Okay this is going to be a long post...again this is mostly for me...so much happens in a day that at the end of the night when I try to jot down notes I often forget things.
A couple of other special patients from yesterday - day # 1 of screening...one was a 3 week old with a bilateral cleft lip & a cleft palate. She was SOOOO TINY and weighed only 5 lbs... which was less than her birthweight. It was really her whole story that broke my heart. Someone put a tube from her nasal opening to her stomach at birth & "taught" mom what to do but it wasn't working & the tube was clogged. Mom was trying to manually express her breastmilk & put it in the tube, plus mom had a C Section (very primitive process here) and was walking around with an infection around her incision wound & needed help herself. She felt like she wasn't doing enough for her baby & she herself just looked SAD. Luckily we have a 3rd year Peds Resident Leila from Walter Reed Medical school here with us on our mission as sort of an "extra" person & she totally took this situation on while the rest of us were busy with screening. We wanted to buy them formula but were told not because it costs $10 for a can & the mom would likely never have $$ to buy it again & would dilute maybe a tsp in 8 oz of water. We needed to get her to express her milk & put it in a special cleft feeder bottle & teach the baby to suck & swallow. Leila got them to admit the baby overnight & was totally focused on doing what she could to improve the chances for the baby. I am so glad she was here or I know that baby might not have gotten the care it needed.
There was also a 34 year old man with a Cleft Lip who was fairly "well to do" was staying in a "hotel" here on Mekele but it seemed crazy to me that he was never able to have surgery until now???
Okay on to today...Saturday...Doctors Without Boarders in Addis arranged for a bus to bring 18 patients from Somalia here to Ethiopia for this mission. They came from 2 different areas of the country one area was 2000 km away & the other 3000 km away. They traveled 10 DAYS in a SMALL bus to get here driving day & night - they all came with 1-2 relatives so that means almost 50 people squished in seats & on the floor with their own food & supplies. Its not like us taking a 10 day road trip on paved roads stopping at motels and restaurants....it was on some paved & some unpaved roads in areas that were at times dangerous. Then add that they traveled to another country with a different language to be with people of a culture with whom they don't typically associate & then they will stay in the shelter (basically a warehouse room) with 100 or more other people. All for something that is so basic to us???
The good news is that all 18 will get surgery - on Monday is the plan right now so they can stay here for post op & then make the 10 day trip back....they will all return to their small villages with their lives changed no longer outcasts or shunned all because of Op Smile & the 46 people here on the volunteer team from Australia, So Africa, Honduras, India, Denmark, USA, Italy, Ethiopia, Netherlands, Kenya, Sweden, Canada, Philipines, & Ghana all who have come together most without knowing one another but with a singular purpose to help others & be a TEAM...plastic surgeons, anesthesiologists,nurses, pediatricians, dentist, speech, child life, medical records, biomed, & students & other volunteers - a small army for good :)
A few of the Somalia patients that touched my heart....an 11 year old boy & his 2 year old cousin both with cleft lips & thru the translator he said he didn't want her to be teased like he was...a CUTE little 8 mos old boy with a cleft lip who was ALL SMILES - I took several pics of him :) A beautiful 12 year old girl who held her hand over her mouth the whole time she was in the screening process - thru the translator her mom said she has done this her entire life...oh my...how her world will change when she sees her perfected lip. And a 5 mos old baby in ALL PINK...who was a boy but the mom didn't seem to care - I happily gave them some of the layette clothes my friend Leslie sent with me. There was also a patient who had been on the mission I was on last Oct for a Cleft Lip repair & now we will do his palate & the mom remembered me :) I didn't remember them honestly but that warmed my heart & she thanked me for coming back to help her baby...ahh that teared me up!!!
A couple of people already are getting sick & I am doing all I can to remain healthy & grateful for the blessing I received from Doug & Ryan before I left. AS always I didn't come 10,000 miles to not be able to work every day.
Other things not to forget from today - sweet Abrahem a volunteer I knew from last time who lives here in Ethiopia who spent the better part of the morning going to local "Techno" shops to track down a universal charger for my camera battery :) - it works & in the mean time Bryant a nurse on the team gave me his "extra camera" that I put my memory card in & used today so not a single photo op was missed!!!
I woke up at 4:30 am to the "call to prayer" & chanting that is played on speakers in the town??? & if that wasn't enough there was also the sounds of Hyenas near the same time & a VERY NOISY family of birds right outside my room. I am sleeping well at night but it seems that 4:30 am will be my wake up call!!! I am SUPER GRATEFUL that I have my own room & space. I played country music on my iPhone as I got ready (thanks to Kelli)
After screening a small group of us "walked to town" the students - Laura & Megan & their sponsor Dottie, Megan from Child Life, Will one of the Plastic Surgeons, the U Student Franni who is from San Clemente & goes to Yale & Plays Soccer there (& small world is a friend of Natalie Werners). I swear we walked for about 3 hours - maybe 10 or 15 km. All the kids in the town would tell us "HI" & want a High Five
Shortly after we got back we went down to the patient "Shelter" where they were going to tell the patients who would get surgery. It is basically a warehouse but a group of college age students here have taken on the responsibility of making the grounds look nice. The inside is a warehouse building with "mats" on the floor & about 160 people all staying inside. It was a very humbling experience & I took some pics there - despite having essentially nothing the kids were happy & they turned on some misc & we had an Ethiopian Dance party!!! I missed this type of time at the Shelter last time I was here I am so glad I had this opportunity & I want to go back when I can.
