Setting up the Recovery Room & 2 Special Girls

What an incredible day….I was all set to be the gatekeeper day #2 when Donna (the mission coordinator) asked me to go with Andreas )the Pediatric Intensivist & her husband) to set up the Recovery room..this is his 1^st mission too but Donna has been on several so she gave me her advice & off I went. Since I didn’t know I would do this today I didn’t bring any scrubs so I had to borrow some from the hospital…very interesting since they have very few & wash them by hand & hang them to dry behind the hospital. The “recovery room” was….lets just say less than ideal…a 10x10 room maybe with dirt & trash everywhere, one bug infested bed, a leak in the ceiling & everything was rusted, dirty or otherwise disgusting & there were open windows w/ flies coming in & ants all over the floor…after I took it all in & was in shock I gave myself a “pep talk” I said “I can do this”. I took before & after pictures that I will try to post tomorrow…there should have been 3 recovery room nurses setting up but my 2 Kenyan partners were gone so it was just me - the OR Nurses were busy setting up the OR but they tried to help me when they could & when I needed a translator. Andreas (the doctor) said “set it up however you want” - so I instantly liked him & when he helped me unpack 12 BIG boxes & figured out a way to duct tape boxes of gloves to the end of the 3 beds & I rounded up I loved him!!! I adore the intensivists at CHOC I have worked with for so many years but he was running a close second! 4 hours after I walked into the disaster I had 3 beds all set up - yes I had to keep the buggy mattress but I cleaned the heck out of it & getting a sheet for the 3^rd bed didn’t happen so I did a makeshift one..it was all good. I had the students & volunteers use the unpacked cardboard boxes to make my IV arm boards & “no no restraints” - so the kids cant bend their elbows & touch their face). Usually the recovery room nurses do that but since it was just me they were lifesavers. Anrdreas & I went thru all 3 “Crash Boxes” & set them up how we both liked….my roomate Poly made cardboard dividers for my empty small cardboard boxes so I could have all my supplies at each bedside just like awe do at the hospital & I taped all the “emergency supplies” I needed above each bed…organized the one shelf I had with all the other supplies, stored the extra stuff under the beds & at the end I was REALLY HAPPY…I wanted everyone to come tour my “beautiful” recovery room…it is all about perspective & doing the absolute best you can with what you have.

The OR & recovery room are in the same building as the 3 bed ICU….I again was a little shocked as I saw 3 rickety beds there w/ mosquito nets over them & in one bed was a 6 year old girl Penina who motioned to me as I went by…I asked the nurses if I could go to her bedside…she didn’t speak English & I don’t even know what was wrong with her but I held her had & talked to her & smiled & the nurse translated a little then I hurried off & brought her 2 dresses & her eyes it up & I cold not hold back the tears….she is so precious & I told her I would visit her again on Monday.

Then at screening I was just helping as needed it was a slow steady stream but very manageable so I didn’t volunteer to be the gatekeeper!!! I had already had a BUSY day. But one of the patients that came in totally stole my heart…perhaps because she spoke English & spoke quite well…her name is Salome & she is 14 & has a cleft lip…she lives in Nairobi & came with her 27 year old eldest sister who had saved all her money for a month to pay for the busfare to bring herself & her little sister here…their dad was recently unemployed & the mother is a “housemom” (stay at home mom) so they didn’t have money for the parents to both come so her sister brought her. There are 8 kids in the family 6 girls & 2 boys & Salome is the 5^th child. All her life she has asked her parents why she was the only child with “this lip” & said all the kids at school had teased her all her life & boys don’t look at her & she just wants to be normal & wants her lip fixed so she can sing better (she sang for us) & wants to sing praises to her Lord. Her sister said the family had always prayed to have a way or the money to help her but they never could. Again…lots of teary-ness the entire time….I cant even imagine the life she has lived & how a 45 min surgery will change her entire life…when we told her she would have surgery on Tues her older sister & she both cried….her sister was going to call to see if she could be off work &to stay here w/ Salome & they were going to stay with friends in the area….the love of this family & especially these sisters was palpable in every sentence….I thought of my own girls & how I think they too would do whatever they could to help each other….this day was one of those when I again KNEW I was meant to be in Africa on this mission perhaps for my own person & spiritual growth as much as for the ways in which I am able to help the team.
There is really nothing else of importance I could possibly say…tomorrow is our “team boning day” & we are going to the Nakuru Natl Park…I am sure it will be fun…although we have to be up at 5 & leave at 6...so I need to go to bed…the amount of emotion in each day along with the real “work” makes me a tired girl! LOVE to all of you! I bought a phone here & can now text & call home - best $35 I spent so if you want the # call my house!
P.S. Sorry this was so LONG!!! I will try to uplaod pics tomorrow bu the iternet here is spotty