So I finally finished my undergraduate degree and I feel like taking a look back from what I came from. Here are some of the house that I lived in while growing up. I definitely grew up pretty poor. I wasn't starving or anything but times were (and somewhat still are) hard. My father's illness has always shaped my families socioeconomic situation.

This is one of the earliest houses I remember. We lived here when my father first got sick with his disabling heart condition. This house was actually owned by the farmer that my dad worked for.





This place was really really small.

Next we moved in to a house with my uncle's family. One of my only memories of this house was when a priest came to give my father his last rights (Catholics priest give the last rights to people who are going to die soon).





I also live in a Labor Camp. This was a place where families that spent most of there time working in the fields could live. This picture shows our apartment. This is were we lived when my father got sick for the second time (Brain Surgery). My brother was also born during the time we lived in this house. Has not changed much. I actually talked to some kids that were playing right outside that remind me of my friends and the many baseball and soccer games we played.











Here is my parents house now.





Going back home and taking all of these pictures makes me feel really good about what I have accomplished and also makes me extremely proud of where I came from. It makes me want to help others that are growing up like I did accomplish the same. Hopefully I can go back and serve this community in the future in the capacity of a physician. For the mean time... This is my 15yr old brother Jesse.

During the week of October 7 – October 15, 2006 I was in Guatemala we an organization by the name of Healing the Children. This organization has many chapters in the US but I was involved with our local W. Washington/Oregon chapter. The trip was in collaboration with the Pediatric Foundation of Guatemala. Our medical team consisted of 2 surgeons, 2 anesthesiologist, 2 family med doctors, 6 nurses, 2 interpreters, 2 administrative people. I was involved as an interpreter and observer. Out extended team also included 3 audiologists and 1 vet. The mission was to perform Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) surgery on children of lower socioeconomic standings in Guatemala. Here is how the week pretty much went

Saturday Oct. 7:
I arrived in Guatemala at about 9pm. After arriving at the hotel there was a meeting with the entire team to discuss the week ahead of us. The meeting was very low key and was really just for the surgeons to give an approximation of how many patients they could actually help and how they envisioned the week going. I met my roommate for the week after dinner, Dr. Daniel Baldini who is an anesthesiologist at Group Health Cooperative here in Seattle. Dan is one of the nicest people I ever met. This comment has nothing to do with the fact that he paid for the majority of my food that entire week or that he paid for my hotel stay. His attitude towards helping the children and doing whatever was in his capacity was amazing. On that note, everyone on the team was great and very committed to what was being done.

Here is Dan after breathing in gases all day.




Sunday Oct. 8:
We woke up for a 6:30 breakfast and were on the bus to the Pediatric Foundation main clinic by 7:00. When we arrived we were met by a bunch of kids that had already been waiting to see us. It was 7:15am. We setup different stations around the clinic. The first stations were manned by 1 surgeon, 1 nurse, and 1 interpreter. The children and their parents would come in and voice their concerns. The surgeon would recommend treatment which usually consisted of surgery even though there were some case that did not require surgery and there were at least 2 cases that required the patients to undergo surgery in the US. At the next stations the patients saw the anesthesiologist, family med doctors and if needed the audiologist. After the OK from everyone the children were scheduled for surgery. Every patients that came to see us at the clinic was seen and very one that needed surgery eventually ended up in the OR in the following week. I don’t think you understand. EVERY patient that came to clinic was seen and EVERY patient that was scheduled for surgery had a procedure done. EVERYONE. That is commitment. Actually there were occasions that I will explain later where the team went “above and beyond the call of duty”.








Monday Oct. 9:
We arrive at the San Sebastian Hospital and setup. The hospital is owned by a local doctor. During the setup the family med doctors and I ran around and found patients and made sure that they were NPO (nothing by mouth) and didn’t have any fever or such. I spent the next 7 hours observing surgeries in the OR. I help the anesthesiologist put the patients to sleep by talking to them and trying to keep them calm, observed the surgical procedure, helped the patients wake back up and then transported them to the recovery room. I was allowed to put in IVs that were used to administer saline and various medications needed for the anesthesia. It was only my second time in the OR ever but it was amazing. The first day Dr. Jeff Adams, on of the surgeons performed 10 tonsil and adenoid removals. Both of surgeons did an amazing job. Their skills and techniques made everything go smooth. At the end of they day I walked around the hospital with the doctors and did rounds before we left.

Here is the front entrance of the hospital.



This is Jeff in action.




