Daily Routines

Each morning we rose early and started our day with granola bars, peanut butter, and bottled water that we had brought from home.  A couple more granola bars were packed in a bag to get us through the day.  We boarded the "tap-tap"

 which took us a mile or so to the Adventist Hospital.

My mornings were spent running the Orthopedic Clinic.  Patients would line up at 8 o'clock, take a number, and wait to be seen.

  Here we would follow up with previous surgeries, take off casts and external fixation devices, change dressings and evaluate symptoms for people that had never had access to health care before.  Several people we saw ended up having surgery the next day....infections were a big problem.

While I was in the clinic, Jack would be in the Operating Room.

Between cases, he would come to clinic and see patients there.

By two o'clock each day, the clinic line would be gone and I would head to the O.R. to help out in whatever capacity I could.

Assisting with surgery was a treat for me.  When asked how he liked scrubbing with his wife, Jack replied, "It's great!  It's the only time I get to be completely in charge."

Then when surgeries were complete, we did some organizational tasks in the operating room...dealing with the large volume of medical supplies that have come in from all over the world.

Then, back on the "tap-tap",

and we headed back to our hotel accommodations...complete with running water (albeit mostly cold water)   (We brought a mosquito net along with us.)  This hotel was the only one I saw in all of the city.  It had suffered no damage in the earthquake. And although the rooms were relatively stark, it was quite luxurious compared to what was just over the wall from us.  This whole hotel was full of relief workers.

 

Security around the hotel was tight...

Dinner (a very limited menu of Haitian pizza, spaghetti, or chicken) never tasted so good to us.  By 8PM we were famished and exhausted.  Notice most of us holding ourselves up with our elbows on the table!

Then off to bed for a good night's sleep....another busy day ahead of us.

PS:  We had the option of staying at the hospital or the hotel.  If we had chosen the hospital these would have been our quarters.....

We were quite fortunate...in many ways.