written by Sondra Dubas
Imagine having a baby born with a severe heart defect, but not having access to medical expertise to repair your baby’s heart or even make a proper diagnosis. Imagine traveling all over the country to find someone who can help you, someone who can give your child a chance at life. Imagine being turned away time after time because nobody has the answers, or the solution your child needs to survive. Every day that you watch your baby struggle to breathe, struggle to thrive, you know time is ticking away. Imagine exhausting all your resources, money, and relationships in desperation to save your child. What sacrifices would you make to save your child?
And then imagine one day that you hear that a team of medical specialists has come to your country to provide life-saving heart procedures for a few lucky children. Would you drive for hours and hours without even having an appointment scheduled with the random hope that your child might be one of the lucky ones? Would you stand amidst the hundred other families praying for a miracle for your child?
It is unimaginable for most of us to think of ourselves and our children in these situations. Even for the majority of parents who have the responsibility to care for a child born with a Congenital Heart Defect (CHD), the situations I described would be rare. If you live in the United States of America, the best medical expertise available to our children may be little more than 15 minutes from your home. As a mother of a child born with CHD, I have never taken for granted the medical care my daughter has received. She has a complex CHD and has undergone two open-heart surgeries, heart catheterization, extensive post-stroke rehabilitation, and numerous other procedures. The twelve years she has lived are most certainly a gift that has blessed my family as a result of her receiving exceptional medical care. My level of gratitude to her medical providers has been immeasurably increased, as a result of my recent experience traveling to La Paz Mexico.
The situations I described above were witnessed first-hand by the co-founders of Heart Heroes, Inc., Kitty Burton and Sondra Dubas (myself) during our recent mission trip to La Paz Mexico. We were invited by the Los Cabos Children’s Foundation to be part of a team of 29 individuals who traveled to La Paz the first week of December, 2013. These individuals came from Omaha, NE, Washington DC, South Dakota, Mexico, and Nicaragua with a mission of providing life-saving heart surgeries and medical evaluations. The team consisted of cardiothoracic surgeons, cardiologists, intensive care doctors, anesthesiologists, intensive care nurses, operating room nurses, a perfusionist, a respiratory therapist, and a Spanish language interpreter. In the course of five days, 11 children received open heart surgery, 7 received heart catheterization, and hundreds more were seen by cardiologists for evaluation of their CHD condition.
Until about 6 months ago, children in the state of Baja California Sur, Mexico born with CHD, struggled to survive. No cardiac care existed for them, no cardiologist in the entire state of Baja California Sur. An amazing non-profit organization called the Los Cabos Childrens Foundation and a brilliant surgeon decided to partner to save lives by simply serving others. This trip marked the second mission trip to La Paz Mexico in 2013. The first mission trip took place in June. You can read about the details in the Blog called Los Cabos Children’s Foundation: Mission of Hope http://heartheroes.org/los-cabos-childrens-foundation. Heart Hero capes were provided to Dr. James Hammel, cardiothoracic surgeon to give to the children on the June mission trip and they were a huge hit! When Kitty and I received the invitation from Greg Edwards, President and CEO of the Los Cabos Children’s Foundation to join the mission team in December and deliver Heart Hero Capes in person, we were shocked. We considered it to be such an honor for two heart moms from Nebraska to be asked to join this amazing team of medical experts for this mission trip! Many times during the trip we were pinching ourselves in disbelief that we were part of this mission.
Our primary mission was to provide Heart Hero capes to the children undergoing surgery and heart catheterization. However, as mothers who have handed their children over to a surgical team and watched them disappear behind the operating room doors, we knew that our mission was about more than giving out capes. We knew in our hearts that these families were going to need a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold, and someone to tell them that their child would be alright. We needed to deliver hope. Neither Kitty nor I speak Spanish, but with the help of our new friend Cesar, the Spanish translator, we were able to assemble a script to use to communicate with the families. We discovered that it was the language of the heart that really mattered the most. We saw the desperation, hope, fear, and anxiety on the faces of the mothers, fathers, and grandparents. We know because we have been in the same place as them with our own children. I am so grateful that we had the opportunity to cry with them and hug them and assure them that their children were in good hands. I can honestly tell you that in my heart, I knew I was living in God’s purpose by being there.
The days were long, emotional, and yet very rewarding. We hung posters and strings of hearts provided by elementary and middle school children from home in the ICU rooms to welcome the children as they returned from surgery. We handed out handmade cards colored and written in Spanish by our kids’ middle school Spanish class. Each child received a very special Sock Monkey and mini Heart Hero Cape prior to surgery. Thank you to Kristen Ritchie, founder of “Charley’s Heart” for donating the monkeys in memory of her sweet heart angel, Charlotte. Heart Heroes also provided care packs to the children which included coloring books, crayons, bubbles, and Play Do. We passed time with the children as they awaited surgery by painting, coloring, and blowing bubbles. We comforted the parents as they waited during surgery and we held their hand and escorted them to see their child for the first time after surgery. We understand how difficult it is to see your child in post open heart surgery recovery mode. It’s a lot to process. And upon waking up, the children received their special heart hero cape! Their smiles lit up the ICU as they took their first steps wearing their brightly colored capes. Take a moment to view all the photos from the mission trip in the Heart Heroes photo gallery and you’ll see what I mean. You can also see photos and read about each child on the Los Cabo Children’s Foundation Facebook Page.
Our time in La Paz went by so fast. Everything about it, the hotel, the city, the food, the people, the atmosphere, the scenery…amazing! Most of all, our opportunity to connect with the children whose lives were being saved by our own children’s precious physicians and their families was truly a life-changing experience! I believe that our hearts connected and while our job was to deliver capes to the kids, I believe our mission became so much bigger than that! Thank you to the Los Cabos Children’s Foundation for giving us that opportunity! And thank you for being the selfless, kind, giving organization of people that you are! What you are doing in Mexico with all your projects is just amazing!
As I had a moment here or there to visit with other members of the mission team, I would ask them what inspired them to come on the trip. I enjoyed these conversations and realized that there were some common themes. It’s about being part of something bigger that what we do in our day-to-day lives. It’s about setting a positive example for our children, our colleagues, and our world leaders. It’s about sharing our expertise, talents, and heart with the world. It’s about making a huge difference in the lives of a few children and their families because you never know what ripple effect it will have on future generations.
It is the goal of Heart Heroes, Inc. to continue with our mission of supporting the Los Cabos Children’s Foundation by providing capes, encouragement, and support to the children and their families in future mission trips. The next surgical mission trip is expected to take place in May or June 2014. We look forward to seeing the children we met on our trip grow and thrive. These precious children will always hold a special place in our hearts. If you would like to learn about ways you can be involved with supporting future mission trips please contact us at heartheroes@yahoo.com.
Click here to check out the amazing photos from A Mission of Hope!