Better Late than Never….Cairo Day #4 of Surgery & Travel Home 😊

 So, I got home 6 days ago but it has been a busy week at work and a big adjustment to the time change. and I am just now “closing out” this blog. Fortunately I put notes about each day in my phone so I don’t have to try & remember a week ago …..

After our busy day on Friday, I got a good night’s sleep. I was on call & truly thought I would get called in but fortunately I didn’t. Post Op did have some issues w/ the last patient bleeding, but he did not have to go back to surgery, so I was not involved. Days like yesterday remind me I am still an “RN- Real Nurse” & can thrive in the chaos and quickly changing clinical situations that require my brain & my skills. It’s just a nice validation since those are skills that I don’t use every day in my Executive Director job at CHOC and I’m pretty certain all my critical care staff don’t even know I still have these skills…LOL

This morning at breakfast Chris & I were told that Morag was ill. She ate lunch at the hospital -I NEVER eat the lunches provided – it is always a peanut butter sandwich for me but since we were at the hospital so late last night, I was hungry & went up & grabbed a lunch at the end of the day as Morag said it was a good chicken sandwich & brought it back to the bus when we were waiting to go home last night - in general getting a lunch 5 hours after it was brought is a bad idea - I was hungry  not thinking.  Fortunately when I opened it up it was beef not chicken so I offered it to the bus driver & I didn’t eat it ….SOOOOOOO GLADDDDDD when this morning I found out that was the last thing Morag ate & likely what made her sick. Truly feeling like it was a tender mercy. The last thing I needed today was to be sick again. Basically, this week I survived on eggs & bread each morning at the hotel along with a bit of fruit & the rest was my PB sandwiches, protein bars, dried apricots & nuts I brought.

We got to the hospital & made a quick trip upstairs, saw a few patients then Chris & I made arrangements to get IV fluids for Morag & then take a car back to the hotel & the car waited for us. In 20 min we started an IV on Morag, got about a liter of fluid in her, “macgyvered” a way to hang another liter above her bed flowing in, & taught her how to discontinue it when it was done. Amazing efficiency if I say so myself!

We got back to the hospital & had an hour before the 1^st patient came back at 10 am & all the 1^st 5 were in the PACU by 10:20. Of course the 5^th one was a feisty one we had to give meds to hoping he would wake up better the 2^nd time. Typical calm then chaos. My first patient was Kareem – he was 4 years old. His sister who was 23 was w/ him & she is studying to be a nurse. Kareem’s mom is 39 – so she had his sister at 16 & then him at 35…bit of an age gap 😊. He was such a sweet boy but once he was fully awake, he started crying telling his sister all about the surgery…that they “tied down his arms & put the mask on his face” he was very passionate & detailed – it broke my heart! Rebecca our Child Life Specialist said he did all the medical play before surgery but clearly the real thing was different. His sister said Kareem could be a bit “naughty” & he does not forgive easily so no one related to the surgery could be trusted. She also said that she had promised him a trip to the sea after the surgery. When it was time for him to go up to post op he 1000% refused to get in the wheelchair – no way-no how. He wouldn’t even let his sister sit in it & be on her lap. Then he asked for slippers (which he didn’t have) so he could walk. Making no progress his mom came down & he just cried to her & told her the story too…poor Kareem.

We finished up by 3:30 – and ended up with a total of 63 patients who had surgery. That’s 63 children who would have never had this medical care without our team in Cairo – changing lives one child at a time! I was back at the hotel at 4ish & Pres. Marcous had text me that he was in the area with his youth from the branch & wanted to stop in & say goodbye to me. He came & we went to a little café next to the hospital – I had to explain that I didn’t want to eat but would have a soda. He shared with me more info about the church branch. They have 10 youth but today there were 9 others who were friends of the youth – most were Sudanese & they used $20 American form the money I gave him to have this "BIG Youth Activity" and went to Abou Tarek’s (where I had gone) for lunch to celebrate some birthdays after their service activity. He shared with me the video which was so nice to see.  

