thought that sounded really cool. A rather lofty goal, but really cool.

Fast forward 13 years, 4 kids, multiple moves and lots of dinners, school activities and weekends without Daddy and we come to today. It's 9pm and he's still not home. It's Wednesday and he hasn't had dinner with us since Sunday. More often than not he misses dinner lately.

But last month he finally got his chance to go on a mission trip. To use what he's been learning these past 10 months and help some kids who can't afford to pay for the help they need.

It was a bit of a last minute opportunity and we rushed to get a new VISA for him and get copies of his degrees and credentials to the right people. Before we knew it he was leaving with one of his mentors for Guatemala.

For 3 straight days he was inside a small OR in a run down hospital in the middle of nowhere. With no AC and no breaks. He and the three other doctors worked as carefully and as efficiently as they could so they could help as many people as possible. They were able to help around 30 individuals, including a middle-aged man.

He came home exhausted, but so happy.

He didn't take many pictures because he was a bit busy, but here are a few:

This was the van that took them from the hotel to the hospital. An old, rundown building that would never pass inspections to be a hospital here in the US. (His mentor is the other guy in the blue shirt.)

The view from his hotel room.

(He said it reminded him a lot of the mission.)

Inside the hospital. That sink is where they'd wash their hands before going into the OR.

All equipment, medicines and machines had to be brought from the US. He said it took half of Sunday just to get everything set up and working. Since it took so long, they stayed in the OR until midnight Sunday night so they could work on all the patients that day. (But even on the other days, they were there until 10 or 11pm.)

Here he is sewing up a child's lip. 

He told me how when the trip organizers first arrived in Guatemala, there were no patients for them. The hospital workers had not spread the word and found people who could benefit. But then someone saw a kid playing in the street. And a friend had a cousin. And all of the sudden candidates came out of the woodwork, and they were able to really help some people. 

Since the trip he's been forwarded letters from some parents of patients, about how happy they are.

He can't wait to go again. :)

(And if this doesn't just prove how extremely lucky we are to live where we do with the medical advances and opportunities we have, I don't know what does.)