finally, pictures!

me and gabby, watching the sunset in Tobledo (yes, that's a volcano!)

this was from the flight deck, while watching the USNS Byrd, who met us in the middle of the Bandah sea, to refuel the Mercy.  The Mercy helo also dropped off all the non-biodegradable materials (plastics), and picked up materials we need for the remainder of the mission.

steel beach party on the flight deck after the crossing the line ceremony

Today we arrived in Tobledo.  We were told that the ground is too deep for the ship to drop anchor so it's basically floating around the ocean, and everyone is swaying in different directions.  Kathryn (Hope’sPAO) and Lynn (Hope’s medical coordinator) went to the opening ceremony, where they arrived in-land via the band-aid boat and came back via helo… very cool!  April (pediatrician from California), Dawn (FNP student from FIU), and Brian (a Shenedoah university’s pharmacy student) all left for their 5-day med cap.  They will be staying in the Australian ship that is closer to land.  Gabby and I spoke to Brian before he left and asked him if he had his necessities -- baby wipes, toilet paper, and immodium.  He said no to all three… ummm? Lol. Gabby and I left and came back with toiler paper and a mask, in a ziplock bag.  Needless to say, he was grateful.  

49 patients + their escorts arrived on the ship today, and more to come in the following days.  Everyone who comes on board gets a mandatory chest x-ray to screen for tuberculosis.  I’m off today but went down to the peds ward for a mock code run by pediatric navy residents.  Jane (the other PICU nurse in the wards) and I asked to go through the code cart and had a bunch of “what if” questions and “just in case” scenarios.  We were told that the code cart wasn’t used in Vietnam and Cambodia, and not expected to be used in Indonesia  as they made sure, in pre-screening, that we were only taking healthy patients (besides their needed elective surgery, of course).  I think it’s embedded in us (PICU nurses) to expect the worst and hope for the best since codes and arrests happen at any given time, to any given patient, regardless of how healthy they were prior to surgery.  It’s always good to know what drugs are on board, and what resources we have.

I  saw our 2nd peds patient, a boy (approx 8 yrs old?) cleft lip patient.  Our first peds patient came on board in Jakarta, another 8 year old girl who has severe bilateral cataracts.  Sheila (one of Hope’s volunteer nurse) told me that she is almost legally blind in one eye, and her visions is severely impaired in the other.  I also saw a toddler running around in the CASREC (casualty receiving).  I’m not sure what the wards will be like in the upcoming days, but the OR schedule is booked for the days that we are in Tobledo.  I’m off on the 19th, and have asked the anesthesiologist and surgeon from Project Hope if I could observe a surgery on that day.

Katie (one of the other peds ward nurses from LDS) just told me that there are 17 kids in the peds wards who are all pre-op, some clefts, and probably inguinal hernia repairs.  The thought of taking care of children and working again is making me very excited.  It’s like being in my comfort zone, as weird as that sounds.  I mean, taking care of children is the only thing that I really know how to do, and LOVE doing.  I’m excited to interact with them, teach them and their parents new things, learn from them, and most importantly, be a part of this amazing change that will improve their lives forever.  With that said, I am off to bed, I need energy for tomorrow!  

p.s. I hope you guys appreciate these rare pictures before it literally took me 1.75hrs to upload them.  I have to run back to berthing before taps at 2200 or else I will be fumbling around since I forgot my flashlight.
(that was until it all got deleted... argh!grrr!!!

p.p.s. make that 3 hours!