Uganda Spine Mission November 2017 - Day 2

​Does anyone embrace the sound of an early morning alarm clock? I think it is safe to say very few, however, our very own Dr. Tiffany Perry began day 2 of our mission with a brisk early morning 4 mile run before meeting the team for breakfast at 6am. As for the rest of us, we hit the snooze button a couple of times, rolled over with pillows over our heads and prayed for an extra hour to sleep. Breakfast was served promptly at 6am as we had many patients anticipating our arrival by 8am.
The anticipation of our first official day at the hospital was palpable, how many patients would we see, what kind of cases would we encounter and how would we effectively communicate with patients who speak only the local language?
We began the day with some starting in the operating room and others starting in a busy clinic in the adjacent building

​The OR began with a T11-L3 posterior fusion for a traumatic L1 burst fracture for patient who was paraplegic.  The second patient was an engineer who had severe lumbar stenosis and underwent a lumbar decompression surgery. 
Hoards of patients lined up to see Pamela for physical therapy and Dr. Kotton for injections.  In between cases and after 2 cases were completed on the Sunday, we all combined forces to see over 100 patients!  Only in Uganda can we see that many in a day!  Examination rooms were filled with patients—sometimes more than one and their families.  The small rooms were humid and warm, and occasional rains intensified the air. With 4 providers seeing patients and our nurse Cindy and administrator Rhondine vigorously typing up summaries of each visit, plans were made for each patient.

​Our last patient walked thru the exam door at 7:15 PM.  We were exhausted, hungry and sweaty.  The evening closed with the traditional buffet dinner at the Lakeview Hotel.  Over dinner, we were able to laugh about the day and share feelings and thoughts about the hurdles we encountered that day.
The words of wisdom of the day came from Max Yue, our Medtronic rep: “Sterilization is a matter of opinion.”  We all took turns around the table after dinner, stating our lesson of the day.  Consensus was we are grateful for what we have, and our outlook when we return to our own practices will be changed forever.  We all retired to our rooms for a good night’s rest to be ready for a big day to follow.