Last Day & Night in Nakuru & last day of the mission…wow where has the time gone??? I have worked about as hard as I did in Houston after Hurricane Katrina & I left there thinking there were still so many great needs & I felt the same way at the end of today but IT WAS A REALLY GREAT DAY!!! First of all after we got back late last night Donna told me that since our patients don’t hit the recovery room til about 9 & since we had the night we did that why didn’t I sleep in an extra hour & the “local nurses” who volunteer like shift work 7 am-7 pm could get things set up. I did not argue & felt like I was just given the best gift ever. So I slept in til 7 & then proceeded to take a taxi by myself to the hospital - the fare was $4 & it was quite a ride. The driver stopped at 2 different gas stations & got gas at the 2nd one….no idea why? The taxi drivers gas gages are always on empty I think its because they only put in the amount of fuel based on each ‘job” they get - they don’t have money to “fill up” - another simple thing we take for granted…having money for gas in our cars. The streets were totally bustling with activity…when we leave at 6:30 am & get back between 9 & 10 pm we miss all this activity & it is CRAZY!!!
A few things I have forgotten to write about in my blog…Jannae & I would text back & forth to coordinate patient from Recovery to Post Op they did have one phone in most wards - yep a rotary phone complete with the rotary dialing sound - the 1st time I used it I was instantly catapulted back in time to my childhood home on Memphis Ave in Whittier with our old rotary phone! I even took a picture with it! I think I forgot to blog about 2 patients yesterday…Gladys who was 6 mos old & from a distant Masai Tribe. Her mom & dad had traveled with her 1200 km (over a week) to get to us!!! She was put on the schedule for today & was so stinking cute..I know I took a picture of her with the child life specialist Donna (who I also adored!)
And yesterday I made several trips back & forth to post op & on my 1st trip outside the ward that connected to ours was a mom that I think our plastic surgeons helped & her 2 children..the little girl was about 3 & had beautiful sparkling brown eyes & the most beautiful smile & she waved at me as I walked by with a patient that I was taking in to the post op ward. On my way back to the “recovery room - I use that term lightly” I stopped & talked to her & her mom & found out her name was Faith & I was immediately in love!!! The next trip an hour or so later she was still out there so this time I asked if she would be there in another hour & that time I came back without a patient & with a dress for her - the cute striped one that had a little purse with it…she (& her mom) were so excited & grateful..I took MANY pictures - she was SO DARLING..Kelli & Sarah wanted me to bring An African baby home & if I could’ve I would because there were actually some moms who said this is my 5th or 6th child & I cant care for him/her so please take them…which many of us on the Op Smile International tram might have considered but there is a new law that you have to live in Kenya for 6 mos before you can adopt child. Personally I have always loved toddlers so if I could have I would have snatched Faith in a minute!!! But she had a very loving mother & perhaps that is why she was so happy J I was out of T shirts but I brought her brother some toys & he liked that too! Then today when I was taking some of our last patients to post op she was outside again & ran up to me & gave me a BIG HUG….ohh she made my day! (FYI any patient that can get outside does for the sun & also to get away from the pretty nasty stench that exists in all the wards)
Since it was our last day I brought all my scrubs with me to give to the nurses I was working with, I had also packed some other small gifts for them - they lack simple things we have all the time - bandage scissors are highly valued & I even brought & gave away a few stethoscopes. I even gave my VERY LARGE empty suitcase that brought all my dresses etc in it to John & he was going to use it to cart around baby manikins from place to place when he taught Pediatric Advanced Life support around Kenya J Nothing “extra” would go unused! When I got to the recovery room at 8:30 we hadn’t had our 1st patient yet so all I missed was my morning trip to the Post Op Ward. All the other Kenyan nurses in Recovery room (John & Florence Sr - both with Op Smile & then Florence Jr, Beatrice &Wamboi - 3 from this local hospital) gave me a really cute purse made in Kenya & gave Andreas a safari cap with “The Big 5” on it (the 5 animals you want to see on safari - rhino, lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo). It was so sweet of them J I asked about the mom from last night if she made it & they said they thought so but the staff didn’t want to talk about it & so I let it go & wanted to be respectful of that.
