This morning and last night seem to be so close together that the were almost continuous. We got to bed around 12:30AM, out of bed at 6:00 and we left for the hotel at 7:15 in order to get to the hospital and prep for a surgery that would start roughly around 8. The first patient of the day was Beatrice, a 59 year old woman with significant lumbar stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal with compression of spinal cord). We preformed L4/L5 lumbar lamonectomies (removing a portion of the “back” side of vertebrae to free up the spinal canal), the case went well and the patient left mumbling her gratitude on the way out of the OR. The next patient was Mary Glumoshare, a orphaned 14 year old girl with severe congenital scoliosis. Mary's life has not been an easy one, the difficulty faced by any orphan in the third is unimaginable. This is compounded by an obvious physical deformity that can make them a target for bullying. We all collected as a team, prepped the patient and said a prayer. Mary is a quiet, sweet child with eyes that stare right through you.
Serendipitously, Mary's last name means "glory to god" and our anesthesiologist decided today was going to be the day he rocked out to Christian rock music for duration of the 6+ hour case. We were able to significantly correct her deformity and instrumented her T6 to L3 vertebrae with a hemivertebrectomy (removing half of a vertebra) at T11. This was no easy task for Dr. St Clair, Dr. Kip and Dr. Varley who made the case flow by with an air of calm focus. It was another late night for us but it was all worth our efforts because the surgery went very well. After cleaning up the OR and getting prepared for tomorrow we checked in on Mary who was neurologically intact and on the road to a great recovery.
I noticed a Mbarara University surgery resident, Marvin, who was constantly working hard and had a happy demeanor about him. I found myself having a deep conversation with him during a brief break in between surgeries. I told him how impressed I was with his work ethic and it lead to him telling about himself. He was truly so humble yet confident when explained to me "Life in Uganda is hard and you have to work hard to survive". You see Marvin used to be a farmer, well, he still is a farmer; that's how he supports himself through residency in addition to his work here at the hospital. I asked what kind of farm do you have and his response was "It is very little, I only have thirty goats and three cows". Blown away by this statement I could only tell him how impressive that is to someone like me. Someone who's standards of working hard don't hold a candle to Marvin's. The people that live in Uganda have so little and work so hard for what little they have it is hard to comprehend.
We wrapped again around 11:30pm. Had a group dinner this time at the Agip Restaurant and Hasan, our tireless driver, dined with us. Dr. St Clair preordered for the team. He is always thinking ahead and taking care of the team. After a relaxed dinner, it was midnight we agreed we were turning into pumpkins. We hopped aboard our favorite travel bus and headed back to our temporary home. Another good day under our belts.
Quote of the day: If you don’t respect your work, then people won’t respect you. Marvin, on the Ugandan work ethic.
We wrapped again around 11:30pm. Had a group dinner this time at the Agip Restaurant and Hasan, our tireless driver, dined with us. Dr. St Clair preordered for the team. He is always thinking ahead and taking care of the team. After a relaxed dinner, it was midnight we agreed we were turning into pumpkins. We hopped aboard our favorite travel bus and headed back to our temporary home. Another good day under our belts.
Quote of the day: If you don’t respect your work, then people won’t respect you. Marvin, on the Ugandan work ethic.
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