So in 9 hours I board the first of my 3 flights & my 16 1/5 hours of travel home. I am happy to report that I feel I’m about 90% healthy & if I can be strategic about when I sleep on what flights hopefully I wont have too much jet lag!
I made it to the 6:30 am team meeting after missing it the last 2 mornings….it was a longer meeting since it was the last one, lots of Thank You’s by each team leader & we received our team shirts & took a team photo at the hotel before we headed to the hospital. I went to post op first and saw my sweet Youssef and his dad – they really might be my favorites from this mission. We took a selfie together that I will post on social media. Another boy in the same room also with a dad recognized me but I honestly didn’t recognize him – his dad wanted a photo of his son with me so I took one on my phone too 😊
There were 22 patients on the schedule today – all lip repairs. The first 10 were all smaller babies or toddlers which was perfect for the onesies I had left. My patient was an “age deviation” at 4 ½ months of age (typically they have to be 6 months) but she had been seen at the mission 6 months ago & her weight had gone down & they thought that her cleft lip & palate combination might be negatively contributing to her poor nutrition so that opted to do her repair & she also had (taped to her leg?) one of the obturators the dentists made with the tools we helped buy 😊 she was so sweet & so cute & her mama was so happy when I carried her back to her post op. We had the first 10 patients (one from each table) in by 11 so it was a bit of a slow start. The 2nd patients on the tables were some older ones with a few interesting/sweet stories. One was a 13 year old girl who obviously came for screening & was scheduled & had to have come last night to stay over night (unless maybe she was local to Agadir) but the story was her mom didn’t tell her she was going to have the surgery until they arrived today. Not sure if she didn’t want her to be anxious or what but that was a new one. Also we did a lip repair on a 41 year old man who was over the moon GRATEFUL and told us in Arabic (via the local nurses) that now he can smile & be confident & not self conscious. He said his daughter was getting married in January and now he would be proud to be her papa in the photos.
Whitney who got whatever virus I got (together we think it was Tuesdays lunch) was worse off that me hydration wise so she came in the PACU for 2 liters of fluid & felt better afterwards. She & several other team members have flights scheduled on Lufthansa who went on strike Thursday night for supposedly 48 hours – everyone is watching closely to see if they return to flying tonight & the planes are in the right locations to get them home. THAT would be stressful…I LOVE, LOVE LOVE my mission trips but by day #5 of surgery I am ready to come home – which I why I have never added on travel after a mission. If I am going to travel I want to do it with family not op smile friends.
We finished by about 2:30 and packed up as much as we could along the way. The have Cous Cous here only on Fridays traditionally so we had that served family style for lunch – I have to admit I am a little gun shy of food; all I have had since Tues night is crackers last night & a piece of bread this morning. I tried a Kind Bar about 11 & that made my tummy rumble – perhaps not my wisest decision but Moroccan food was way out of my comfort zone. I went so that I was a “good team player” and ate only a little of the plain Cous Cous – so far so good.
They always have a big “Final Night Party” & the one for tonight was a BIG ONE as they celebrated the final mission of Morrocos 20 year celebration. The website looked fabulous, TONS of food, horses, Moroccan culture, Belly dancers, Fire Throwers & more…it reminded me of a combo of Midevil Times & a Luau but Moroccan style. The issue for me was I am still not eating a lot & the even had a departure from the hotel at 7 & return at midnite & I have to be in the lobby at 3:30 am for my flight. So I let Ambra know I wouldn’t be going. I might have a little FOMO as I see some of them add photos to the giant team WhatsApp but I am packed, showered, checked into my flights, it’s 9:30 & I plan to be in bed by 10 to get 5 hours of sleep. I will have a day of rest Sunday then be back at work on Monday & I didn’t want to start all of these flight not fully well & over tired – that is a sure recipe for disaster for me. Whitney & I did go down the the beach behind the hotel & found some sorbet & a very mild pizza that worked for both of us & she even went to the party.
There is a pool at the hotel & I saw a woman in a full caftan/burka, leggings & head covering swimming…I had so many questions. Were these clothes different that the ones she wore in the day, different material? Specific for swimming? I wondered if other women also swam or this was a “one-off”. There was someone near me who clearly saw the perplexity on my face & had all the answers. Other call it a Burkini but I don’t believe the Muslims do & I hope that isn’t disrespectful to say. She sad she had seen a few other women in full clothing like that also swimming & actually it’s significant as in years past they were not allowed to swim – so I kinda wanted to cheer he on for just swimming her heart out & enjoying it so much. It has to be hard swimming with all that fabric no matter what kind it is – like when you get pushed in the pool with your clothes on & feel weighed down but I suppose the opportunity to swim was just delightful. I guess it is all about perspective…what I view as a challenging way to swim she views as wonderful.
My 12 days of travel might be seen as a lot like that…at least I hope it was…the missed flights, lost luggage, no luggage or belongings for 3 days, broken luggage on return, crazy 36 hours of sickness that continues to linger and the early mornings & late nights in the PACU could all be linked together & someone on the outside looking might think…why does she do this???(the same thought I had of the woman in the pool). She’s crazy these missions they are a lot of work & not in the greatest conditions or areas, why subject yourself to all of that, or that doesn’t seem enjoyable, or even that’s a lot of bad luck in a short period of time, or a long way to travel or why not a “real vacation” (trust me lots of people have asked these at various times). And even today someone asked me if you knew ahead of time you were going to have all of these challenges would you still have come & the answer was & ALWAYS will be YES…. Just like my friend at the pool it’s perspective & my perspective of all of these mission trips is that it is truly an honor to serve my brothers & sisters all over the world whenever I am given the opportunity. MY servants heart is full, I have loved, cared for, ministered to, laughed with & shared tears with wonderful people in Morocco these past 2 weeks & even knowing ahead of time I would have all these challenges I would have said yes let me come please!!! Until my next opportunity OSI Mission #16 is in the books & I likely wont blog about my travel home unless I need to document any new crazy just for my posterity – but lets hope not!