Tag Archives: Mexicali General Hospital

In the operating room with Dr. Martin Juzaino

Posted on by

This post is a little overdue since I was out of town for a few days.. I missed the 115 degree temps and I missed Mexicali too..

Dr. Juzaino (left) and Dr. Rivera

Usually, I go to surgery after I’ve spoken to the surgeon, and talked to them for a while but in this case – I had heard of Dr. Juzaino (after all – he practices at Hospital General de Mexicali) but couldn’t find a way to contact him – he’s not in the yellow pages, and no one seemed to have his number..

So I just hung out and waited for him when I saw his name on the surgery schedule. He was supernice, and invited me to stay and watch his femoral – popliteal bypass surgery.  Case went beautifully – leg fully revascularized at the end of the case.   Patient was awake during the case but appeared very comfortable.

intern during surgery

There was a beautiful intern in the surgery – her face was just luminous so I couldn’t resist taking a picture.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get her name, and no one recognizes her because of the mask – so I am hoping some one from the OR recognizes her here.. I’d like to send her a copy of the picture.. (and get permission to post it..)

Saw Lupita Dominguez – who in the role of nursing instructor that day.  She is always so delightful – I need to get a picture of her with out the mask so all of you can see her -besides being an outstanding nurse, and nursing instructor,  she is just the friendliest, sweetest person with cute freckles to boot.. (I am very envious of people with freckles..)

On another note entirely, here’s some more information about the ethical implications of transplant tourism for my interested readers as follow up to my Examiner.com article.  It’s a video of lectures by one of the leading ethicists and transplant surgeons, Dr. Delmonico.. (yes, like the steak.)

The staff at Mexicali General

Posted on by

Mexicali General Hospital

I thought it was about time that I post some pictures of all the great people I see at Mexicali General.. I still need to get some more pictures, of course – so everyone can hear more about all the people I meet and talk to every day.

First, there’s Lalo,  who is probably one of the world’s nicest residents.. (After all, he rounds with me everyday – and hasn’t run away screaming..)  No, seriously, he’s just really kind – and patient with me, particularly when I have questions about cases (usually translation).  I haven’t convinced him that thoracic surgery is his passion yet – but he does have a thing for cardiac surgery, so he’s not entirely hopeless..

Lalo

Then – there’s Jose Luis – who is just about the nicest, friendliest guy an extranjera like myself could ever hope to meet..  Actually, everyone in the respiratory therapy department has been pretty awesome (and their use of slang has certainly advanced my education!)  I talk to Jose Luis about all my ideas about pre-surgical clinics and such – he never laughs.. Maybe he doesn’t completely understand me, (especially when I get excited and talk really fast in my horrible gringa spanish) but he never laughs at me, or does that shoulder shrug thing that people do when they aren’t real enthusiastic about your plans..

Dr. Ochoa is second from the left, Jose Luis is in the center (in blue)

Of course, there’s Dr. Ochoa – who certainly got more than he bargained for when I first contacted him for an interview (back in November 2011).   I don’t suspect he ever thought he’d end up with a gringa student (but then neither did I, at the time).

But he’s always gracious and good-natured – and I always feel like I am learning a tremendous amount, even when it’s not all surgical.  He certainly handles a lot more pulmonary medicine than I ever expected.

There are so many other cool people who I cross paths with – like Ariel (Raul Ariel del Prado Rivas.)   I don’t have his photo (yet!) but Ariel is the nurse in charge of emergency & disaster response for the hospital – for everything from natural disasters like earthquakes (which are pretty frequent here), mass casuality events, to biohazard / environmental spills, and bioterrorism.. If that wasn’t enough for any one person – he also teaches.. In fact, I’m planning to take his ACLS class next month..

Hopefully, knowing about all these nice folks who are always looking out for me will ease the fears of any of my friends and family at home..