He had hoped his primary President could join us to tell me the plan for the children's schooling but she was unable to come at the last minute. We chatted and he said many of the church members here walk 45-60 min to come to church & others are as far asway as Alexandria & Aswan. He shared that Egypt as a country is in crisis. 1000 factories have closed & they cannot import products to make items that were made in the past & they are exporting so much food that there is a scarcity of food in the country. They measure inflation by eggs & 6 months ago it was 1 Egyptian pound for an egg (about 5 cents US) & now it is 5 pounds or 25 cents. He said there are shortages with medicines & food/grain. He is diabetic & has to go to multiple pharmacies to get his needed medicine. The churches Bishops storehouse is working with the Egyptian government & supporting many in Cairo from all religions – Muslim, Coptic Orthodox Christian etc. he said that 6 months ago the storehouse gave away $7,000-9,000 Egyptian pounds of food each month. Now with both the inflation & added needs last month they gave away $70,000 Egyptian pounds of food.  He said that in Sept he & other church leaders are scheduled to meet with the US Ambassador & Minister of Affairs – since the church is US based & has given 2-3 million dollars of aid in Egypt. Much of it to widows in the Coptic Orthodox Christian Church; yet that church just worked to write & pass a family law in Egypt that if a spouse changes religion you can automatically get a divorce and the LDS Church is at the top of that list…so odd that on one hand they want to partner to help widows & others with food needs but also I guess are threatened by another church? He also said that the Diplomat Branch is very supportive & caring of the Arabic Branch – they have helped 3 members take classes from BYU online to assist with the goal of more education for church members.  Self-reliance is hard when it is so difficult to survive in general. It was again very humbling to talk to him – he said that he knows God is working in Egypt he has seen what happens when people get to know Jesus and that it is his goal to teach people about Jesus & Jesus will change their lives. Pretty profound & applicable worldwide. He said he hopes to be remembered in Egypt as an “early saint” who helped the church to grow there. I assured him I was certain that would be the case.

By the time we got back to the hotel it was already 6 pm & Chris was in the lobby a bit frantic canceling her debit card that she had lost. Morag was better & the “final dinner party” was starting at 8 & I knew it would go until MN & I had to leave for the airport at 1 am. Knowing how these parties go all 3 of us opted to stay in. I finished packing & tried to get 3 hours of sleep before heading to the Cairo airport & then staying awake for 8 hours until I was on my “long flight” from Istanbul to LAX. My first flight was delayed taking off so my 90 min window between flights turned into 50 min & the girl I sat next to was from Dubai & going to San Francisco for a business meeting. She spoke great English said this was her first time connecting in Istanbul, but friends said you need 2 hours between flights…not ideal. We were only about 4 rows behind 1^st class, so once we landed we rushed off the plane & truly RAN together about 3 miles – we had to go downstairs out of “passport control” then back upstairs into the terminal & run thru 4 LONG terminals. When we started out of passport control the signs said a 28 min walk to terminal A-I was stressed but grateful I was healthy enough to run thru the airport. I got to my gate & there were 3 different security areas you had to go thru to get to the gate. I was in the gate area as they were boarding & went straight on the plan – thankfully I made it! It was a full flight; I had a window seat & once we were in the air I took a sleep aid to be sort of on Calif time. I slept about 6-7 hours of the 13-hour flight then was awake the rest. I was concerned about my luggage wondering if it made the connection but fortunately it did! I got my bag & Doug was waiting when I came thru immigration. What a night & a day & now another day. I made myself stay up until 8 pm to try to get on a Calif time schedule but I had to be at work at 7 am Monday & its been a rough adjustment all week. Finally, by Friday I started feeling like I was rested.

So Op Smile Mission #18 in the books – always grateful for the opportunity to do this work & always amazed at the opportunities I have to connect with church leaders & be a conduit for the generosity of others in ways I could never imagine. What a blessing it is to serve….it was a rough start but a good finish and seeing a bit of Cairo & the pyramids was a nice bonus!