I know it has been a while since, I’ve written, but I’m carving out some time to blog right now or I’ll be forever behind and never catch up with what’s gone on the past few days.
Petit Luc's birthday was Sunday & I brought a Sesame Street bus from the U.S. for him:
Started off the week on Monday, by going down to Depot #4 with Meladee to help sort medical supplies. The hospital just got one of its shipments. 1-2 times a year the hospital receives a container. The container is sent out form Ohio and everything from medical supplies, donations, food for the missionaries, etc. goes out on it. So, this means the warehouses receive boxes of medical supplies including surgical gowns, sorely needed bandages, surgical compresses, vitamins, etc. We sorted some new stuff, but also a box of old surgical gowns and drapes donated from the States. When we were sorting, all of a sudden Meladee and I saw something move. All of a sudden, we saw two baby mice nestled between the layers of surgical gowns and drapes. Their mother had munched on quite a few gowns in an effort to make a nest for her children, so we translocated them to the outdoors. After sorting and organizing stuff for a couple hours, Meladee and I made deliveries to different departments at the hospital to replenish departmental supplies.
After working with Meladee, I stopped by Keir’s office so he could show me some computer work he needed done. I had to change some coding in the phone lines…as Keir said, “You now have the power to complete mess up our phone system, but you won’t.” Keir was right, I successfully completed my job without screwing anything up :-)
EnVision (the C&MA’s short term missions office) had 13 students from Central Michigan University (CMU) here serving. They were able to help me get a head start on one of my projects that would have taken me much longer to complete by myself. In fact, I’ve been so busy, I have not even gotten around to starting it yet. The CMU girls were a big help and helped me sort and clean off boxes of orthopedic equipment and casting materials. They brought the stuff up to my place so that either tomorrow or Saturday, I can spend some time scrubbing and cleaning off the braces and adjustable casts, etc.
Boxes of ortho supplies that the CMU girls & I cleaned up:
Once, the CMU girls and I were finished with that project, I took the Thelander kids swimming from 3-5pm – felt SOOOOOO good after working in the sunny outdoors and dusty warehouses!...Monday night I went over to the EnVision center to say goodbye to the CMU team…really had an awesome time talking to them and had some great conversations! I officially got the crap scared out of me when two Gabonese boys knocked on my door Monday night. Turns out that they just wanted to give me a papaya, but definitely still creepy at night.
Tuesday started off early with devotions down at the hospital at 7:30am. After devotions, I went on rounds with Dr. Keir and the surgical residents. After seeing patients, I was able to see a couple different procedures including a gastroendoscopy. After Dr. Keir and Anatole (1st year resident) pulled pins out of a little girl’s feet, Keir asked me to help Anatole clean her feet up and help with casting while he went on to the next case…so, there I went, casting materials in hand, but it was awesome!
Dr. Keir says the next case after that was probably the biggest case Bongolo Hospital has had in his 5 years here. The man had a CT scan that was done in Libreville. Keir had me look at the CT scan and said something like, “I know you don’t know anything about CT scans, but if you had to guess, what doesn’t look right/where is the problem?” Well, I guessed right!...The man had quite a large mass that had invaded his spleen, so on the CT it looked like he had an extra organ. This definitely qualified as most intense procedure ever at Bongolo. Over the course of about 4+ hours, the man lost lots of blood and had to receive multiple transfusions and Keir took the man’s spleen out along with the mass that had also invaded his pancreas (or at least that’s what I got out of what was going on). It was crazy. There were points were there was blood squirting everywhere. I’ve never seen so many surgical compresses used in one case…I think they used close to 23 or so. Not that I’m one to judge, but Keir and the residents did an awesome job!
Gastro surgery of a lifetime:
After the OR, I ran up to eat and change before heading to town with Joanna and some of the missionaries. In Lebamba, I did some grocery shopping. When in town, we ran into a lady who definitely had mental issues and kinda went after us. Afoussa insisted on following us around the market to keep us safe. Haha. Afoussa is the best!
Afoussa & little Maechat keeping me safe at the market:
Tuesday evening, I was so sleepy, I fell sound asleep on my bed and I had left the door unlocked. Oh boy! Fortunately, Lisa stopped by to get something, so I consequently discovered that my door was open. Lisa and I ended up cooking an impromptu meal. Since we’re both living alone and do not have much motivation to cook it was great to get together and cook and have a “real” meal: pasta, sauce, corn, papaya and yogurt = delish!!!
Yogurt & papaya with Lisa:
This morning, I headed down to the “bloc” (French for OR/operating room) storeroom. Rachael and I sorted the surgical supplies. Organization is so important, because if these places are not organized, the doctors do not know what we have and then they cannot use all these supplies. Unfortunately, the Gabonese do not maintain organizational systems very well, so Rachael and I are attempting to set a system in place that can easily be maintained – we’ll see.
After the OR storeroom, I did some computer work for Keir. Then, I grabbed my lesson stuff, grabbed Luke & Sarah, and had school with them until 4ish. School was Spain-themed today and we finished off the afternoon by making Spanish fans and boats like the explorers used. Later in the evening, I went back over to the Thelanders since they had invited Rachael and I over for dinner. Afoussa stopped by too, so that was great!
Well, I think those are the highlights. I probably left stuff out, but I am so sleepy, so anymore details will have to wait!
Really enjoyed Psalm 57, especially the last few verses (vs. 9-11):
I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.
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