We left for the hospital at 7 am & when we arrived there were not many people there waiting for screening. We screened until noon & saw about 50 patients - it wasn't bad at all. It seemed like the patients today were from closer to Tangier while many of the ones yesterday had traveled much further. I did find out why there seems to be so many patients if they have done 106 missions in Morocco over the past 20 years...as I thought many are local (smaller missions) and Morocco is a bif Country & the last time there was a Mission in Tangier was in 2013 - 5 years ago. So there is definitely a bit of a backlog in the country despite all of the work here. I am not sure what the Cleft rate is in Morocco but it seems higher in Africa in general.
The recovery room group continued lab draws & they are definitely no for the faint of heart...most babies/children may not know what to expect - then we poke & they cry & wiggle. For some who have had surgery before they are completely clued in as to what is going on & come in screaming & kicking. A few little ones required 3 of us to hold plus the parent while one drew the blood! Not always pretty but definitely necessary.
I did get a tutorial from a cute mom on how she loads her baby on her back & wraps them on - not sure I could do it & the babies seem to just grab onto their moms clothes on their backs so they don't slip off before they are secured. It is definitely a unique skill!!! It was warmer today which made me happy and this is definitely the best view-an ocean view I have ever had on a mission :)
After we finished & cleaned up our station we had a "tour" of the hospital. We got more info there too...this is an "old non functioning hospital" & supposedly there is a newer one in Tangier but clearly we are not in it.. It's not horrible...but that is why there is not a lab here & no other patients or staff here - just Op Smile. There are pros & cons to that I think. It seems like the beds were left here from the old hospital but Op Smile got new linens so that's good. I have no idea who washed them though & we only have our cargo for supplies there are no "extras" in this hospital.
The 4 OR's are on the first floor & each will have 2 tables - it's a little cozy but it always is. The PACU (Recovery Room) or my world is right across from the OR's so we will get our patients quickly. The 2nd floor will be pre-op where all the patients are brought in the night before their surgery so be sure they are in fact here for surgery & they will have 40 beds as we anticipate 40 surgeries each day except Friday. The 3rd floor will have 60 post op beds because the Cleft Palate repairs will stay 2 nights. There is a "lift" (elevator) to get them upstairs but no one can confirm it works - I am sure it does!!! After the tour we set up the PACU (Recovery Room). We will have 2 Intensivists Chris from the US & Igor from Russia - they have very different personalities so it will be interesting. I have never had 2 PI's running the PACU. We are in pretty good shape - created tables out of cargo boxes & got our supplies organized. We will have a few hours Monday morning to finish up. After we were done with that they served us lunch at the hospital - the food isn't bad it's just "different" so I choose carefully what parts I wanted to eat. They do have a lot of fresh fruit - bananas, tangerines (not sure of that has anything to do with Tangier?)
One of the Op Smile leaders I had spoken to about wanting to do some humanitarian work sad that with this weather the patients & families at the shelter were cold there (it is just a cement type building I guess - I have not been there) So they asked if buying blankets was something I was interested in using my "sacred service funds" funds for & I said YES!!! So I didn't go with them but they said they could get 25 blankets for about $250 & would reuse them all week then give them to the last round of families. My heart leapt at that opportunity to "light & warms this little shelter in Morocco" I am so blessed by generous friends who trust me to "do what is needed & meet the needs that I am aware of & led to".
We got back to the hotel at 3ish & had to be at dinner at 6 so we had 2 hours free!!! Ranina who is from Morocco but about 12 hours away has a friend who lives in Tangier & she came about 4 pm to walk is to the Kasbah (walls around the od city) where the medina (market) is that we were going to go to the first day when we got out crazy fun tour of everywhere else! We thought of going on our own but were advised against it - not from a safety point but just because it is a HUGE maze f streets & hard to find your way out once you are in. I was VERY happy we waited for Ranina & her friend. Some people wanted to do a lot of shopping - I have collected a lot of stuff from missions & was fine to just look. Plus this being a predominantly Muslim country I was pretty sure & so far correct in that I will not find a nativity set here :(. It is odd that it is Dec 1st and there is no sign of Christmas anywhere...we walked 10,000 steps getting to & from the medina & there are a lot of hills here - it was a good workout!.
In the Medina a very well dressed man approached us & wanted us to come to his rug shop...we explained that none of us were buying rugs as we are flying back to many different countries etc He insisted we go & Ranina agreed so we all followed him. He had beautiful rugs & explained how they were made (he did still try to sell them to us). BUT he also told us to go to the top of his roof where we could see the entire area including a 200 year old Mosque - it was breathtaking. He then walked us to the Hotel Continental which is part of the original walls of the Kasbah & has a view of the water. He was so so nice & took a photo with us before we left.
The dinner we were supposed to go to was across from the hotel & was a pizza/Italian place whose owners like to support Op Smile - I am certain I have had Pizza on all 14 missions in every country. They had 3 options & one was TUNA pizza that some of the people ordered without realizing it cause it was just the first pizza listed. Now I like Tuna & I like Pizza but I don't really like tuna on my pizza so I opted for cheese & it was ok.
After dinner a group was going to a Hammam - a Moroccan Bath that they said was very nice & each person had a private area - they explained it all earlier & I had gone back & forth - I even "googled it" & could buy inexpensive 1 time use type bathing suits there (instead of traditionally being naked!) So I decided I would at least "go & see" Mostly I wanted the 30 min $10 add on massage!!! It actually was very nice, very private & very relaxing so I have now been to a Hammam and was so relaxed I went straight to bed (also because we had to be up the next morning at 5 am for a team day event. hence my blogging is a day behind! Another good day...tomorrow we will do some sightseeing - this is probably the most I have done on any mission & then the real deal starts on Monday!
