It's amazing to me to think about where we've come from, and where we are now, just a week later. I mean, we live a very privileged life, with creature comforts steadily making us soft, plushy, human beings...even here in Rwanda, we still have much more than the status quo. That said, I still can't seem to get used to cold showers. I did it before, thought I could just jump right back in that polar bear dip...and it's really hot here during the day...should be refreshing, right? I end up spending the rest of the morning wondering if my testicles will drop again, then, by the time the afternoon hits, I'm so sweaty that my scrotum sticks to my kneecaps. Gross, no? Despite some small obstacles, I think we're adjusting nicely. Pictured first, we enjoying one of the many small watering holes, this one located near my residence and Ashley's orphanage. It's great to be able to sit back and relax, to be able to enjoy the permanent sunny days, each others' company, friendly smiles, and so much more. It's also amazing to us that this feeling of serenity and comfort so exactly juxtaposes the reality of poverty, abandonment, pain, and illness. This is making our world a bit bigger.
Ashley here! Although I don't have the whole sticky bag situation that Rob does, sick, I can agree with the cold water bit. Also found a dead cockroach in my room today so decided to start using the mosquito net provided. We also hand washed our first load of clothes today, well make that about 5 loads, and realized how lengthy a process this is. As Rob said above, it's strange to feel
The ORs are fairly meagerly outfitted, but there appears (at least on first glance today) to be many of the essentials from an anesthetics perspective. Of course there's some medications missing, lack of monitoring, and general administrative aspects that are in short supply, but it's been the patients that I've been most taken aback with. This thin,
young lady came to the hospital complaining of pain in her belly, and had an obvious mass in the left upper aspect of her abdomen. The surgeon guessed it was her spleen and decided that it needed to come out because of the discomfort. Upon opening, we found a tumor that was slightly larger than a grapefruit. Some of the Rwandan residents and I talked about how patients often come to the hospital with very advanced disease processes because they just don't have the resources here to deal with it early.
Fortunately, I think this patient will be fine - we did an advanced pain control procedure that seems like it will catch on with the residents here!
Well we are going to get some rest now after our fantastic meal from Rob's roomies, aka surrogate folks while we are here. We love you all and hope everything is well back home!
Ashley and Rob xo
hey robash, it's coll!
ReplyDeleteso glad you're keeping everyone updated - hooray for blogs! i got the site address from ashley's facebook pages and so when i first started reading this post i thought to myself "well now, i didn't realize ash was so vulgar...talking about male genitalia like she has it and stuff...gross" quickly scrolled down to the bottom, though, and realized it was a joint post and therefore rob's crassness. phewf!
i'm already super impressed with your (both of you) endeavors and i know you'll touch everyone you meet with your fabulous skillz and personalities. that's right, skillz with a Z!
all the best, you incredibly good-looking young people. miss you, can't wait to hear more.
hugs from me and mike :)
c