Today
was my last day at the hospital for the week because we leave for our Safari
tomorrow! Right away when we got to the hospital, a few of us headed up to Main
Theatre to watch some surgeries. On the roster there were general surgeries,
eye surgeries, gynecological surgeries, and orthopedic surgeries. We decided we
were going to catch an orthopedic surgery today. When they brought the guy in
it was obvious that he had had some major trauma to both of his legs, but all
of the wounds looked healed up already. The doctor explained that he had been
hit but a big van and broken both bones in both of his lower legs and the big
bone in one of his thighs. He didn’t have the money for surgery at the time, so
the wounds healed up on the outside, but the broken bones healed together
incorrectly. Because I know my family, I wont put the pictures up here, but boy
did I find it interesting. The doctor had to saw apart the Femur that had broken
and the two pieces healed side by side rather that in a straight line. He
reattached them with a metal plate and a bunch of screws. He looked rather like
a mechanic than a surgeon. We watched the surgery for a more than three hours
and finally had to leave because our ride was at the hospital to get us. When
we left the doctor had just begun the same procedure on the patients lower
legs.
We
came back to the compound for lunch and a little poolside nap. I indulged in
yet another African sunburn. We just finished dinner and everyone is antsy in
anticipation of our safari. We leave tomorrow morning at eight. It’s and eight-hour
bus ride to Nairobi, where we will stay in a hotel. The next morning we will
take our safari vans out to the Mara. We will be staying in sophisticated tents
that do have electricity for a few hours a day and bathrooms. I am not taking
my computer with me since we have to travel very light, so you won’t hear from
me for a few days, but expect a huge update when we get back on Monday.
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