Wrapping Up Here in Chichi...

Our week has certainly continued to be awesome here.  The first two surgical patients went home this morning, and the three from yesterday (Maria, Sebastiana, and another Maria!) looked great today and should go home in the morning.  Today was absolutely gorgeous weather-wise, and we finally got a chance to walk around some after seeing patients in to the early afternoon.

Oh wait-- forgot that we didn't blog yesterday.  That might be because we didn't get out of the OR until nearly 10 pm!  Might have been worth mentioning that is why we appreciated today's restfulness so much!  As usual, though, our anesthesiologist arrived about 2.5 hours after she said she would, so we didn't start until nearly noon.  With our two "vag-a-thons" (both of which really, really apparently wanted Julia to have the fullest learning experience possible-- they helped quite a bit by bleeding from everything we touched to really test and hone her troubleshooting skills!) and one just plain old vaginal hysterectomy, plus Tom's leg amputation closure (don't ask), it was a more than full day.

We called a few patients back to see if they were at all interested in going ahead and getting their surgeries done this week since we had today open, but no takers.  So I guess today's rest was just a much-needed gift from God.

Here is my new favorite picture from the hospital-- Julia with two of our post-op patients (both of the Marias) who were making their "laps" around the courtyard balcony.  Many of you have heard me say that I will never be able to prove it scientifically, but I swear that the sun and fresh air help these patients to heal better than our dark and cooped up hospital rooms at home!

This evening we were able to walk around Chichi and enjoy two of my favorite restaurants (the first one isn't going to start offering the desserts that are on their menus until tomorrow-- one of the many stories that helped coin the often-used phrase "Guat-EVER!") and some shopping.  Just being able to sit and visit Latin America-style-- unhurried, unscripted, and destressed-- was really nice.  

Now clinic is all packed back up in the "bodega" (storage room) for the next few months, and after rounds tomorrow we will head up the road a half hour or so to meet Duane at the closest airstrip.  He will fly us out to my second favorite place on the planet-- the Ficker "compound" in Canilla'.  (When my family is there with me it's probably my #1 favorite place!)  I can't wait to introduce Julia to one of my "other families" there.  

Friday we will see whatever gynecology-type patients they have found in their clinics over the past few months, and get to see the progress on the new hospital firsthand!  God is doing some amazing things there, and it is a privilege to even know the folks whose hearts and hands He is using in His work.  

I'll leave you with another fun picture of Julia and I outside the hospital-- note the prominent display of my "Dra (=doctora) Heydi Bell" bag that a surgical patient from August presented me with this week. Yep, I totally cried!  What an amazing gift.  It has her name on the back, too, to remember her by.  The patients themselves here are such gifts and such a privilege to work with that when they give you a gift on top of that, it is deeply touching.