This morning started off with a beautiful breakfast, fish, breads, cheeses and fresh cucumber juice and french press coffee. There were many choices in the buffet, omelets, pastry delicasies, jams and compotes, fresh fruit, meats and yoghurt as well as the many choices of cereals and special blends of grains.
Some of the group dressed and went to church, which turned out to be very Americanish, pastor from Oklahoma. The rest of us went to the hospital and set up the ORs. It didn't take long, we are more organized every trip! I have a great team. Thank you Pat Wagner for all the behind the scenes sorting and typing you did. And Paula, what a trooper, driving up from Georgia on weekends to do staffing and help us organize and pack boxes! We got it done and our pre trip work really paid off. We do have some troubleshooting to do and some issues to resolve. It seems the black max operates at about 60psi, and "we need more power, Robbie",....." but Captain I can't, she won't hold,  she's gonna blow ~! "  I'm sure Robbie will screw drive it and tape it up and it'll be fine. And the microscope is the same kind we use to put in myringotomy tubes in Duke Raleigh,  old ENT model. Usable, but we might be limited somewhat, we'll see.

After the hospital, we went for a walk to get lunch at an African Italian pizza place. We sat down, waited. Ordered. Waited. Waited. Got drinks. Waited. .........Watched as at the other table, Japanese patrons were drinking and making bathroom runs holding their stomachs and trotting to the loo. We wondered if eating there was such a good idea. ....so after some classic oldies juke box dancing and a good time and fun conversation, the pizzas arrived. And we waited for our checks. and waited. Almost 3 hours later we were ready to leave.
Walked to the market to get my sneakers for work, (yes i forgot shoes). It was an interesting experience and I'm glad we went. Got a few small snacks and other things and headed back, walking past maternitie hospital and public hospital. I think that would be an eye opening tour. Renee did surgery there tonight and I think she will remember that experience for a long time. Not everybody does it the same way we do. That is all I can say.
Renee, Paula and I went out via hotel taxi for dinner at Heaven restaurant. It was beautiful rooftop dining overlooking the lovely city lights on the hill. The weather was cool and misty. The Sangria was spiced with herbs and cinnamon with bits of fruit, and the pork chops were done on an open fire, with very fresh and delicious spinach and sweet potato. Paula enjoyed her Mojito and hamburger with fries.
We have our plan for tomorrow, be up at 6 for breakfast and out to the van by 0700 for a quick meeting before heading off to the operating theaters. So, goodnight, off to bed, early day tomorrow.

Rwanda 2011

We arrived safely at a reasonable hour and without incident ! Some amusing flight stories, but no major holdups, and all of our supplies arrived on time from DHL, thank you Marcus ~! Check in at the Serena was smooooooth and easy, and after Dr Haglund's discussion with the hotel staff, we will be permitted to stay as per our reservations, instead of just the 3 days they decided we should stay ! This am several of us slept thru the most amazing breakfast buffet you would ever want. But we got our 8-10 hours of beauty rest and woke up at noon Africa time, 0700 NC time. It was great to "sleep in" as with our previous trips we usually have to be up and out by 0600 and on the bus by 0700 to get to the hospital no matter what time we got in. We packed ourselves into the van, (good thing we are a close and well bonded team) and we arrived at King Faisal mid morning. After an introductory meeting in the board room, we toured the hospital. It was the most sparkly clean hospital and grounds I have ever seen. So well maintained, but still in need of some updating. I posted some pics on fb for now, until I remember how to post pics to my blog, please feel free to friend me if you would like to see the pics. @Pamela Borden, Raleigh, NC. The hospital staff brought all of our supplies up to the OR for us, and all we had to do was organize them and account for them. Easy breezy. We assessed the equipment and we'll have some troubleshooting to do tomorrow, (Sunday) but it's nothing that Robbie McGyver can't handle. All he needs is one screwdriver and a roll of tape and he can transform anything into a well functioning piece of high tech surgical equipment. And let me just say, it's a good thing Robbie knew that you cannot run compressed 02 as a source of power to run a black max. Whoa, close call. KaPow! Haven't seen it yet, but I hear the microscope is akin to our 1930's version of the ENT scope we use for tubes at Duke Raleigh. Okay, so this isn't brain surgery,......wait, yeah, this IS brain surgery. SO, I'll just think about that tomorra...ahem. Let's change the subject now, and talk about the amazing dinner we had back at the hotel, all courses were delicious and it was so good to be able to sit down at the table with the whole team, and toast to yet another wonderful experience together. Looking forward to making memories and new friendships with each and every one of you, Duke Neuro and Rwandan team alike. Thank  you Dr. Haglund, for helping me live my motto, Life is NOT a spectator sport. Okay ~ Duke Neurosurgery East Africa Training Team, let's roll~! stay tuned for more.....