Back to Work

So, I really haven't been away from work, the new semester's been up and running at the university for a month now, but it's back to work for you guys since you haven't heard about anything but Ange for months!

The campus ministry's going strong. The university itself is having its share of struggles between marches, strikes, and rising unrest in the students and faculty who are fighting to keep their autonomy as the government threatens to seize it. In the midst of cancelled classes and constant uncertainty we just put on a very successful conference called "How to Get Good Grades and Have Fun," we have a growing new Bible study, a steady stream of new students in the English classes, and an increasing interest in the surgical training I offer weekly.

This week I had a guest in town who accompanied me on my afternoon of surgeries with the students. In attempts to prevent passing out at the sight of the needles, he concentrated on staying upright by snapping some pictures.

Students from any semester are welcome to attend, so we have a variable level of expertise, but proper restraint is an area they can always use more work in. As is injection location and technique.

Placing IV catheters is a simple procedure, but not such a common one here. Using only injectable anesthesia for the spays and neuters makes IV access ideal, but I also have the added incentive to demonstrate and let the students, and sometimes professors, practice.

I'm willing to be flexible and surgerize the way the Bolivians do in some aspects, such as using IV Halatal as my induction, a drug I'm not sure I'd even heard of in the past, but one standard I don't let slide is sterility. After a year of somewhat weekly surgeries, I think even the new students come in knowing my reputation. The surgeon and assistants always wear sterile gloves, we shave the surgical site and clean it 3 times with iodine alternating with alcohol, we use a drape and sterilized instruments (I'm pretty sure we're the only ones in the entire hospital that use the autoclave), we open things sterilely, and only the people gloved in touch anything in the surgical site.

Since we're on our own, I also get to quickly train them to be anesthesia experts minus ECG, pulse ox, doppler, etc. We've always got the good old fashioned stethoscope and the tongue pulse.

And when we nick the spleen (whoops) we're glad we have that IV access to give a little fluid boost while the body is doing its clotting miracle.

Surgery instruction is just one more thing we offer to build relationships with the students and show them Christ's love in a tangible way.

"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms." -1 Peter 4:10

For those of you who were here looking for your fix of Angelica thanks for bearing with us, check out the 20-something new photos I just added to Facebook. ;)