Thursday was the last day for surgical rotations for me and everyone else's last day at Daniel Carrión hospital. Women's surgical rounds started off fairly normal when Dr. Suazo joined the group of physicians and things started to spice up. The surgeons went from incredibly tense to cracking jokes left and right, and then it got really interesting. There was a psych patient that had been operated on and when we got to her she was certainly the life of the party. Telling various life stories (we're fairly certain she had multiple personality disorder) and also lightening the mood. Afterwards, Dr. Suazo took Lauren, Emily and myself to several patients and described in detail the process of making a diagnosis and different conditions. It was absolutely fascinating to hear him describe the condition of one patient who came in with supposedly problems with her gallbladder and jaundice, but she actually had severe liver damage and possibly hepatitis. Not only were the three of us enthralled in what Dr. Suazo was saying, but also the psych patient whose personality at this point was one of a nurse. As we were making our way from patient to patient, getting clued in on their cases or observing the cleaning of a wound, the psych patient was right at our heels. At least the wandering psych patient had an interesting morning.
Then it was off to Rosario Orphanage as per usual to give a short lesson on personal hygiene that morning and we returned there that afternoon. The lessons went well and it was great to just hang out with the kids as always. In fact, the director brought out a newspaper article that talked about how malnutrition at Rosario went down 50% from January to June and it even mentioned the Foundation for the International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC) in the article! This afternoon I played soccer with two 10 year old soccer prodigies, Alán and Jean Pierre, and we beat the other team (Callie, Scott and Spencer) and had a lot of fun doing it, ha ha ha. I scored 4 of our 12 goals and was pretty pleased with myself, yeah middle school rec soccer skills! Before we knew it, it was time to go and then things got sad, really sad. This was the last time Callie, Emily, Lauren, Scott and Spencer would be at Rosario and we've all become really close with the kids and the director. I do not look forward to my goodbyes next Wednesday, AT ALL.
Friday it was off to Sicaya as always to do education in classrooms about brushing teeth and washing hands and do fluoride treatments. The kids were adorable, what else is new, and so fun to work with. In fact at the first school the kids were so excited about washing their hands they ran out to the bathroom as we started the brushing teeth section... a first! Afterwards we played with the kids, and I made a not so great decision, I started to pick up the kids and spin them around. Twenty minutes later I was still picking them up and spinning them and getting dizzier and dizzier. Tired, I insisted that every kid only got one more and thankfully the playground stopped spinning after about 15 minutes. But hey, at least I got a good arm workout in!
That night we had a lesson on sutures and were all greeted with our own personal pigs foot to cut and stitch back up. After several minutes of being immature, playing with the pigs foot and talking about how "this little piggy went to the market" etc, we got down to business. We learned three different types of suturing techniques, and I'm not going to lie, I was pretty darn good at it. In fact, I did the most complicated stitch by myself, and the stunned medical student teaching us told me I was born to be a surgeon. I laughed (terrified, mind you) and insisted that I just know how to sew and have surgical prowess in my blood. However, I am happy to know that if I'm ever in a bind, I could stitch myself up fairly well. Then it was back to the house for everyone to pack and get ready to leave. We of course played several last rounds of our favorite Canadian card game (or main source of entertainment at the house) and just reminisced on our month in Huancayo together. As we all hugged and waved goodbye it was so strange. Here are five people that were strangers to me a month ago that I now consider to be like family. As I walked back into the house alone and turned off all the lights it was so weird. A house that I've shared with five to nine other people was empty, quiet and eery as all get out. And don't even get me started on how weird breakfast was eating at a big table by myself! Honestly, Huancayo is not happy about their absence either since it is the most overcast it has ever been today. Love you guys, Callie, Claire, Emily, Lauren, Lena, Sarah, Scott and Spencer... 275 Brasilia is not the same without you all.
And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
1 Thessalonians 5:14
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25
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