The recovery room group continued lab draws & they are definitely no for the faint of heart...most babies/children may not know what to expect - then we poke & they cry & wiggle. For some who have had surgery before they are completely clued in as to what is going on & come in screaming & kicking. A few little ones required 3 of us to hold plus the parent while one drew the blood! Not always pretty but definitely necessary.
I did get a tutorial from a cute mom on how she loads her baby on her back & wraps them on - not sure I could do it & the babies seem to just grab onto their moms clothes on their backs so they don't slip off before they are secured. It is definitely a unique skill!!! It was warmer today which made me happy and this is definitely the best view-an ocean view I have ever had on a mission :)
After we finished & cleaned up our station we had a "tour" of the hospital. We got more info there too...this is an "old non functioning hospital" & supposedly there is a newer one in Tangier but clearly we are not in it.. It's not horrible...but that is why there is not a lab here & no other patients or staff here - just Op Smile. There are pros & cons to that I think. It seems like the beds were left here from the old hospital but Op Smile got new linens so that's good. I have no idea who washed them though & we only have our cargo for supplies there are no "extras" in this hospital.
The 4 OR's are on the first floor & each will have 2 tables - it's a little cozy but it always is. The PACU (Recovery Room) or my world is right across from the OR's so we will get our patients quickly. The 2nd floor will be pre-op where all the patients are brought in the night before their surgery so be sure they are in fact here for surgery & they will have 40 beds as we anticipate 40 surgeries each day except Friday. The 3rd floor will have 60 post op beds because the Cleft Palate repairs will stay 2 nights. There is a "lift" (elevator) to get them upstairs but no one can confirm it works - I am sure it does!!! After the tour we set up the PACU (Recovery Room). We will have 2 Intensivists Chris from the US & Igor from Russia - they have very different personalities so it will be interesting. I have never had 2 PI's running the PACU. We are in pretty good shape - created tables out of cargo boxes & got our supplies organized. We will have a few hours Monday morning to finish up. After we were done with that they served us lunch at the hospital - the food isn't bad it's just "different" so I choose carefully what parts I wanted to eat. They do have a lot of fresh fruit - bananas, tangerines (not sure of that has anything to do with Tangier?)
One of the Op Smile leaders I had spoken to about wanting to do some humanitarian work sad that with this weather the patients & families at the shelter were cold there (it is just a cement type building I guess - I have not been there) So they asked if buying blankets was something I was interested in using my "sacred service funds" funds for & I said YES!!! So I didn't go with them but they said they could get 25 blankets for about $250 & would reuse them all week then give them to the last round of families. My heart leapt at that opportunity to "light & warms this little shelter in Morocco" I am so blessed by generous friends who trust me to "do what is needed & meet the needs that I am aware of & led to".
We got back to the hotel at 3ish & had to be at dinner at 6 so we had 2 hours free!!! Ranina who is from Morocco but about 12 hours away has a friend who lives in Tangier & she came about 4 pm to walk is to the Kasbah (walls around the od city) where the medina (market) is that we were going to go to the first day when we got out crazy fun tour of everywhere else! We thought of going on our own but were advised against it - not from a safety point but just because it is a HUGE maze f streets & hard to find your way out once you are in. I was VERY happy we waited for Ranina & her friend. Some people wanted to do a lot of shopping - I have collected a lot of stuff from missions & was fine to just look. Plus this being a predominantly Muslim country I was pretty sure & so far correct in that I will not find a nativity set here :(. It is odd that it is Dec 1st and there is no sign of Christmas anywhere...we walked 10,000 steps getting to & from the medina & there are a lot of hills here - it was a good workout!.
In the Medina a very well dressed man approached us & wanted us to come to his rug shop...we explained that none of us were buying rugs as we are flying back to many different countries etc He insisted we go & Ranina agreed so we all followed him. He had beautiful rugs & explained how they were made (he did still try to sell them to us). BUT he also told us to go to the top of his roof where we could see the entire area including a 200 year old Mosque - it was breathtaking. He then walked us to the Hotel Continental which is part of the original walls of the Kasbah & has a view of the water. He was so so nice & took a photo with us before we left.
The dinner we were supposed to go to was across from the hotel & was a pizza/Italian place whose owners like to support Op Smile - I am certain I have had Pizza on all 14 missions in every country. They had 3 options & one was TUNA pizza that some of the people ordered without realizing it cause it was just the first pizza listed. Now I like Tuna & I like Pizza but I don't really like tuna on my pizza so I opted for cheese & it was ok.
After dinner a group was going to a Hammam - a Moroccan Bath that they said was very nice & each person had a private area - they explained it all earlier & I had gone back & forth - I even "googled it" & could buy inexpensive 1 time use type bathing suits there (instead of traditionally being naked!) So I decided I would at least "go & see" Mostly I wanted the 30 min $10 add on massage!!! It actually was very nice, very private & very relaxing so I have now been to a Hammam and was so relaxed I went straight to bed (also because we had to be up the next morning at 5 am for a team day event. hence my blogging is a day behind! Another good day...tomorrow we will do some sightseeing - this is probably the most I have done on any mission & then the real deal starts on Monday!
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