FINALLY!

Well, it is finally happening! All those months of planning are paying off. Several HHNW nurses, HHNW respiratory therapists and our King Faisal Hospital (KFH) nursing colleagues assist with settling our second Post Open Heart (POH) patient on our first day of surgery. We have at least one and sometimes two KFH Intensive Care nursing staff per shift to mentor. These nurses are very knowledgeable and eager to learn the specifics of recovering POH patients.

Yvette (Peds ICU Nurse) and Merry (Respiratory Therapist) explain POH surgery paraphenalia to a family member. Many of the HHNW staff are quickly learning the Kinyarwanda word for thank you very much (mwakoze cyane) simply because the families are telling it to us constantly. Many family members are very stoic before surgery. It is gratifying to see them smile, revealing their relief, once surgery is finished; not to mention the smile on our patients' faces once we get the endotracheal tube out of their mouth!