The Last Days

This post is long overdue....but sometimes even the best of stories need time....

Teddy did not help....

My last days at Tenwek were as action packed as all the ones preceeding.  I thought to wind down gracefully by stopping my clinical duties at the hospital one week before my departure from Tenwek.  Of course, my last day at the hospital was so jam packed that I missed the good-bye party that the main theatre had planned for me!

Many of the days that followed found me at the hospital finishing paperwork, giving last minute lectures to nursing staff, attending M&M conference and saying many, many face to face good byes.
When at home, I happily chatted with improtu visitors who stopped by to wish Teddy and I well and of course...I packed, weiged bags, re-packed, etc..

The highlight of the emotionally draining week came on Saturday.  My dear friend and co-worker organized a good-bye party for me with the interns at her home.  Interns from last year and this year all came - some travelled for hours to attend!  I was deeply honored and so excited to see everyone again.

Playing Banana-grams

There was food, games, music and of course, stories and speeches.  Each person had a moment to share a special memoy of my time at Tenwek or wish me well.   It was humbling, hilarious and so very special.

They spoke of favorite cases....like the time a patient came into casualty with a ruptured ectopic; she went into cardiac arrest and I "procurred" blood from the blood bank while a colleague did CPR.  We managed to get a heart beat and bloodpressure and I did her surgery in the theatre with only local anesthesia.  The lady lived. 

They spoke of a love for laughter, teaching and sharing snacks.....

They of course, spoke of Teddy.

But they also talked of themselves and through their own narratives, I found a happiness and reason for praise I have never known.

One previous intern shared how she is now working at a hospital where no one has ever done Phannensteil (bikini cut) incisions for C sections, instead they do the larger, more painful, vertical midline incisins.  She has decided to teach her interns the Phannensteil method.

Another intern shared how she is now working with a doctor at a district hospital to develop safety protocols concerning pediatrics treatments.

Yet another expressed concern for the lack of surgical supplies at her hospital and how using certain suture on infected wounds could increase risk of wound break-down.

It was lovely to sit and dine and hear nice memories about my time at Tenwek.  Who wouldn't enjoy such grand treatment?

But to hear my former students talking about their students, their desires to teach and change the medical establishments of their country, to improve things......there are truly no words.

I think now about how Jesus must have felt when he sent the twelve out and then when they returned and shared their experiences with Him.....that sense of hope......that eternal legacy of sharing.....how one turns to twelve turns thousands and in turn can change the world. 

I sometimes read this blog and I chuckle......it was never my story.....it was THEIRS.