Our hotel is very nice. The staff are patient with their American guests, probably because we provide them with an endless source of entertainment (not intentionally!). There have been various groups that use the facility for meetings, weddings, and various gatherings. I do have to complain about the showers though...
Everything looks fine but somehow, for some reason, all the water ends up on the floor. We have the shower curtain inside and the nozzle directed into the tub, but somehow when we are finished, it looks like a swamp, with about 1/2" of water on the floor. The floor drain is of course uphill, so the water has to be swept into the drain with a towel. We have tried everything, and it defies all physics. It reminds me of the haunted house at Knott's Berry Farm. Which way is up? Just as Frankie and I were at our wits' (and towels') end, we heard that Wendell's room was having the same problem. He had named his bathroom the swamp as well, and I found some comfort in that. If only I had brought my caulk gun, we could probably fix it!
Most of us are walking to the hospital in the morning, and home at night if we finish before dark. The walk offers a good time of decompression and transition from one phase of the day to the next. Also offers a good game of "dodge-the-motorbike" for us and "hit-the-crazy-Americans" for the locals. Vietnamese love to use their horns! At least when we walk, we have some control over our destiny and which side of the road to be on, unlike when riding in a taxi...
One of the perks of this job is good hugs. Here Hien and I get to cuddle patients before they drift off to sleep, and they sometimes cuddle back. Children are not usually this trusting, but Hien radiates a warmth that we all love and the kids pick up on. I don't know what she says as she comforts them in Vietnamese, but it works.
Here is one of today's best before and after combos:
And one little girl had an extra thumb. It was complete with bone and nail, but got in the way. Thumbs are very important for fine motor tasks, grasping, and just about everything we do, and hopefully hers will be more functional now without its "twin".
Children know how to sleep! It was a hot day, so everyone seemed to splay out. For the locals, this is the cool time of year and all the children come so bundled up and have sweaty hair. It is cool and air conditioned in the OR, so we have to work to maintain body heat. But this girl looks like she is right in her comfort zone.
Wendell and Alice are our pillars in the recovery room. Wendell never got any local nurses to help in the recovery room, which I can understand as they have this huge hall of beds and about three nurses to staff the 18 beds that are there. Except for the day I caught them napping, they seem to buzz around the room and tend to everyone there.
Somehow Wendell makes me feel like he has all the time in the world to listen to my report, and that he might mix me a drink if I needed one. These patients are not easy to recover - it is hard to comfort them because we look and sound very different, and they are strong when they start swinging their arms! He gets the patients awake, comfortable, and into shape, sending them quickly off to the ward so he can ready for the next adventures. His best weapon is to get the moms in to deal with their children, and the kids usually settle right down. Calm, casual, courteous, and capable - I know the patients are safe with Wendell.
We have had one day so far where it seemed that both cases in the OR finished at the same time and we kept dumping two fresh post-operative patients on poor Wendell. Enter Alice, our pediatrician, who has been recovery person number two, in addition to seeing the immediate pre-ops, putting out fires, and tending to everyone on the ward a few floors away. The patients that come to us have been well screened and are ready to go. When they are not, we hear about it and she has a plan to make things right. She is also our team's doctor if anyone gets sick, and it is nice to know she is there for us. We don't get to see Alice much because many of us are back in surgery, but she is out and about making it all happen and run like a smooth machine. Another superstar!
I must mention that the support staff have a lot to do with the success of the recovery room - Phi, Catherine, Elizabeth, and Marion help transport, hold, change linens, and anything else that is needed to keep the flow going. I can't imagine the trip without them.
Marion and Catherine having a rare sit-down and breather. Marion and Elizabeth leave this weekend, and I fear our days of pampered luxury might be over.
We had one gentleman today who was the victim of Napalm during the war. He had lost his left hand, many toes, and had a melted look to his face and arms. He could not close his right eye, so a lower lid was constructed for him. We all have memories of those times and the war, which impacted all of us in many different ways. But today I got a new appreciation for how much the war affected many young men for the rest of their lives. Visions of this man will stay with me for a long time; that's why I have no photos of him.
