A couple of noteworthy things

There is so much that happens every day...the pace we are keeping is incredible! I'm just going to rattle things off the top of my head in no particular order.

Here goes...

The local people are barefoot or wearing flip flops in the Operating Rooms here.

They also have two patients in the same operating rooms having procedures at the same time. Sterile, what??

The power goes out about once an hour every hour here. That's nice in an OR, isn't it??!!?

One of the ladies on my team is an OLOL and an SV graduate. We had to come all the way to India to discover that.

I watched a surgeon completely recreate 50% of an upper lip from a man's lower lip today. He lost his lip to a staph infection many years ago. He also has a large cleft palate which you can see right up into his sinuses. Sounds gross...but very, very fascinating. He was missing his entire upper left quadrant of his lip all the way up into his nostril and gum line. I'm sure it was hard for him to talk, eat, drink and even breathe. He was also fitted for an obturator (a fitting over the palate similar to an orthodontic retainer) by the dentist on our team. Every patient who comes through our clinic is also seen by a dentist and a speech pathologist. There are so many related complications to cleft lip and cleft palate problems that include speech and dental issues.

We had a spontaneous private audience meeting with the Sri Sri the other day. It was just so incredible to be with someone so holy and revered here in this country. We were served Masala Tea (yummy!) before we were led into the room where he came in to meet us. We had a very interesting 15-20 minute visit with him where he told us all about his recent visit to the US, the history of their work and their monastery, and his own personal choices and when he became a monk. In the middle of the conversation, his cell phone rang. He reached into his saffron robe, answered the phone and told them he would call back! We rank pretty high around these parts!!

After our meeting with the Sri Sri, we were asked to stay for their evening prayer ceremony. OH. MY. GOD. It was phenomenal! There was LOUD drumming, chanting, flames, flower petals, horns and parading from one alter to another around the ground of the monestary. It was really, really something. So much like what I experienced in Varanasi a couple of years ago with the Brahman along the Ganges river. Never in a million years could I ever describe to you what it was like...just like most other things in India...it just needs to be experienced!

On our day off, we went on a long bus ride (private bus...not a public one) to visit a couple of very old temples in this area. But...must more interesting and exciting was the bus ride. It was UNREAL. We drove all over the place in India last time I was here...but for some reason when you are in a car it's not nearly as scary as being in a bus that you think will topple over at any time! Several times we were so close to other buses, trucks, cars, people, animals that I thought the side of the bus was going to peel back like opening a can of sardines. There were some incredibly close calls and I tell you...not one...NOT ONE of the locals ever even flinched. There were three young doctors hosting us that day and they were all smiles at the reactions of us on the bus that day. It was highly entertaining for everyone!

I had a bit of a meltdown this week. I'm missing my creature comforts and feeling like a total ass at wanting something other than Indian food, wanting my own bed (after all, at least I have one!) not wanting to take a shower from a bucket or with shower shoes on anymore, tired of swatting bugs away and tired of surgeons/nurses egos. I'm just tired of all of it and want people to be nice and not bark orders all the time. I feel like a total jerk at wanting all these things to go away while working in an area of true desperation. The meltdown happened...and that's it. I don't want to talk about it any more...but I wanted to be honest. It's part of this trip, part of what I experienced and it is the truth. It's not easy, it's not pleasant at times and I've had a few moments where I am not even sure I'm happy I came. I'm working through it and hope I feel differently by the time I am home again.

Like my mom says...onward and upward...

Tomorrow is our last day of surgeries. It's Day Seven of actual surgery work...then we will have our final clinic day. At final clinic, we will visit each of the patients we operated on this week. All 115+ of them. They will visit with the pediatrician and the surgeon one more time to make sure they are ok to go home and then they will all make the long trek home to their villages and communities again.

Moe updates coming soon!

--Christine

Stats

It's only the fourth day that we've been here working and we've screened 178 patients for surgery and more walk in every day. We've completed about 45 surgeries so far and if we were here for 5 years straight, working at this pace everyday we would not even make a dent in the amount of need there is here in this country. It is really heartbreaking to see how many people need help with various kinds of plastic surgeries.

We've seen all kinds of mild to severe cleft lip and palate cases, a suprising number of burn cases, plenty of congential defect situations and even a lady who has one finger fused to her hand and another finger missing all because of a snake bite. By the time we leave here, she will have use of three remaining fingers and a funtional hand.

The giant brown eyes of all these little kids are like bowls of pudding and are filled with such hope and desparation. When they leave us, the parents eyes are filled with complete and total gratitude. I'm honored to be a part of this project and to be able to help this beautiful culture in even the smallest way.

