I slept okay last night and didn’t vomit after midnight. I
tried to sip sprite & herbal tea when I woke during the night. I set my
alarm for six but I was in no shape to go in. Pradeep & Karen came to check
on me & brought me some electrolyte packs to add to water – it taste nasty
but I forced myself to drink it.
Valentina also came in & I told her that I thought if I slept a few
hours I could go in later & asked if they would get me at 9:30 – so that
was the plan…until I slept until 9:30. I tried to reach them to see if they had
sent the car & fortunately they hadn’t so I reset the pick up time for 11
am & was confident that after showering I would be okay to go in and do
some work. I felt about 75% of “good” but wanted to go in…I didn’t travel
10,000 miles to hang out in a hotel room & I was feeling much better
compared to last night. I got down to the outdoor lobby just after 11 &
after 3 calls the car finally came at noon – I think time is very relative in
India. It did give me a chance to FaceTime Doug which was nice and Imessage a
bit with Kelli & Sarah
My ride in to the hospital during the daytime thru the
village was a different sight than even the Sunday we walked thru…with no
electricity they are up at sunlight working in the fields, the coal pile &
the brickyard – we have seen that when we leave at 7 am & it is actually a
bit chilly at that time. In the mornings I have seen 5 women breaking up the
coal to fuel the brickyard -I am not
sure why it is women doing that – it is quite a sight as they sit on a pile of
coal breaking it into smailler peces with a chisel. There is always someone at
the well getting water and at times just bathing there right next to the well.
This morning when I left at noon there were women walking
about with water carafes or bags of rice or other items in their hands or on
their heads. In the brickyard men have what looks like a balance…a piece of
wood across their shoulders and equal piles of 20 or so bricks on each side
they are balancing as they move them. Such manual labor. I saw 4 or 5 year old
children carrying probably their siblings who were naked 1 year olds as they
walk along the street maybe while parents were working. There was a man with a
manual sewing machine working on something = perhaps that is his business? I
would guess that maybe 90% of Americans have not seen poverty like this – I understand
the social disparities in the states but this is a whole separate level of
survival. Truly our issues while significant are 1st world problems
and sometimes I think people could benefit from a reality check like this to
perhaps stop before they rant & complain about so many “problems” in their
lives that really might just be minor inconveniences.
When I got to the hospital walking up the 3 flights of
stairs to the recovery room seemed monumental – I just didn’t have any energy.
They had only seen 8 patients before I got there but it was crazy busy. I
managed patients and just sat down more. It could have been SO MUCH
worse….really I was only out of commission 18 hours total & 6 hours of work
time so I felt very blessed and knew that I was being carried by the prayers of
many at home who I know are praying for me & this entire team. We had
another bleeder that needed to go back to surgery so that always makes things
interesting and chaotic all at the same time. I did not take many photos today
& really “bond” with too many patients I was simply trying to do the work
that needed to be done. There were 2 Nursing students here again & they
were quite helpful – despite the language barrier I tried to explain what we
did in the PACU – how we monitored the patients coming out of anesthesia. SO
easy for me to go into teaching mode – which I love! They also helped me give
away lots of the fun things I had brought J
The last patient I cared for was another Ganesh (must be a
common name here) he was 23 years old & he had waited 3 days for his
surgery. He was scheduled on Wed. then things got too late that night so they
postponed him to yesterday (Thursday) & he was actually on the table still
awake when that other patient started bleeding & had to go back to the OR
so they postponed him again. Finally he was the VERY LAST patient today &
he was so happy to be having surgery – his before & after photos are
remarkable & I will try to post them. Another HUGE difference & when I
had him look in the mirror he gave me a HUGE SMILE & thumbs up sign. He
told the nurses on Pre-Op where he stayed for 2 days that he wanted to be able
to “kiss a girl” which made me laugh!
We left by 9 pm which wasn’t bad – it must be a bit “dangerous”
on the roads here as when we leave late at night (or any time at night) they
lock the “push in door to the bus” (that really doesn’t have a lock) by outing 2
wooden seats in the door area so that is can’t be opened from the outside. One
night whenw e were on the dirt road of the village area one person did jump on
& push his fingers thru the door but I think it was more of a “thrill ride”
however it did make it all the way to the entrance of the hotel & then the
guards shooed him away.
I was spent after just 8 hours or so & ready to go
straight to bed – others went to dinner – which they start serving here at 8:30
pm??? Pradeep insisted on bringing me some rice & sweet yogurt her got from
the kitchen. He is Indian himself (but from the US) so he has made friends with
the hotel staff LOL. It was very sweet of him but I wasn’t really up for eating
– I had a piece of bread & some almonds for proton – I really messed up not
bringing the protein powder I usually go & buy & bring – oops! At this
rate I can get 8 hours of sleep & to me that sounds HEAVENLY!!!
While the USA is preparing for the Inauguration of Donald Trump
& people on both sides are complaining & protesting and saying hateful
and hurtful things to one another I am pretty happy to be away from all of that.
I truly believe that if we could all try to love, accept and be patient with
each other even as we disagree the world would probably be less volatile and
more positive – we have so much more in common that we have as differences and different
isn’t wrong it is just different. If in the world different =wrong than whoever
varies even slightly from your perspective will always be viewed as wrong
instead of trying to understand and accept their perspective. We don’t have to
agree but we can always be kind and respectful and LOVE everyone despite their
differences. (end of soapbox)
No comments:
Post a Comment