Day 1:
Monday morning was cloudy and warm. As the team gathered to discuss the day ahead, team leader Rob Holmes shared a scripture, Hebrews 10:24-25, inviting all of us to be encouraging to one another and support each other as we worked together. He named each group of assignment on the team to ensure each person knew how essential and important they were to the team, emphasizing the need for each individual job. The team does not function without the surgeons, of course, but the surgeons could not do their job without the anesthesiologists, the anesthesiologists depend upon the pharmacist, and so on and so forth.
Doctor Holmes’s message was proven true throughout the day as patients moved from pre-op to the OR to the PAC-U to the ward, where they’ll be rehabilitated by physical therapists tomorrow. Each team member executed their tasks efficiently to ensure that the day went smoothly. Because of this, we were able to do 15 surgeries, from hip and knee replacements for better mobility, to the removal of skin cancer in one man’s face, to the removal of keloids from a young woman’s ear.
One experience that stood out to me was after a case in which a young girl had her pinky operated on in order to give her the ability to extend it fully. When she moved into the PAC-U and her anesthesia wore off, several of the translators, as well as myself, became fast friends with her. We visited her later in the ward to make sure she was doing alright and had so much fun talking and laughing with her. We also visited another young woman who showed us drawings she had done in her notebook: beautiful, intricate illustrations that were both realistic and creative. She was such a talented artist! I found it to be such a great experience to find the many things we had in common with these girls, despite a language barrier and being from such different parts of the world.
While these surgeries certainly bless our patients and their families as they are able to return to work or have better mobility, live cancer-free or have abnormal growths removed, we are most definitely the ones being blessed through the ability to serve and interact with such incredible people. Having this opportunity to practice medicine, translate, record, and recover is something we are all grateful for, as well as our patients.
As we fall into the rhythm of this next week, we look forward to serving each day and continuing to see miracles and feel gratitude.