It was a shorter surgery day with the plan we would be done by 2 pm…and we were pretty close to that time frame. Many of the kids who came to be screened later in the week were on todays schedule so we ended with a lot of cleft lips & that seemed to make the entire team happy - a one year old patient w/ a cleft lip even showed up today & the baby hadn’t eaten so we added him on for surgery. Joyce was also scheduled for her burn dressing changes today under Genl anesthesia - the plastic surgeons knew this would be her last “Western medical Treatment opportunity” so I think they wanted to do all they could. They had one of the Kenyan general surgeons assist them so that perhaps he would follow her & help her continue to get care & heal well after we left. She had colored me a zebra that her mom gave me so I attached it to my Op Smile nametag & wore it all day J
I had a few dresses remaining so the students went with one of the hospital nurses & took them to another pediatric ward…it was great to be able to bless over 100 childrens lives with the clothes & toys I brought from the service of so many - I was simply the instrument to share the love of A LOT of really Christ like people in California….
The end of the surgery day came quickly compared to the 8 or 9 pm nights we were used to & even the last surgery on the 1 year old who arrived today was as important as the 1st to that child & family. When we were “all done” we basically dismantled the entire recovery room we had set up - monitors, equipment, meds everything & in about 90 min it was like we were never there (aside from 2 HUGE boxes of extra medical supplies we were leaving them)…. There was this sense that everyone just wanted to linger in the OR or at the hospital a little longer before we went back to the hotel.
I had 2 dresses still in my bag….and I wasn’t sure what to do with them….one of the locals was taking some extra toys back to a far away village so I thought maybe I would give them to him…then as I was walking to the front of the hospital to get to the bus I passed an adult ward & outside was a mom & 2 little girls…I stopped & gave them my last 2 dresses….it was the storybook ending to the 112 dresses….they held the dresses up to themselves & danced around & yes I took pictures!!!
Instead of taking the bus back John my Kenyan recovery room friend said I needed to ride in a “Tuk Tuk” so he got one & we went back to the hotel in this fun 3 wheeled cart. Reminded me of a golf cart w/ only 3 wheels & canvas flaps around it to enclose it - we got back to the hotel about 4:30 & the “Final Party” was at 6.…some of us went across the street to the “open market” to make some final purchases - ever since Monday the market wasn’t open when we left in the morning & was closed when we got back…I found my friend Moses & bough a hat for Doug from him as I had promised….I also got some final gifts for friends & family & found myself less concerned about “bartering” with them & mostly just wanting to give business to ones who were nice…paying an extra 100-200 shillings for something equals about $1-2 American….I am sure that the extra $20 or so I paid after all my shopping will have a bigger impact on their lives than mine at home.
The final party was nice….lots of speeches & thank yous from the Op Smile leadership, local Kenyan leaders in the country & in medicine - even the bus company owner who donated buses & drivers to take us back & forth every day & the people who cooked our lunch each day spoke .it takes SO MANY PEOPLE…yes an African Village worth to coordinate all the local details & needs of an Op Smile Mission The party/dinner ended about 11 but the “younger” team members continued the evening dancing at a local club near the hotel…as for me I needed to pack & even though I gave away so much stuff & offloaded one huge suitcase I filled up my 2 bags to come home. My “roommate” had left the day before so the last 2 nights I had my hotel room to myself & I just appreciated the quiet time to think about these 2 weeks & the truly amazing personal, spiritual, medical, emotional & truly “person to person” or “mom to mom” experiences I had….it has been a LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE to have been here on this mission & such a blessing in my life but…I do miss my family & will be ready to start the journey home in the morning.
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