The Big Day

Yesterday Wilmer (dad), Juana (mom), Marlon (my favorite little patient) and I (case manager/RN extrodinaire) made the trip from quiet, quaint San Marcos de Colon to the big, bad capital city of Tegucigalpa. After 3 hours in the car Marlon was more than ready to get out and eat some fried chicken at McDonalds. I know, I know... I'm feeding the sick kid fast food, but if you saw those little eyes you would give in too. After a leisurely lunch we headed over to the hospital and met with the doctor.

Marlon's doctor is the BEST pediatric surgeon in Honduras. He is an amazing guy and always goes out of his way to help Alli and I when we find special cases. When we arrived yesterday, Marlon's doctor surprised me even more (with his generosity and willingness to help) when he started introducing us to all of his collegues who were going to offer their services, during the surgery, for FREE! After meeting several of the surgeons and assisting surgeons I was introduced to the anesthesiologist, and consequently was left speechless and in awe of the goodness of God. You see, there are very few pediatric anesthesiologist in Honduras. Moreover, there is only ONE pediatric anesthesiologist in the entire country that is certified to anesthetize pediatric cardiology patients (ie Marlon). As it turns out, this particular anesthesiologist happens to work with Marlon's doctor and offerred to provide his services... free of charge! Is God orchestrating all of this or what?!?!

After meeting all the surgeons Marlon was admitted to the hospital. Upon arrival to the pediatric ward Marlon began to kick and scream... apparently he recognized it from a previous visit. Thankfully, it didn't take much to calm him down... after a cup of hot soup and control of the TV remote Marlon was pleased as pie.

As the Herrera family was settling in for the night and I was getting ready to leave I asked Juana how she was doing... the conversation left me absolutely speechless. It went something like this:

Me: Juana, how are you doing? Are you very worried about tomorrow's surgery?

Juana: No, not at all. Ever since I was baptized I have felt this amazing sense of peace about Marlon and his health. I know God will take care of him.

Me: (totally amazed and trying not to cry) Yes, yes He will.

At 7 am this morning the nurse came to get Marlon. We followed them up to the OR and parted ways at the door. After 4 hours of surgery Marlon's doctor came out and told us it was all over. He said that the surgery had gone much better than he thought it would and that he only had to make one incision (b/c of the nature of Marlon's illness there was a possibility for two seperate incision). After a short stint in the recovery room Marlon is now back in his hospital room and resting comfortably. He seems to be pain free at the moment and is throughly enjoying snuggling up with a toy car that Alli gave him.

Please continue to keep Marlon in your prayers as he recuperates, and please, please say some prayers of thanksgiving today! God is doing amazing things for Marlon and his family!