The First Week at Work

This is a long overdue post, but here are the major events and observations during my first week on the Africa Mercy. 

I arrived very late Thursday evening, April 12^th, into Lome, Togo.  My dear friend Jessica was at the airport to pick me up and bring me back to the ship.  It was a very happy reunion, as we had not seen each other in 9 months.  After a fifteen-minute drive, we arrived at the port and I laid eyes on the ship that would be my home for the next two-months.  It looked to be quite large, however, in the two weeks that I have been here, I now realize it is not.  :)

When you first arrive on the ship, you surrender your passport to be locked up, get initial emergency procedures orientation, and your official Mercy Ships ID picture taken.  This badge has to be worn 24 hours a day when you are on the ship and dock/port.  It was especially nice to take an official picture you will wear for the next few months after travelling for 2 days.  ;)   Here it is:

During the first week of work, I did general surgery Monday & Tuesday, eye surgery Wednesday & Thursday, and gynecology surgery on Friday.  I was on call Thursday night and worked for a little bit in Maxillo-facial with a little baby with a cleft lip and palate.  She is orphaned and also had a broken leg from unknown causes.  She was so cute and beautiful!  I quickly came to realize how different this world is compared to home.  The patients are so much sicker and more vulnerable.  It is really heartbreaking to have patients be really sick and die.  Or go home as orphans...  It will be very difficult to leave all the orphaned babies here and not bring them home in my suitcase.

The general routine of the cases goes something like this:  At the beginning of the day around 0800, the entire surgical team (Surgeon, Anesthesist, Nurses, Coordinator) stand around together and talk about all the cases, what needs of the patients are, and how to be best prepared for every case.  Then, we have our huddle with all the staff where announcements are given and we pray over our day.  We call for the patient and the ward nurse brings them to the “holding area”, i.e., a bench in the hallway.  The OR nurse completes the surgical checklist with the ward nurse, prays with the patient, and walks the patient to the room where anesthesia is waiting to put the patient asleep.  The full time-out/WHO checklist is done on every patient with everyone cooperating fully.  After the surgery, the PACU nurse comes to the room with the stretcher, gets report, and takes the patient to recovery.  The nurses clean the room and start the next case. 

The OR’s here are extremely efficient, clean, and well organized.  At home, we strive to have 20-minute turnovers (the cleaning/set-up time between cases) but rarely succeed.  Here, the average time between cases is less than ten minutes.  And if you are running late and the patient is waiting for you to do their checklist and bring them back to the OR, the translator comes and gets you.  Everything is extremely clean because the nurses put away all the left over supplies, clean everything (walls, ceilings, equipment) with bleach, restock the rooms, and picks the cases for the next day before they leave work.  The hallways are completely free of clutter and constantly being mopped by the day workers/translators. 

The OR record is one handwritten page!!!

The ship is very overwhelming in the fact that there is constant noise and movement and people.  With the amount of change and lack of sleep and not knowing where anything was, the first week was pretty hard.  Work was hard because I didn't know where anything is, or how anything happens, or the order of cases, or the routine of the surgeon, or ANYTHING.  But, I think that is to be expected in the first week of any new job.  However, I have no idea how people come onto this ship and not know anyone!  I would be even more overwhelmed!!!  And SO lonely!  It is such a blessing to have an instant friend base because of Jessica, and they are actually people I really like too, which is pretty fantastic.  I am truly convinced this is a season of rapid spiritual growth.  When I am at work and feeling overwhelmed, tired, and overworked, instead of turning to friends or family to talk to or complain to, I don't really have another choice except to turn to God and pray for strength...  And surprisingly enough, it actually works.  ;)