Tired Ladies...

Whew!  We are now at the end of two long days in the OR so far… yesterday we saw 11 more patients before the anesthetist arrived, and we scheduled one more for surgery on Sunday.  Unfortunately, we had to turn 2 more away that wanted surgery but we simply don’t have time to do this week.  It’s good to be “popular”, I guess?!

Yesterday we operated until somewhere after 10:30pm, which as you can imagine was exhausting.  That was three major cases after our anesthesia arrived, plus one minor procedure under local before we saw the other 11 patients.  The cases all went well-ish, although one was significantly more challenging than the others.  Thankfully, all the patients have looked good today and should go home tomorrow. 

Today started off with a great blessing—Some of you may remember that when Kathryn was last here with me in June, we saw a lady who was 32 weeks pregnant with preeclampsia.  This pregnancy was actually the result of infertility treatments (Clomid) that I had given her previously, so it was such fun to see her pregnant!  And then sooooooooo scary to have to send her to the national hospital when we left!  And then sooooooOOOOOooooo much scarier to follow along as we prayed for her quite premature infant who only weighed three pounds to gain weight and be discharged.  And then scary still as we prayed for him to stay healthy at home and really put on some weight.  I’ve been able to keep track of her with phone calls here and there, and we unfortunately missed each other on my last trip in October.

TODAY I GOT TO MEET HER SWEET BABY BOY, Tomas, for the first time!!!  And thus started our day.  It was an amazing blessing and many pictures were taken by both her AND us.  There were gifts that I had for the baby (tiny things) and a gift from her to me—a really nice tablecloth that is very typical of this area.  I can’t even describe how wonderful it was to see his sweet, chubby little cheeks. 

That was definitely the highlight, then began the hard work—four full and difficult but rewarding surgeries.  THANKS to all of you who were praying for Matea, the lady with the horrible prolapse (y’all do NOT want to see pictures, but I have them if you do 😉) and ulcerated skin that we needed to try to sew up—We are happy to report that her surgery seemed to go way better than expected, and we are super-hopeful that she will feel amazingly better and heal well.  Keep those prayers coming, though!

After that, there were two “vag-a-thons” and then a (thankfully relatively straightforward) abdominal hysterectomy.  To say we are tired now is an understatement, but we did manage to get home just after nine tonight so it feels early!  It’s been ramen for dinner the last two nights since everything around here closes by 8 or sometimes 9, but impressively this team’s attitudes and willingness to serve just keep being positive and amazing! 

Here are a few more OR pictures from today and yesterday, plus a cute one of Mili serving a pre-op patient with a new pair of cozy socks to protect her feet in the OR...

Tomorrow you can please pray for straight-up supernatural energy in the OR—we have 3 vag-a-thons plus another difficult vaginal surgery scheduled!  Why I did this to us, I am unsure.  I usually try to keep a rule of no more than two vag-a-thons daily.  But this is the most commonly needed surgery, so we are praying that as we are faithful to do what God has sent us to do, He in turn will provide some favor tomorrow in the OR.

Thanks, God bless, and GOOD NIGHT!