It was a “typical first day mission morning 😊, UP at 6:30, breakfast at 7, team mtg at 7:20, bus leaves at 7:45. Last night they gave us Op Smile Brazil scrubs that they wanted everyone to wear today once we get to the hospital but they are made of really heavy materiel & oddly sized so I was going to wear the Op Smile Scrub top & my own pants only to see about 25% of the team didn’t wear them?!?! But by then I was not going to change clothes. While viral season in the US just ended & we lifted our masking requirements for RSV etc, the seasons are opposite here so it is just starting & they just began masking at the hospital.
Also a normal morning at the hospital to start the mission.
We finished setting up the PACU & our supplies remain sparse. We checked
the crash box, had the mock code and then we wait….our PACU intensivist is
Teresa a native of Brazil, who is fluent in English & has done numerous
missions. Allisson (male) is the local nurse who has worked with Teresa on many
missions so he is our leader in the PACU. We do not have anyone we are training
so there are just 3 experienced PACU RN’s Norina is on her 5th
mission from Canada. I guess that PACU RN’s or PICU R’s functioning on a
mission as a PACU RN are hard to find??? IN this country there is usually only
1 RN and then the rest are “technicians” caring for the patients and PICU’s are
limited & PICU nurses rare. Since this is my 2nd “Champion
Mission” w/o any “trainees”.
Today we have 4 operating table & each table will do 4
palate surgeries so I am anticipating a LONG day 😊 Since we have only 2 days of surgery it is
the opposite of what is “typical”. On most missions the 1st day’s
schedule is filled with lips & then they start on palates. We got our first
patient at 12:10 so I used the morning to type up my blog on a word doc so I
could post it last night.
Davi was my 1st patient & came in at 12:30 –
he was such a sweet boy & I remembered him from screening but he came in to
the PACU a little wild & we needed to give him some Nubain to help him go
back to sleep. That provided him with the 3 hour “extended stay” in the PACU
and when he woke up like a little angel. He had chubby thighs & a sweet mom
and his palate repair was great. By about 2 pm the 2nd round of
cases were on the table & the 4th & last round were started
at about 6 pm so I knew then it would be a late night.
A few “oddities” about this mission – it is the first one
that they have not had water bottles at the hospital – they had large water
coolers in 2 areas with little 4 oz cups so I was not hydrating well at all
& will bring my water bottle tomorrow. Lunch had a slight variety today it
was self serve on a hot plate – rice, beef in a sauce & a root vegetable of
some sort. I was completely happy with my PB sandwich, and a protein bar and
snacks! Another odd thing is that the pre/post op ward is “on this street” but
½ mile away so the patients go from the PACU to the post op area via ambulance
– never had that before. So no visiting the Pre/Post area for me. It does seem
like an added risk to be an ambulance ride away if there was a problem but
fortunately that will likely not be an issue. One nice thing here is that they
let the parents go into the operating room for their child initial induction to
sleep before the surgery & they also bring them in to the PACU once we have
them settled.
My VERY LAST patient Andre was 2 years old & his cute
mom was 6 months pregnant and so grateful & tearful when she came in to see
him in PACU. He had his lip surgery about a 16 month ago & had been waiting
for another mission to have the palate repair & traveled 36 hours from the
southern part of the country. Thru the translator she said she was so grateful
I came to her country and that her mothers heart was swelling with love for
having surgery for her little boy because it will change his life. I replied
that “I know a mother’s heart with my own children & grandchildren and am
happy I was here with this team to help” We shared a long HUG!!! He was another
that got Nubain on arrival to make him comfortable & had the “extended
stay”. After about an hour I did a little face wash to see if he would wake up
a bit & he did but was fussy. His mom held him & sang him lullabies
until he calmed down it was so precious to observe. He was finally sent to the
post op area at about 9:45 & we closed up the PACU at 10 pm & I was
back at the hotel at 10:20 to shower & get ready for bed. Yumi & I
shared our days, I called Doug & went to bed at 11:15. Unfortunately, for
some reason I was awake until about 12:30 – just could not “turn off my brain”
even though I was tired. Tomorrow is he same schedule but all lip patients so
it should be a shorter day * about half of the team leaves tomorrow night &
the other half (like me) Monday night
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