I work every day in the recovery room area (PACU or Post Anesthesia Care Unit) and it's like grand central station in there! We had a couple of tough cases yesterday with complications. It was incredible to watch this team of people work together like we've worked together for 25+ years. Amazing stuff.

It makes me cry a few times every day to be sitting with a child just waking from anesthesia and looking across the recovering room seeing one of my friends also cuddling and soothing another small child waking after surgery.

Tomorrow is our only day off for the trip and we are headed into town for the day. Should be a nice and very much needed break for everyone. The days are long here (I have the cankles to prove it!), but oh-so-rewarding. Monday is a holiday here (Independance Day) and as I know it the Indian's sure do know how to have a holiday! The hospital is closed on Monday, but we will be working. That will be a PERFECT day for me to go into the OR and watch. It will be quiet in there since all the local Indian students and interns will be off that day.

**To explain why so many students and interns are here, we are working in a teaching hospital setting. It's part of Rotaplast's mission to teach locals how to perform these surgeries successfully and completely on their own. The goal is to not have to come here any more! So, that means the OR's are full of local people observing most of the time.**

The weather here is way more comfortable than I expected. It is still warm and muggy most of the time, especially indoors but it does cool down at night when we are outside unwinding from the day.

Time for bed...I'll post again in a couple days.

Love to all...hope all is well on the other side of the world!

xoxoxo

How tired is tired?

So tired that I woke up in the middle of the night last night and could not figure out why my clothes were so tangled up??! Well, it turns out I never finished getting undressed before I put on my pajamas. I still had some of my day clothes on under my pajamas and even they were half on/ half off. I will never figure out why that happened...only that it did and it must have truely been because I was so tired I could not see straight!

It's just as incredible as my first experience here and things happen every day that you would never believe...it's just something you'd have to experience in order to understand completely.

India needs to be felt...and experienced...and it's not easy to explain or interpret.

Our team was greeted at the airport by local Rotarians and the most fragrant flower garlands were placed around our necks. It was 3am and the excitement was palpable.

Three of our surgical supply boxes did not make it through customs very smoothly, which means that NO boxes were allowed to leave. So after almost three hours of waiting and negotiating,  a decision was made that Nathan would stay back at the airport and the rest of us boarded a bus and started the almost three hour bus ride to Nagamangala.

That three hour bus ride was fantastic! There was all the typical chaos of  Indian driving and general road behavior...or lack there of! It's quite different in this region of India as compared to some of the other regions I visited in 2009. The roads are very nice here and do seem to have some rules of order about them.

We arrived at the AIMS (A is for the very long first name of the hospital, Institute of Medical Sciences). Think of it like Stanford or UCSF...only bigger...and more...how shall I say it....rustic?!?! Actually, the accomodations are quite decent, it's clean enough and there are western toilets! No squatting pans on this trip! We have buckets and a faucet for bathing...and that is an interesting thing to coordinate.

We are in a HUGE complex of buildings and the two we are working/living in are right next door to each other. The dormitory and the main hospital. 

The first day we arrived, we had a VERY special welcoming celebration with the local media, hospital officials and a representative of the Sri Sri Sri who is the philanthropic benefactor behind this entire institute. He is a very, very holy man and so are his representatives. Our team of 27 members were all honored with a special welcoming ceremony including a presentation of gifts to each of our team members.

Absolutely incredible to say the least!

We had a meeting with the Principal of the Medical School here and the Hospital Administrator as well and a couple of the local Rotarians from the club hosting us. Logistics were arranged and we were all set and ready to go in the morning!

For the first time in 48 hours, it was time to lay down and go to sleep.

**We have had trouble with Internet access over the past couple of days and no way to upload photos. Things are settling in and we have consistant access, just not powerful enough for photos...but I hope to be able to post some soon!**

Super quick update

Hello out there...

Just a quick note that we've arrived and all is well.

We have very intermittent internet access...and we are extremely busy for the majority of every day! I will post more tomorrow, but this was quick just to let you know we've arrived and are hard at work! 

We screened 152 patients today and surgeries start tomorrow.

More coming soon!

Love to all!

--Christine

Next stop...Bangalore!

Weeeeeeeee!!!! It's those pre-trip nervous, anxious, excited jitters we all know and love so well! I just placed a call to the cab company for a ride to the team meeting point here in Marin and my bags are by the door. Quick bowl of cereal to use up the last of the milk in the fridge and I'm on my way!

