The photo above is of our 'set-up' crew for our next 2 weeks of cardiac surgery at Tenwek Hospital. We have all been traveling together since Wed evening, October 24th from Atlanta to Amsterdam Schiphol to downtown Amsterdam to Nairobi Kenyatta ending in a 4 hour van ride from Nairobi to Tenwek Hospital. We landed at Tenwek 48 hours after we left Nashville, and are 8 hours ahead of our home time zones.
None of us had very much sleep over the almost 48 hours of travel. Once we arrived at Tenwek and unloaded our bags, took a quick tour of the facilties, met with IT to disucss internet needs and get passwords we hauled all of our baggage and medical equipment to the hospital for safe-keeping until tomorrow. We all just needed to clean up and get not be in an airplane seat or bus seat. After all the necessary stops mentioned above we headed to the hospital canteen to get mendazi's (deep fried pastries of wonderful carbohydratedness). Dr. Mary had the great idea that if we put powedered sugar on the mendazi's they would be exactly like beignets from Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans (she's the trouble-maker in the group). Of course, my first stop in the Nairobi Nacumatt supermarket was to the sugar isle for a 'big-ole-bag' of powedered sugar. Why not enjoy a sugar high with our swollen ankles?
The 'French theme' carried through to the following day when the set-up crew started setting up the cardiac OR and post-op cardiac ICU. I was apparently still asleep when this photo was taken. Why do anything at all if you can't laugh at yourself while your doing it?
Most of our supplies from one year to the next are locked up in 'the cage' in the basement of Tenwek Hospital. So... set up begins with a visit to the bowels of Tenwek to retrieve the supplies we think will be needed over the next 2 weeks of cardiac surgery.
All the shelving for the cardiac OR's has to be moved from the basement to the operating rooms. I'd be helping, but then who would be taking the pictures?
Johnson moving the cell saver disposables with Anna trying to hide in the background. Anna is the glue that holds the Tenwek cardiac program together.
Rebekah and Dr. Mary have a big job to do in the PCICU...
... but are careful never to take things too seriously!
The only thing better than doing what we do here at Tenwek, is doing it with these people.
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