This will be a very short entry written early on Wednesday morning. Yesterday, the whole team left the hospital earlier. The small pre-op group, consisting of two nurses and me plus the OR techs and nurses still left at 6:30 but the rest of the team left at 6:45 instead of 7:00. That made just enough difference that they avoided the traffic jam that happens in Guatemala City 15 minutes later. If I were someone who was fascinated by cities or traffic flow, (which I'm not,) I could probably do a great research project on the traffic patterns of big cities around the world and how one or two minutes makes a difference of 30 or 40 minutes in commute times. Perhaps it would be published in a prestigious journal and win me the Nobel prize in Urban Development. Of course anyone who commutes already knows this stuff and has their timing worked out precisely.
Here I am rambling when time is short. So, the earlier departure time worked and the 15 minute lead time was fine. By the last surgical day, we'll have it all worked out. We were out of the hospital by 7:30 last night, and I'll write about some patients tonight, but for now I just wanted to share the reason for not writing yesterday. Instead of returning to the hotel and having a rare early evening, we went directly to a huge IHOP restaurant. IHOP in Guatemala is a big supporter of Operation Smile, and had offered to host a dinner for the team. In addition, they put three burger combinations on the menu, the proceeds of which would go 100% to Op Smile. These were, cheeseburger with fries, barbecue bacon cheddar burger with fries and mushroom bacon with cheddar burger with fries. There was no real pressure to order these items except the obvious good natured ribbing of those who decided to get pancakes (only three out of about 50.) Some people ordered the burgers which went for the equivalent of $8.00 and pancakes and donated the burger to a big eater at the table. As I'm not really a beef-eater, I ordered the mushroom cheddar burger and ate the bun and fries and donated the rest to a very grateful OR tech across the table. Despite being kept out late, the team took the whole fund-raising deal with great good humor and multiple toasts to our guests from Johnson and Johnson who were with us for their last night. They gave speeches about how moving the experience had been for them and other people gave toasts to the director of the hospital who was obviously very pleased to be the center of attention at such a large gathering. Though we didn't get back to the hotel till 10:00, it was an evening well-spent and reminded me of how much Op Smile means to the donors and supporters, and of how important it is to support them.
I put up only 8 new photos, a few of patients, one of Steely-eyed Dan on the bus, scanning for bad guys and one of the logo of Escorpion Group on their truck. I feel very safe. More tomorrow.
Here I am rambling when time is short. So, the earlier departure time worked and the 15 minute lead time was fine. By the last surgical day, we'll have it all worked out. We were out of the hospital by 7:30 last night, and I'll write about some patients tonight, but for now I just wanted to share the reason for not writing yesterday. Instead of returning to the hotel and having a rare early evening, we went directly to a huge IHOP restaurant. IHOP in Guatemala is a big supporter of Operation Smile, and had offered to host a dinner for the team. In addition, they put three burger combinations on the menu, the proceeds of which would go 100% to Op Smile. These were, cheeseburger with fries, barbecue bacon cheddar burger with fries and mushroom bacon with cheddar burger with fries. There was no real pressure to order these items except the obvious good natured ribbing of those who decided to get pancakes (only three out of about 50.) Some people ordered the burgers which went for the equivalent of $8.00 and pancakes and donated the burger to a big eater at the table. As I'm not really a beef-eater, I ordered the mushroom cheddar burger and ate the bun and fries and donated the rest to a very grateful OR tech across the table. Despite being kept out late, the team took the whole fund-raising deal with great good humor and multiple toasts to our guests from Johnson and Johnson who were with us for their last night. They gave speeches about how moving the experience had been for them and other people gave toasts to the director of the hospital who was obviously very pleased to be the center of attention at such a large gathering. Though we didn't get back to the hotel till 10:00, it was an evening well-spent and reminded me of how much Op Smile means to the donors and supporters, and of how important it is to support them.
I put up only 8 new photos, a few of patients, one of Steely-eyed Dan on the bus, scanning for bad guys and one of the logo of Escorpion Group on their truck. I feel very safe. More tomorrow.
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