You can feel the excitement as the team is gearing up for
the actual work to begin. Before
breakfast they had the OR air conditioning units up and running and the rooms
are ready to go. I had the privilege of
challenging them from Philippians 2 – having the mind of Christ – before we ate
breakfast. By 7:30 they were all cleared
out and ready to go. I was left in the
dining room to check e-mails, and prepare for my Spanish lesson.
Nine o’clock rolled around and Jose Leon arrived ready to
teach me some Spanish. Having no idea
where to begin, he started with an English book – having me translate from
English to Spanish the sentences that were the problems for the English
student. It was fun – I learned some new
words and the use of some verbs that I have known, but I have miles to go.
Around 11ish, Dr Kenny Hayman and Dr Coleman Arnold came out
and began the lunch rush. I had asked the kitchen staff to have lunch ready
between 10:30 and 1 – so the team could come and go as time allowed. This is actually eating late for home, so it
was important that the food be ready by at least 11. By 11:30 most of the team had come out to eat
– soup and hot dogs was our lunch.
Monica Rehring was the last one out – she was staying with a patient
while the others were eating. They ate
and got right back to work. Coleman had
said that his second patient was more than he had expected, but they are doing
a great job. By lunch, I believe they
had seen 6 or 7 patients. Since they
have 45 for the week, and some are serious surgeries, they are trying to get
the harder, more intense surgeries done first – so they take a little longer.
The afternoon was full of excitement. I worked on Spanish while the rest of the
team went back to work. Realizing they
have a passion for diet coke, I made a trip across the street and picked up all
the diet cokes they had – 5! I brought
them back and shortly after we needed more.
I began a long excursion through town – tienda after tienda – looking for
diet coke. About the 8th or 9th,
I finally found the stash – 8 diet cokes.
I purchased them, and headed back to the hospital. I stopped at one more store on the way back
and they had 5 more. The team is going to
be stocked up tonight. I told the store
owners I would be back tomorrow – I hope they have more.
As I headed back to the hospital, I saw Chad, Brian and Nico
walking down the street from the other direction. They had arrived and were planning to go in
and see the team in action. I grabbed my
camera and joined them in the operating rooms.
We watched a Gaul bladder being removed, and I took pictures of Drs
Arnold and Hinson and their team at work.
Then, while the other guys were hanging out in there, I went next door
to watch Dr Ashcraft and his team doing a hysterectomy. I took some photos of both groups in
action. It was interesting the different
dynamics of the rooms – one was very “business” while the other seemed a little
more “light hearted”. I didn’t faint, so
I guess it was a good day.
During breaks, some of the team members, Monica, Jim and
Kristen took opportunities to give candy, blow bubbles, give yo-yo’s, tattoos to
the children who were waiting at the hospital.
It was a joy to watch them
interact with the children. The kids
were so thankful for the items they received – Jim said it brought tears to his
eyes to watch Monica give things to the kids.
They seemed so thankful and happy.
When they left and went back to surgery, I started playing
basketball with Jose, Celestine, Antonio and Juan. We had fun trying to juggle tennis balls and
taking turns shooting on the basketball goal.
Many of the adults were watching as we were laughing and playing. I hope to see them later this week.
Dinner was served around 6:30. The team was finished – 10 people had been
worked on today – all seem to be doing well.
We had steak and rice for dinner.
I gave massages to many of the team members – especially the doctors –
and most of them headed off for showers and on to bed. It has been a long day – tomorrow is another
day. I pray that it is as fruitful as
today was. Thank God for the strength
and ability to do all we had to do today.
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