It was another rainy & stormy night, but I slept 9 hours which is exactly what I needed after getting 5-6 hours of sleep a night since I have been here. I was so happy to find out when I woke up that I had RUNNING WATER , so I could have a proper shower – or at least a “Ghana shower”. I was a little slow getting ready, and still had no internet. Timing wise Doug was up late in Utah so I was able to talk to him this morning. I rolled into breakfast right at 7. The dining room was completely full and no one was eating as the food was not there due to the staff having difficulty getting to work as a result of the storm & once they got there, they had to prepare the food.
For the morning “meeting “Team Leader Updates” Della said he
wanted me to speak for PACU which was very nice of him. Afterwards I was told
by others that was an act of him “respecting me as a colleague, and demonstrating
we are partners. This is especially meaningful in areas where women are not
always respected. He is a CLASS ACT! In my PACU status “update” I mentioned
what a difficult day it was in PACU yesterday with patients coming out “wild” &
crying & also that we lost & had to restart 5 IV’s. I asked that since
this was the last day that they please secure the IV’s & bring us more calm
patients. If the child is already not doing well at the end of the case please give
more anesthesia. We all had our team shirts on & took photos both at the
hotel & at the hospital. The Africans LOVE their photos and if a photo is
being taken of 3 people & 8 are nearby they will all rush over and join in
to be in the photo and they also love to flash the peace sign in their photos. Their
enthusiasm is contagious. I was in the front seat next to the driver going to
the hospital & perhaps I had not noticed in the back of the bus but he
drove like a maniac… passing the Pragias & barely slowing down when people
were crossing the road…it would be bad press of OSI to cause an accident in a town
they are supposed to be helping!!!
At the hospital Abi & I went to pre/post first to see yesterday’s
patients -truly my favorite part of the day. After that I needed to meet Salam
& she took me to the bank (with the same ATM I had been using) as the one
by the hospital was out of money – probably because of my daily withdrawals!
She and I shared a sweet conversation reflecting on what we have accomplished
in the last 8 days since we met in person in Ho and how this food will truly
bless so many individuals and families. On Tuesday when I was in a panic to get
cash the Clinical Coordinator in Training Cynthia is a member of the church and
said she asked me If I belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints - & she assures me I said NO. Mind you it was a stressful day &
I could have answered NO to any of a number of things I SWEAR I did not hear that
question. Fast forward to Wed morning and she asked me again & I said yes
& explained what Salam & I were doing & introduced them. I chatted with
her more throughout the day – her parents & family joined the church in
1995 as some of the first member in Accra. She moved to the Cape coast after she
got married and has 3 children 15, 13,11. Her husband like Salam, is also not a
member of the church but is very supportive. She is the oldest of 6 siblings
all raised in the church in Ghana. Today she asked me if I lived in Utah &
told me her youngest brother just graduated from BYU. He went there on a track
scholarship & he also just got engaged. She was such a proud sister &
showed me the photos. I got his contact & told her we live in Calif but have
a house in Utah and I will contact him when we are there for 4th of
July. She said she hoped I would come
back to a mission on the Ivory Coast – the next one is in September I think &
I said that may be too soon but I would love to come back to Ghana.
I returned before any patients did which was great and we
had a slower start to PACU which allowed me to begin and complete the PACU Team
Leader/Educator evaluations on all 6 of the PACU RN’s. I also met with each one
of them briefly to share what I wrote so there are no surprises & I scored
them all well as they were truly a great team 😊 Some of them also called me “Miss Nancy” all
week-it was cute. One of the female Anesthesiologists Elizabeth also called me “Miss
Nancy of the PACU” – earlier int eh week her kids often came out fussy &
agitated & I mentioned it to Clover as the Anesthesia lead & she really
worked with her on her medication dosing’s & timings & the last 2 days her
patients became a dream entering the PACU. After my little speech today she
walked in with every patient & said “Miss Nancy I am bringing you a patient
just how you like them”. She was a delight to work with
One of my most embarrassing moments of the day was when a
news crew came in & asked to interview me about PACU & the reporter was
holding our a “silver disc” I thought it was a pin or something she was giving
me (which some visitors had done) so I reached to take it & it was her
microphone for the interview. I sure hope they do some good editing on that
segment! After that I ate lunch & I had my peanut butter sandwich. The
lunch at the hospital was the same everyday so after 2 days I started telling
Patience just order whatever anyone might want to take home – I was quite happy
with peanut butter again today and switched it up with protein bars 😊
Our first patient came at 11 am then within an hour we had 4
patients & all of our beds full. They were all out by 1 pm & the next
batch came in; at 3 pm the last round of patients were on tables. We thought
they would be in PACU about 5 & the dinner was at 7. However, the last patient
arrived at 6 & was a 22 year old lip repair who had been teased his entire life
& he was a BIG BOY & had some bleeding. We watched him for an hour
& sent him to the ward at 7:15 & didn’t get back to the hotel until
7:45. They had delayed the dinner but the entertainment – very loud African music
& dancing was going strong & I could hear it from my room 4 buildings
away. I easily could have skipped the party, but I felt like I needed to at
least make an appearance, so I went at 8:30 & Clover & I made a pact to
leave by 10 pm. I sat with Abi & her niece & her little boy Nana; he is
so cute & just a month older than Demi. The dancers tried to get people to
join them & Cherish went up – which was impressive & she was working on
her moves & matching their moves!!! They also had the standard slide show
& “speeches” gave certu=ificat4s out & Clover & I left a little after
10 & I was in bed by 10:30.I will get packed up in the morning. Can’t
believe the mission is over….
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