First Surgery Day!

Today was the first day of surgery and we could not wait for it to begin. We loaded our giant Santa Clause-esque bag, and headed out. Our bag was so hefty that we planned on taking a taxi. However, as we waited on the curb in front of our hotel, no taxis drove past. A team consensous among the student programs team decided we will walk there, in order not to miss the meeting at the hospital. We arrived in around ten minutes with cramped arms, but excited spirits. Once we arrived, we dropped our bag in the child life area, and visited today's nervous and anxious patients. We visited the chatty patients, and dropped off toys for them. Then they journeyed to the child life special area, where they played with medical themed toys. The kids were all so excited for there new smiles; they constantly ran around playing with balls and balloons that we blowed up for them. The patients would draw faces on them, and dress them with stickers. Later, they discovered the art of popping balloons. Every time one popped, laughs and smiles rang throughout the floor. Today we met new friends, like Guadalope, Brenda, Esther, Nicardo, Thalia, David, and many more. We also spent time with friends we had met on Friday, like Melchor. Melchor was 9 and had the biggest smile that stretched from cheek to cheek. He had a unilateral cleft lip. He came with his dad, and was extremely ready for the day. He was in love with technology. He was fascinated by our cameras, and absolutley loved Arielle's blackberry. Once we played the song Baby by Justin Bieber, and he danced and swayed excitedly. Fortunately, we caught this all on a camera, and when we showed this to him, he giggled for minutes. He also accidently called Arielle's mom. They had the sweetest conversation, where they shared small talk for a couple of minutes. Melchor also let us take his picture for almost half and hour. His smile was adorable, and during every second we spent time with him, we laughed and smiled because his radiating happiness was contagious. We also played with Saul. Saul had a bilateral cleft lip, but what he lacked in bone, he made up heart and soul. Saul also had no thumbs, and what seemed like a behaviorial problem. When we spoke to his mother, we found out that his dream was to go to school. He loved popping balloons, and everytime he did his smile grew to titanic proportions, and his laugh was contagious. He was like an old man in a young boy's body; his gait swung from side to side, and he walked in short steps. His spirit was young, and he made all the other kids laugh. He was in surgery for what seemed like forever. When he came out, he looked like a new person. He entered as a cute, lovable boy, and came back as a handsome young man. Saul's story is something that has deeply touched the entire student team, a tale that proves the power that Operation Smile possesses in changing the unfortunate lives of many children and giving them the opportunities to changing their fates.


The transformations of the patients we played with the last few days was shocking. Ariadna, a young girl who we played with very much on Friday, went into surgery today. She went in with a repaired bilateral cleft lip, and came out looking very adorable, sleepy, but very happy as well. A 46 year old man with a cleft palate also went into surgery, a fact that was stunning to all. Everything went really well in the surgery ward.

We also presented our dental hygiene and oral rehydration therapy posters to the kids and the parents who are receiving surgery tomorrow. A local high school senior translated our English to Spanish for our little audience, and we handed out toothbrushes at the end of our presentations. After presenting, we colored and played with bubbles with the little children. One infant in particular, Iker, stood out to us. Iker was 8 months old, and had a cleft lip. He was one of the cutest kids that we had ever seen, and was always smiling. We took many pictures with him.

After our surgery day, the student team walked back to the hotel. We dropped off our Santa Clause laundry bag at the hotel, and then headed out to find a traditional Mexican restaurant. We found a great one right near our hotel, and had a delicious dinner. Arielle also ate something other than bread! She had beans and cooked vegetables. After dinner, we came back home, and divided our toothnrushes and toys before we showered and went to bed. We can't wait for tomorrow!