It has been a FULL DAY & tomorrow is the "Team Day"
A couple of other special patients from yesterday - day # 1 of screening...one was a 3 week old with a bilateral cleft lip & a cleft palate. She was SOOOO TINY and weighed only 5 lbs... which was less than her birthweight. It was really her whole story that broke my heart. Someone put a tube from her nasal opening to her stomach at birth & "taught" mom what to do but it wasn't working & the tube was clogged. Mom was trying to manually express her breastmilk & put it in the tube, plus mom had a C Section (very primitive process here) and was walking around with an infection around her incision wound & needed help herself. She felt like she wasn't doing enough for her baby & she herself just looked SAD. Luckily we have a 3rd year Peds Resident Leila from Walter Reed Medical school here with us on our mission as sort of an "extra" person & she totally took this situation on while the rest of us were busy with screening. We wanted to buy them formula but were told not because it costs $10 for a can & the mom would likely never have $$ to buy it again & would dilute maybe a tsp in 8 oz of water. We needed to get her to express her milk & put it in a special cleft feeder bottle & teach the baby to suck & swallow. Leila got them to admit the baby overnight & was totally focused on doing what she could to improve the chances for the baby. I am so glad she was here or I know that baby might not have gotten the care it needed.
There was also a 34 year old man with a Cleft Lip who was fairly "well to do" was staying in a "hotel" here on Mekele but it seemed crazy to me that he was never able to have surgery until now???
Okay on to today...Saturday...Doctors Without Boarders in Addis arranged for a bus to bring 18 patients from Somalia here to Ethiopia for this mission. They came from 2 different areas of the country one area was 2000 km away & the other 3000 km away. They traveled 10 DAYS in a SMALL bus to get here driving day & night - they all came with 1-2 relatives so that means almost 50 people squished in seats & on the floor with their own food & supplies. Its not like us taking a 10 day road trip on paved roads stopping at motels and restaurants....it was on some paved & some unpaved roads in areas that were at times dangerous. Then add that they traveled to another country with a different language to be with people of a culture with whom they don't typically associate & then they will stay in the shelter (basically a warehouse room) with 100 or more other people. All for something that is so basic to us???
The good news is that all 18 will get surgery - on Monday is the plan right now so they can stay here for post op & then make the 10 day trip back....they will all return to their small villages with their lives changed no longer outcasts or shunned all because of Op Smile & the 46 people here on the volunteer team from Australia, So Africa, Honduras, India, Denmark, USA, Italy, Ethiopia, Netherlands, Kenya, Sweden, Canada, Philipines, & Ghana all who have come together most without knowing one another but with a singular purpose to help others & be a TEAM...plastic surgeons, anesthesiologists,nurses, pediatricians, dentist, speech, child life, medical records, biomed, & students & other volunteers - a small army for good :)
A few of the Somalia patients that touched my heart....an 11 year old boy & his 2 year old cousin both with cleft lips & thru the translator he said he didn't want her to be teased like he was...a CUTE little 8 mos old boy with a cleft lip who was ALL SMILES - I took several pics of him :) A beautiful 12 year old girl who held her hand over her mouth the whole time she was in the screening process - thru the translator her mom said she has done this her entire life...oh my...how her world will change when she sees her perfected lip. And a 5 mos old baby in ALL PINK...who was a boy but the mom didn't seem to care - I happily gave them some of the layette clothes my friend Leslie sent with me. There was also a patient who had been on the mission I was on last Oct for a Cleft Lip repair & now we will do his palate & the mom remembered me :) I didn't remember them honestly but that warmed my heart & she thanked me for coming back to help her baby...ahh that teared me up!!!
A couple of people already are getting sick & I am doing all I can to remain healthy & grateful for the blessing I received from Doug & Ryan before I left. AS always I didn't come 10,000 miles to not be able to work every day.
Other things not to forget from today - sweet Abrahem a volunteer I knew from last time who lives here in Ethiopia who spent the better part of the morning going to local "Techno" shops to track down a universal charger for my camera battery :) - it works & in the mean time Bryant a nurse on the team gave me his "extra camera" that I put my memory card in & used today so not a single photo op was missed!!!
I woke up at 4:30 am to the "call to prayer" & chanting that is played on speakers in the town??? & if that wasn't enough there was also the sounds of Hyenas near the same time & a VERY NOISY family of birds right outside my room. I am sleeping well at night but it seems that 4:30 am will be my wake up call!!! I am SUPER GRATEFUL that I have my own room & space. I played country music on my iPhone as I got ready (thanks to Kelli)
After screening a small group of us "walked to town" the students - Laura & Megan & their sponsor Dottie, Megan from Child Life, Will one of the Plastic Surgeons, the U Student Franni who is from San Clemente & goes to Yale & Plays Soccer there (& small world is a friend of Natalie Werners). I swear we walked for about 3 hours - maybe 10 or 15 km. All the kids in the town would tell us "HI" & want a High Five
Shortly after we got back we went down to the patient "Shelter" where they were going to tell the patients who would get surgery. It is basically a warehouse but a group of college age students here have taken on the responsibility of making the grounds look nice. The inside is a warehouse building with "mats" on the floor & about 160 people all staying inside. It was a very humbling experience & I took some pics there - despite having essentially nothing the kids were happy & they turned on some misc & we had an Ethiopian Dance party!!! I missed this type of time at the Shelter last time I was here I am so glad I had this opportunity & I want to go back when I can.
It has been a FULL DAY & tomorrow is the "Team Day"
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