Hakuna Matata: My experience in the OR and Nate's Visit to Plaster House

Our second to last week in Arusha, Nate, Dr. Kibera (local ortho surgeon), and Dr. Wheeler (a visiting ortho-surgeon in town for one week) did a TON of surgeries on the plaster house kids. So, I visited Nate's place of work in the OR, and he visited mine.

First, I certainly wasn't really expecting to actually go into the OR. I had planned to go to the hospital to visit with kids pre and post op. I was not emotionally prepared for what happened. I walked down to the hospital and got a few coloring books/crayons along the way (which the kids LOVE). When I got there, Nate was operating, so Karina came down to meet me and take me upstairs. She wanted to take me to see Nate in action. Having watched shows like House, I was imagining that she would take me to this little balcony or room where I would watch through a glass window. I should have known when she made me change into scrubs and put on a mask and hair net thing, but I still didn't. I joked around and told her I didn't know if I could stomach watching a surgery since I'd never seen one before. She said she didn't know if an orthopedic surgery would be a good first surgery to see but that I would be fine and could just step out of the room if I felt bad. Then she opened the door. And there was Nate. And the operating table. And the baby on the table....etc. We walked right in. That part was pretty cool. I actually didn't recognize the little guy they were operating on.

After his surgery, I went out into the area right outside the OR because Nate told me there was probably another plaster house kid waiting to come in. There was, so I walked up to him. It was Baraka...the older kid Baraka (not the little one who is spoiled). This is the part I was not emotionally prepared for. I have seen lots of kids cry because they were scared of something...a bug, a dog, a loud noise, etc. I have NEVER EVER seen a kids completely terrified because he knew something "bad" was about to happen. Now, I know...these surgeries are SO good for these kids. But, I don't know that these kids really understand what's happening. Even if they're told, I'm sure they can't quite comprehend. Instead, they are just lying by themselves on a stretcher, with all these people running around them but not quite paying attention to them, hearing other kids crying in pain, without their mommy or daddy.

I walked up to Baraka and said hi. I took off my mask and hair net thing so he'd recognize me (then of course got yelled at by one of the nurses). He was lying there completely quiet with tears streaming down the sides of his face. I tried really hard to hold it together. I thought that if he saw me cry, it would scare him more. I asked him if he wanted to color, but then some nurses came over to wheel him into the OR. I went with him and held his hand. He was completely terrified. Scared...truly. Not like I've seen other kids before. He just silently cried. I think it's more heartbreaking seeing a kid with tears rolling down his face, yet remaining silent. They put something in his IV which seemed to hurt him. He cried and winced in pain. Then the anesthesiologist put the mask on him, which scared him. More tears came. Then, I lost it. Fortunately, he quickly fell asleep with the drugs. I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. I'm actually tearing up right now. I'm sure all you doctors or nurses out there have gotten used to seeing kids like this. You have to or else you couldn't emotionally survive your job. I know it's for their benefit...but they are so little and so helpless and so scared and so confused. He had no mom or dad at the hospital to be with him. In the US, they'd be scared...just as scared as this little guy, but at least they have mom or dad around to try to comfort them. I'm not sure what Baraka's story is...maybe his mom or dad are too far away in a remote village and have no one to hold his hand. But it broke my heart.

Fortunately, Nate was there. He hugged me until I stopped crying. Then he asked if I'd like to go downstairs to hang out in the rooms where all the other kids were waiting (in the peds ward). I did...the rest of my day, I spent down there. There were kids who had already had surgery and ones who were waiting. The kids who were post-op from the day before were in pain, but were able to color and even smile a bit. The pre-op kids had no clue what was going on and were having fun coloring and throwing paper airplanes we made. Eventually, they brought Baraka back down. He was still in and out because of the anesthesia, but I went to hang out with him a bit. He was in a lot of pain. I think he was really confused. Eventually, he calmed down a lot. By the time I left, he was coloring. I saw him the next day when they brought the kids back to plaster house. He was still in a lot of pain (as were all the other kids who had had surgery).

Then two days later, I took Nate to the plaster house. The kids were doing SO much better Saturday. Baraka was even smiling and glad to see us. Nate was a great sport and let all the able bodied kids climb all over him. I was so grateful that he could experience what I had been doing during my time in Arusha, and that I could see him in action in the OR.

Here are some pictures that I took at Plaster House. Some are from the date Nate visited. Some are from my last day there (another post to follow). But the pictures of the kids without Nate are some of the kids that had surgery the day or two I spent at the hospital. I certainly got close to these kids. I can't believe I had been at plaster house for almost two months without experiencing what these kids really went through, but I'm glad I finally did. In some ways, I feel like I have an idea of how I would/will spend my time if/when we return.

Plaster House

This is Bariki...He didn't actually get surgery, but he was at the hospital for some reason. He has the sweetest laugh. He and I threw paper airplanes around while he was hanging out in the hospital.

This is older Baraka. The one who I waited with while he was waiting to get surgery. The one who brought me to tears. The one who was so brave. This picture was just three days after his surgery. He's doing so well!

This is little Baraka. He was supposed to have an amputation that same week, but they postponed it. He has gigantism on one of his feet. The first time they did de-bulking surgery and removed SEVEN pounds from his foot. It keeps growing, so they think they will eventually amputate around the knee.

This is Teresia. She was the oldest girl who got surgery that week. Before she got surgery, she was helping take care of the little ones in the hospital. She's such a sweet girl, and we really bonded my last week there.

Teresia again...

This is Elias. This little one was on the operating table when I walked into the OR. Best smile EVER in this picture.

A few of the older boys had surgery. Unfortunately I had a difficult time keeping their names straight.

The girl on the left doesn't speak any Swahili. The boy on the right is Famweli. Nate told me whenever Famweli was in the hospital, every time he saw a doctor, he just started screaming.