We Have Anesthesia!

“The trees are enriched with memories while the birds sing their own tune.”

Friday the hospital crew was determined to end our day on time so we could enjoy pizza at the Dragon Aire restaurant.  There is an old saying that goes “If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans”.  Our day didn’t go exactly as planned--there were more patients, more surgeries and more equipment problems than we anticipated--so we were at the hospital until after 6:45PM.  More and more people are finding out that “The medical team is here” and are appearing at the hospital. 

Our last surgery of the day was a hallmark for Mazimbu and for the team.  Dr. Moses, the anestheologist, coached Christina, one of the Mazimbu nurses, on the operation of the anesthesia machine.  So for the first time we did a surgery under general anesthesia.  We have also been told that Dr. Moses is working with Mazimbu to hire two nurse anesthetists so that general anesthesia will be available whenever needed.  This makes a huge difference to the team, greatly widening our scope of care as in the past all surgery has been done with a spinal block.  While a spinal block is very effective, the patient remains awake during the procedure and is effective at blocking pain only from about the mid abdomen area and lower. 

Nancy scrubbed in on that last surgery and assisted Andrea.  Her training as a veterinarian made her an ideal candidate for Andrea to talk through the ways she could assist the procedure.   Cecily, Pati, Catherine and Neema (one of our translators) observed during surgery today.  New careers may be born of this experience for some of these young people. 

Isaka, the Maasai boy that Arleigh and Emily stayed with last night, has now been admitted to the hospital and still needs prayers and help as his condition continues to shift. 

Bill and Lance continue to fix things in both the hospital and the associated clinic. 

The other part of our team visited a school that is under construction.  Kilatu, our Tanzanian liason, led Anne, Eileen, River and Diane on a tour of the project that will open next year as a secondary school with boarding facilities.  A secondary school equates to about 8th-10^th grade in the states.  Lunch was a wonderful buffet at a shaded restaurant on the local university campus.  The hospital crew, on the other hand, is enjoying lunch daily catered by Grace and Diana.   The two sisters have been catering for us since 2009 and always bring hot food with sodas and water—a very welcome break during the busy days.

After touring the school, the day-trippers visited a Roman Catholic orphanage and presented items brought from home such as pillow-case dresses, toys, toothbrushes and tooth paste.