Children’s Hospital International Services

During a surgical trip to Guatemala City in 2008, Steve Goudy, M.D., a surgeon at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, evaluated Marleny Fabiola Lainez Ambrocio. Marleny is a 14 year old girl from San Marcos, Guatemala. Marleny was born with a large mass that expanded into her sinus creating an obvious cosmetic deformity and disrupting her ability to eat.

Without treatment, the mass would slowly enlarge and cause further deformity, prevent her from eating normally, and impede her ability to function in society.  Due to the large nature of her mass and need for reconstructive surgery, it was determined that Marleny needed to travel to the United States for her treatment.

Marleny with her parents

The Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and Marleny’s doctors donated the surgery and treatments.  Her care was provided by Steve Goudy, M.D., assistant professor of Pediatric Otolaryngology; Christopher Wootten, M.D., assistant professor of Pediatric Otolaryngology; Louise Mawn, M.D., assistant professor of Ophthalmlogy and Neurology; and Kathryn Carlson, M.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics.

The Shalom Foundation, a non-profit organization, sponsored Marleny’s trip from Guatemala and assisted with living arrangements while in Nashville. 

Marleny had surgery on March 25, 2010, and was well enough to return home to Guatemala on May 27.

Dr. Steve Goudy M.D. explains the procedure to Marleny

Kate Carlson, Marleny and Marleny's Mom

Filed by Lori Graves, R.N.

The ENT team wasted no time in getting to work after their arrival in Guatemala City.  Our first stop was to visit the hospital where we will be working for the next week.  The team took a quick tour of El Nino Jesus Hospital and made an assessment of the necessary equipment and supplies.  We put together a plan for throughput that will help maximize our efficiency as a team.  After the hospital visit, the team was taken to the new Shalom Surgery Center that is currently being remodeled.  The team agreed that the new hospital has a great potential but needs some more renovation work before a surgical team can be sent to work there.  We will be watching the ongoing work there with great anticipation!  Speaking of great anticipation…

The team is excited about tomorrow’s work.  We will send several team members to clinic to screen patients for surgery.  The operating room nursing staff and CRNA’s will be working at the hospital to ensure that all equipment is ready for business on Monday morning.  The team plans to work in 3 O.R.’s in order to maximize the number of patients that they are able to treat.  Stay tuned for more updates!