Tuesday Oct. 10
Again at the hospital and after morning rounds I worked more in the recovery room with Laura and Kathy. Both of these lovely ladies are nurses here in the US. They were great and made sure that the children were waking from their anesthesia safely and as comfortable as possible. Their work was amazing. I spent the day talking to the children as they were coming out of their sleep as well as talking to the parents. I would explain to the parents that everything had gone well and would advise them as to when they would be able to see their child. I also was partly responsible for explaining any medication instructions to the parents and children before they left the recovery room. I did have the opportunity to observe some more surgeries. At the end of the day I once again went on rounds with the surgeons.

Kathy and Laura in action.



Wednesday Oct. 11:
I took over the job of team administrator because Jessica had to stay at the hotel. It seem that a combination of exhausting and illness which had claimed Don and Barbara might have been looking for a new victim. This meant that I spent the day rescheduling patients, talking to the local docs, talking to local hospital staff, talking to the Pediatric Foundation people, ect... I started to realize why everyone was getting sick that had been there since the week before. I also helped in the recovery room and observed the biggest surgical case of the week. It was a 18 month old by the name of Byron that had a large liquid filled mass on his neck. The mass was removed and I witnessed the whole thing. It was an awesome experience to say the least. I was amazed by the skills of the surgeons. I have a video of one of them moving a nerve out of the way of his tools. It was amazing.

Byrons X-Ray. You can see th huge white thing on the left side. That's the liquid filled mass.



Here is a picture of the mass being removed.



Thursday Oct. 12:
I took a trip out of the hospital to the Guatemala City Dump. I was given a tour of an after school program for kids that lived around the dump. The kids would have usually worked in the dump sorting through garbage. The program was called Camino Seguro (safepassage.org). The story behind the project is that an American teacher taking language school classes in Guatemala got the opportunity to visit the city dump. What she saw there were children rummaging through the dump looking for plastics and other things they could sell. She moved down to Guatemala and setup a program that would give these children the opportunity to learn vocational skills instead of having to work in the dump. They program is very well setup and well though out. Any obstacles that get in the way of providing the children with education are dealt with very efficiently. It was a great experience and I hope to return and volunteer there later.


Here is the inside of the Camino Seguro Complex.


This is right outside the Complex.



Friday Oct. 13:
Friday was the last day of surgery. There were only 4 cases and they were finished with loads of time to spare. They had to perform some extra work on Byron, the 18 month old from Wednesday, because they noticed some extra swelling in the region of the surgery. After this second minor procedure the local nurses gave him Tylenol and 1mg of morphine to “quite him down”. Our doctors never knew of this so it made for a scary situation but everything worked out fine. After they were all done we pack up all of the supplies that needed to be returned to the US and went hope. We did rounds again before we left and said bye to all of the kids and local staff.

Saturday Oct. 14:
We traveled to Antigua which is a tourist hotspot. We spent the whole day there taking in the sites and buying many local goods. Antigua was the Spanish Colonies capital. There were hundreds of churches around the town. Everything was really beautiful. I was disappointed because I was never really able to see the huge volcano that exists near the city. The clouds sat right on top of it. We check out some jade shops (not that I bought anything) and art galleries. We also visited a 5 star hotel that was just amazing. We ate at a restaurant by the name of La Fonda. Ex-Pres Bill Clinton ate there on his visit to Antigua.

Family seeing goods at a market place in Antigua.


Sunday Oct. 15:
Leave Guatemala and arrive in Houston. I got held up in customs because I had 2 50lb bags of medical supplies and I did not know how much they were worth. My plane was delayed and I ended up getting home very late Sunday night.


The whole experience was great. Lots of patients/family contact. Great contact with the local health professionals who were more than willing to talk about public health issues they dealt with on a daily basis. It was a create opportunity to spent time in the OR with great surgeons and nurses. I Observed 2 neck mass excisions, 3 septoplastys, tons of Tonsil and adenoid removals, and some tympanoplasties. It was great to see everyone’s commitment to the cause of healing the children. You can read about how people do this all over the world but none of that means anything to you until you take part.

You can go here: http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p17/agotado/
To see some cool vids and pics I shot. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I guess at the begining of anything background is needed. I am Eriberto Michel. I am in my final quarter of an undergraduate physiology degree at the University of Washington. I have aspirations of becoming a physician and am currently in the process of applying to medical schools. I am currentl living with some of my best freinds in Seattle, Washington (Magnolia). I am a huge fan of soccer and minimal house electronic music. The real reason for starting this blog was to post and share pictures and record a recent experience I had in Guatemala.

I was born in Walla Walla, WA to Sipriano and Leticia Michel. My parents came to the US illegally from Mexico and later became citizens. My Dad suffers from Eisenmenger's Syndrome which is the result of no healthcare as he was growing up and a farming accident here in the states. He is now disabled and not able to work. My mother works as a healthcare provider for elderly. I have a younger brother by the name of Jesse who is a 15yr old punk rocker.

Im going home in a couple of weeks and I will take some pics and post them. Pictures speak louder than words.