A little story about Brayan…
Our very first patient out of surgery was a little 5-year-old boy from Atempan, Puebla named Brayan. He arrived on Sunday for triage with an elderly woman who identified herself as his mother. Brayan loved stickers and quickly won the hearts of our team… although, we noticed that Brayan did not like to be away from his mother at all and constantly held her within arms length.
Brayan’s surgery went great and he was sent up to post-op for recovery. Our fellow RN and translator, Melissa Reyes, cared for the young boy and his mother and would even sneak snacks for the elderly woman to eat. The poor woman patiently waited in a chair throughout the day and night caring for her son… As Melissa gained her trust, Brayan’s mother opened up a bit more about the boy.
She was actually not his mother, but his grandmother and had taken over caring for the child after her daughter (Brayan’s biological mother) gave up due to the difficulties that surrounded his cleft lip. The Grandmother identified herself as his mother out of fear of losing out on medical assistance. This was actually not the first time that Brayan had been presented with the opportunity to have corrective surgery. When Brayan was an infant, his grandmother and mother had taken him to get operated on for his cleft lip. Just before the operation, his mother panicked and ran off with baby Brayan because she feared for what could happen during the surgery. One day soon after this event is when Brayan’s mother gave up on caring for him and left Brayan with his grandmother.
Today when Brayan was officially discharged, his Grandmother expressed to Melissa how happy she was and how handsom he looked. Although, a part of her was sad because she knew that when his mother would see him, she’d want to take him back. Brayan overheard this and expressed that he wants his mom to see how handsom he is, but doesn’t want to live with her. He wants to stay with his Grandmother, who he now calls “Mama”.
AUSTIN SMILES
#smilepuebla14
