Day5

Good morning world! I fell asleep faster than you could say injera last night and slept like a lion. I think I’m finally on their time schedule. I grabbed a quick breakfast with our crew before heading out for another day at the hospital. We again rounded on all of our postoperative patients. 100% for our cleft lip and palate kids. They have all done wonderfully. And again I am just loving that procedure. And the results are just amazing. 

The culture we have all come to find is very different. Lots of medical missions you see patients who are overjoyed while Ethiopians maintain a very stoic emotional barrier. We have learned after coming out of the OR with crying babies that the best way is to console them by placing them on their mothers back. Here, babies are carried on their mother’s backs in wrapped shawls. So that’s their comfort position and now we know. We have yet to throw them onto our backs to take them from the OR to PACU....typical Americans haha we carry them.

The day began while a whole bunch of clefts again, mostly lips today which was a great learning experience to be a part of for consistency sake. The technique I have gotten a lot of more comfortable with and most importantly FINALLY truly understand. Textbooks just don’t cut it. And yes the kids look incredible what else did you expect. 

One of the cool cases today was a gentleman who had a severely deformed nose, no midvault, very little upper vault that he sustained years ago as a child while running from a hyena and falling on his face. I don’t know what it is but I have heard more horror stories about hyenas on this trip and I’m hoping to leave with only seeing them in a zoo. Or hearing them safely from my bed. They must not be very nice. Again, lion king wins for its impeccable accuracy. We harvested a rib graft to reconstruct his nasal deformity and let me tell you did he look AMAZING. Hello Ethiopian version of Brad Pitt. 

The ORs are a very interesting experience. My favorite part is the random power outages that occur, usually at the moment you’re going to make a cut or throw a stitch. And with a headlight I use to see consults I got off of Amazon, let’s just say I’m practically Halstead, doing surgery under candlelight. The best surgeons 

I got to do my own palatoplasty which was awesome. You know the whole see one do one teach one method. It works great. It was definitely a challenge, and so am

For sure one to be hard on my self unless it’s anything but perfect but I was happy with the end. It turned out great!!

We went out to a new restaurant and man I can’t even begin to explain. Our group is the BEST! Work hard play hard they say

Right?! We had some Ethiopian food, our hotel isn’t quite as good as these little restaurants) and tried their drink of the country called turbo. TURBO! We have no idea what is in it but it’s a combination of sprite, wine and beer. Hey it’s 2011!! I’m a college kid again! Well we danced with the Ethiopians in the restaurant and showed off our American dance moves (can anyone floss?!). From the dancing, story telling and flat out laughing so hard we were all crying most of the night, all I can say we are one fun medical mission group. The manager loved us and when he brought out the fifth pitcher of Turbo we had to cut him off. We were for sure the the life of the party. If you weren’t there, the details will have to be left to your imagination, but the surgeons of the group for sure held their own. TIA....THIS IS AFRICA. 

Disclaimer: all photos of people  in my blog were consented to photography