We have a short layover in Dubai and maybe I can check in and post a quick blog note from there. It's a 15 and 1/2 hour non-stop flight from SF to Dubai. Then...a four hour jump over to Banglalore!

See you on the other side of the world!

Love and smiles to all,
--Christine

Team Terra Linda!

I just opened a beer...'cause...ya' know...I'm going on vacation and don't want anything in the fridge to go bad while I am away.  ;)   So, I'm relaxing with a delicious ice cold beer and thought it would be a perfect time to introduce you to my fellow non-medical volunteer team members!

A special THANK YOU to Henley Photography for the photo!

From left: (unless noted, we are all from the Rotary Club of Terra Linda)

Nathan-- is a financial planner. Nathan's role on this mission is the Quartermaster. He will be responsible for every box of supplies and equipment in and out of the airports, planes, international customs offices, cars, buildings and making sure of the inventory all along the way. He's also in charge of our happy hour every night.  :) 

Jenny-- is a REALTOR and from the Rotary Club of Central Marin. Jenny's role on the mission is PACU assistant. She'll be primarily helping all the nurses in the recovery room area after surgeries.

Me!-- I'm a property manager specializing in residential managment and my job on the mission will be Medical Records Asst/ Patient Transport. I spent two and a half hours on a conference call the other day learning the record keeping process for the mission and I'll tell you...I was IMPRESSED with the Rotaplast process!

Trevor-- is a professional photographer and his job on the mission will be, (surprise! surprise!) the photojournalist! Trevor is also responsible for the photo above. Thank you Trevor!

Deloras-- is the lovely wife of our club president, Budd! We are just so lucky to have her with us! She was on a previous Rotaplast trip to Vietnam. She is an RN and a nurse manager and her role on this mission is the medical records keeper. I'll be assisting Deloras most of the time...and helping transport patients some of the other times. I've gotten to know her a little bit through our training and I'm excited to be working with her!

Brian-- is a roofing contractor and is also a Past District Governor for District 5150, and on the Board of Directors with Rotaplast International. Brian has been on many, many missions and is the Mission Director for this trip.

Anne-- is a surgeon and is the Mission Medical Director for our trip to India and has been on many, many missions. Anne will oversee the entire medical team of 17 members (not pictured above) from all over the US, our team dentist is from Mexico and one of the surgeons is from Holland.

Marty-- is an attorney. From the very beginning, Marty has said that he wants the job of holding the babies when they need comfort and that is just what he will do! Marty's official title is Ward Coordinator and he'll be preparing patients just before they go into the surgical area.

Millie-- is the marketing director at a senior retirement community. Her role on the mission is the Pre-Op assistant. Millie said to me the other day that this trip was a dream come true for her. She's wanted to go on a Rotaplast mission for more than 13 years now and finally the time is right for her! Congratulations Millie!

Joe-- is a mortgage broker and his role on this mission is the equipment steralizer and will obviously be quite busy with all the procedures we will be doing! He'll be working very closely with Nathan and keeping inventory under good control and also with the surgical teams and making sure they have clean instruments when needed!

Karen-- is an event planner and will be working with Jenny in PACU assisting the recovery room nurses.

(not pictured) Diane-- is from the Rotary Club of San Rafael and is their immediate past president. She will be transporting patients to and from surgery and reuniting the children with their parents when the procedure is over. Diane and I will be working together when I'm not helping Deloras with Medical Records keeping.

This is the non-medical volunteer portion of the team! It's so unusual to have all these volunteers from the same area, let alone the same club. What an extraordinary experience! This has already been such a fantastic bonding experience for all of us and the best is yet to come!

Rotaplast International

My last trip to India was personal travel...just touring around the country and seeing as much as possible in a three week trip. I could entertain you for DAYS about the things you see, think, smell, feel, taste, and wonder about in India. It was phenomenal and I have no doubt will always remain one of the most interesting, challenging and personally rewarding vacations I've ever had. This time...it will no doubt be interesting, challenging and personally rewarding...but in a VERY different way.

Rotaplast International is an non-profit humanitarian organization providing medical services for cleft lip and cleft palate repair and reconstruction. Rotaplast was started in 1992 by two Rotarians in our district (District 5150) as a world community service project with another Rotary Club in Chile. That single project has developed into an independant non-profit organization which has provided care for more than 13,000 people in more than 18 countries all over the world.

Impressive, isn't it??

You can learn more about Rotaplast here:  http://www.rotaplast.org/about/history.php

Share a smile with someone today...it will change their perspective on the world. And yours too!

:)