A Whole New World

I guess it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post - which, to be fair, is probably the standard I should be setting for myself anyways. Finding time to write every week is challenging!

During those 2 weeks, we've had a very successful run of general surgeries, where we treated many a hernia and lipoma (soft tissue tumor). Our ward has by far been the least busy, with most of our patients going home day after surgery - allowing us to close completely over the weekends.

Things are about to change, however.

For the next 4 weeks we'll be home to the double load of MaxFax (Maxillo-Facial) patients that are about to roll in. Normally these all live on D Ward, but with two ORs and four surgeons rolling, their 15 beds will very quickly be MaxFaxed out (see what I did there...). We will be taking mainly less complex and/or more healed patients, but it will still be quite a different sort of nursing care. I've floated over to D Ward plenty of times, but there's just so many diverse types of MaxFax surgeries that there's still always new and unfamiliar things to learn. Though it does mean dealing with a good deal more saliva/drool than I'm used to...at least it also means I get to love on the little cleft lip kids like Saliou! He was the very first surgery done here in Senegal.

Hopefully soon I'll have more recent (post-op) photos of Saliou. He's cute as a button.

In the meantime, a couple pics from Deck 7 play time!

This cat looks cute but he can be a little bit of a troublemaker...

Bubbles & Jenga & Balloons - the Deck 7 Trifecta! (notice me hiding in the back?)

As we're stepping into this whole new world of MaxFax on A Ward, the Academy teachers shared a relatable rendition of the Disney classic during karaoke night a few days ago:

To adapt to hospital life, substitute "syringes" for "pencils" rolling away,  and "magic stretcher ride" for "magic lifeboat ride."

Also...this happened. 

It is fun to stay/work at the AFM. 

Right now I'm on an extended long weekend, which has been a nice time to unwind after 2 very busy weeks. I'll be starting into night shifts Wednesday to Sunday, though, so if anyone wants to catch up and chat, this is a good week for it! 

Substitute "shift work" for "traveling"

Well, that was a bit of a hodge-podge of a post, but hopefully by next time I'll have more patient pictures and stories to share.

À la prochaine,

-D