So this is REALLY more of a health update & some wonderful opportunities that were presented to me in the 5 hours I was at the hospital. As I said in yesterdays post I decided to go in & arrive at 10 am. The problem was that by the time I did the ¼ mile walk to the front of the hotel & the ¼ mile walk from the front of the hospital to the recovery room I was totally spent of all my energy. I changed into my scrubs & went in but ALL the PACU team said I looked terrible & told me to lay down which I didn’t resist. They had only gotten 5 patients back from surgery when I got there and sadly there were already 8 cancelations of kids who were sick ☹ That is always so heartbreaking knowing they may have traveled from afar & now they will have to wait 6 months until the next mission somewhere in Morocco.
I slept for 90 min then got up when there were LOTS of crying babies & took a patient. As long as I sat down on the bed with them I did fine. I lasted about 3 ½ hours & took care of 4 patients then felt the wave of nausea again& told the PACU team I needed to “tap out” – in hindsight I think it comes about every 5 hours as my meds (Tylenol, Zofran, Tums) wear off. I went to sit at the “desk” area & one of the child life team came with a 5 year old who was frightened of any type of medical device. Peter wanted her temperature taken so I decided to show her it didn’t hurt by taking mine & taking the Child Life persons too – after that she willingly let me take her temperature & I told her I would be here when she woke up she was #205 & unfortunately that didn’t happen because when I had taken my temp with them her’s was fine & mine was 39 C (103F). So Peter got involved in my care & so did Chris & they said I looked terrible. Honestly I was pretty miserable – again it had been since 9 am that I took meds & he had me take Tylenol, Zofran, Tums & added a Z Pack starter. TBD if I need to continue and sent me back to the hotel. I knew my roommate would be sleeping & didn’t want to disturb her so I asked Shauna if I could go in her room as she has a 3rd bed & only 2 people. It’s a bit concerning that the front desk just gave me a key to her room without asking for my name or anything.
I slept in there for 3 hours til Shauna got home at 6:30 then went to my room to sleep. Like clockwork at 8 pm I woke up with the worst chills again so much that I couldn’t even open up the gauze that was taped up & had my Zofran in it but I finally got it opened & medicated myself. Hedde & Chris came to check on me & then David called an hour later & dropped off more meds. At 1 am it was the same routine I had bad chills as my temperature was rising the got all sweaty as it went down & I medicated again then slept pretty well til 6 & at that time just took my meds before the symptoms returned. I had promised Hedde & Chris that if I felt better I wouldn’t go in until noon & David called again this morning to check on me – so nice!!! And told me to come in at 1 so that is my plan to go in between 12 & 1.
This morning I have had 2 bouts of diarrhea & I actually think that is better to get the virus (or whatever it is out of my system) I do feel better, was able to shower & get dressed & rested without the need for instant sleep so I think I am on the mend! About 5 other people have the same symptoms including Shauna & Whitney who stayed back today.
In the few hours I was there I was able to close the loop on a few needs. The dental team had heard I had some funds & asked me Tuesday if I would consider buying 2 tools that need to make obturators (think retainers) in smaller children. We are doing A LOT of palates (about 30/day) & there were more that were too young to be scheduled. They had their lips fixed but need to wait until the next mission to get their palate fixed. An open palate impacts eating, speaking etc. They did not have the proper tools to make the smaller obturators so I happily said yes. They got the 2 tools & gave me the receipts (not that I needed them) & I gave them the Dirham to pay for them & the tools will stay with OSI Morocco for future missions. I think the dentists usually bring all their own tools. Also I found out that some families had challenging travel home & the PC’s were resistant to me giving the money for that because how do they determine who should get it among so many families? So I gave money Terry my roommate from Post Op & told her that as they sent people home & saw how far they traveled to just shake their hand & give them the Dirham & tell them they are loved. This morning Terry said it was like they got to be Santa Claus & the families were so appreciative. I continue to pray to be guided to my Moroccan brothers & sisters who need a little help that I can provide thru generous friends.
So I am about to go into the hospital & hope I can last the full day – I am supposed to be on call tonight but I know that someone would cover me if needed.
2 Fun Facts Re. Morocco – there are Cats all over the hospital – walking the halls & outside. I have been on missions where they are stray dogs around the hospital but I don’t remember cats??? Apparently, people don’t have pet dogs here & there are animal people from other countries that come in to neuter the dogs so there are not so many on the streets. They have cats as pets in their homes (& I guess at the hospital) because the cats rid the houses of snakes, scorpions & rats. I’m not sure of that makes me feel better or worse that there are so many at the hospital?
Also unlike the US where most of the poverty exists in the bigger cities (homelessness etc) here in Morocco those with the greatest poverty live away from the cities in small villages so that is why our patients travel from so far away. So it is a bit opposite the US I believe
No comments:
Post a Comment