Home!

Sorry for the delay in posts. I hated that I left you with such a sad last post. We lost internet on Friday and I've just now gotten home to sit down on my computer. A short update on the last blog: we found out Dotto's body and his mom made it back to Tanzania with no problems. We were worried they would not allow him across the boarder but they did. He will be buried near his home and his 8 siblings will be able to be present. His mom said she understood that Dotto was very sick when she brought him to us. I continue to pray for his mom and his siblings who did not know they'd lost their brother until mom came back home without him. I can't imagine.

Kipchirchir!

Anyway, Thursday and Friday we continued with surgeries and all were successes! My days began to run together but we met several cuties. One guy, Kipchirchir, had a very very long surgery. He reminded me alittle of Hilary from week one. Kipchirchir got a tricuspic vavle replacement. The cardiologists described it as ebsteinoid-like which is pretty sick. During surgery they had trouble staying off of bypass due to severe pulmomary hyptertension. Kari, Kristen, and I spent a lot of time running around and calling people to find some flolan--no such luck! Malik put down an NG and we crushed up some sildenafil. They wait an hour for it to absorb and attempted to come off pump again. I don't know if it was the time, more surgical stuff, or the medicine but he was able to come off. I believe he went on and off pump 4 times? Either way, he came out of the OR very sick but by the next morning he was extubated and just on some milrinone. I continue to be amazed at how sick these patients are but they just keep exceeding all expectations. Post-operatively Kipchirchir required pacing wires and continuous pacing (originally his underlying rhythm was asystolic, eventually improved to an escape rhythm around 70). Aegneta (the 5th year resident at Tenwek who literally does everything) ordered a permanent pacer and when it arrives to Tenwek she will most likely place it this week. He was a quiet kiddo and I found out later he had an identical twin. Aegneta said Kipchirchir (which means "boy born during chaos") and his twin Kipkemoi (I think that means "boy born in the morning") would come into clinic and make Aegenta  guess who was who without listening to their hearts first. I thought that was cute haha

Kibet!

Some other little ones we saw we Mary, Chepkemoi, Chepkorir, and Kibet. They were all VSD or ASD closures and they all did so so well! Kibet had some rhythm issues that required him to stay with us for some time but by Sunday he was off his pacer and got to leave the ICU. Kibet was five and his  biggest concern while with us was that his mother never ever left his side. That quickly became my biggest concern too b/c if his mom left for a second Kibet screamed and cried. I found out the best way to calm him was play some Taylor Swift on my iphone and he chilled out....we aren't so different after all. Oh and Kibet's mom told us that he thought we were all Chinese. When we asked why she said it was because he'd seen a Jackie Chan movie and assumed all white people were Chinese. He was kind of awesome.

Little Mary was 9 months old and was super tiny but supppperr cute. I believe she was just a VSD closure. She did really well! Mary spent most of her time either eating or sleeping. Any other combination threw her for a loop and resulted in screaming.  She also required 24 hour mom-at-bedside orders. We made an excepetion for both her and Ian's mom to sleep in the bed with them so they coud feet and cuddle whenever necessary. I wish we could do that at Vandy...

Mary Mary! Cutie!

Our other two friends were Chepkorir (I THINK it's girl born during the rain but not positive) and Chepkemoi (girl born in the morning). They were both with us for a short period b/c they did so awesome. I actually didn't even meet Chepkemoi until I visited her in the ward b/c she did so well after surgery that she left the unit within 12 hours. All to say, I'm so thankful that they all recovered and were smiling!

Took a hike outside the entrance of the hospital. 

On Saturday most of the team left but Kristen, Brittany, Leah, Jenny, Mary, Michael, and myself stayed through the weekend to see the patients through. The last two patients went to the high dependency unit on Sunday so we were free to just enjoy Tenwek. We went on lots of hikes together and spent time just enjoying one anothers company. Monday morning we went for another 430am Motigo sunrise hike. Poor Aegneta wanted to go so bad but it never worked out so Kristen and I decided to go again and everyone else joined us! It was so fun. This sunrise was a little different. I liked it more for the hike itself rather than the runrise...that's not to say the sun rise was anything short of perfect. As we walked there wasn't a cloud in the sky and you could see the milky way. I've never seen so many stars...For real! I couldn't capture the stars and moon in a picture but I did manage to get a couple snaps at the top. After the hike we all showered, visited the patients one last time, and hopped on the vans to head to Nairobi. We got to the airport around 4 and the long travel began.

Some Motigo sunrise action.

We went from Nairobi to Amsterdam to Detroit then HOME! We were all counting down the minutes til the Detroit airport. We had already planned a Chili's lunch and starbucks stop before the next flight. We ate our weight in American food and coffee then boarded a small plan for home. I charged my computer just enough to watch one and a half episodes of The OC to pass the time. My sweet mom and dad greeted me at the airport. Later that evening my sister surprised me and showed up at my condo! I was literally walking to my bed at 630pm to crash when she knocked...it was the perfect surprise and gave me a 2nd... 3rd...4th boost of energy. She was so sweet and let me tell her all about what happened the day we lost Dotto. I think I needed the debrief. My mom picked up some dinner and my brother showed up, too. Just what I needed! I crashed around 930 and they snuck out some point later. Feeling rested now!

Again, thanks so much for your sweet words and heartfelt prayers. All in all, I think we did 25 surgeries(also includes 2 cath patients). It was a long trip but always so worth it. I made many new friends a long the way and grew deeper in my other friendships. In fact, I already miss everyone. Before the weeks were over we were already discussing next year. We will most likely go back the same time, but do two weeks of congenital cases. So, lots of little ones!! Thanks again! love to all!!

Doing some teaching with these awesome Cardiac books Kristen made!