Wow... what a crazy ride.
We are finally in Dharan and have operated for two days.
An amazing amount of stone disease and cancer.I am so thankful for such an wonderful team. Everyone has been working so hard.
There are some interesting politics here that prevent us from seeing all the patients we wanted to see. But nevertheless, we have already done 14 cases (many of them are major cases like nephrectomy, pyelolithotomy and URS). I think we were able to show them several new techniques. They were so impress with how quickly we do things and the size of our incisions.
Norma, Jean and Barbara have been the backbone of the group. Getting the OR set up and taking care of the patients post-operatively. They were able to doing some teaching and patient education. There is a nursing school here so there are alot of nursing students anxious to learn the way we do things in the States.
Claire is such the diplomat. Based on their culture, the Nepalises have some preconceived notions of what women can and cannot do. But with her charm and tact, she was able to show the anesthesia staff a few things about modern anesthesia.
What an awesome surgeon and person Rich is. Not only is he responsible for this blog, he has been doing cases (many of which are adult cases) with a big smile; and nothing seems to make him angry or frustrated. A team always need one such person.
Thank goodness for John. There are so many cancer cases here. His expertise is so much needed. They only do 2 cystectomies a year but have a ton of patients with muscle-invasive TCC. He will truly make a difference for these people.
Okay, got to start off another day... Stay tune for the futher adventures of the Stream Team Nepal 2009.
Bob
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