What happens when you go on a trip that you've dreaming about for a long time and you say you'll blog about it every day? You get carried away with the trip and forget to blog!
In reality though, every day has just been SO BUSY this week. The past four days were all PCRF surgeries and since today was the last day of surgeries, I thought I'd finally get down to telling you about how AMAZING they all were. I spent the past four days watching nerves getting transfered from feet to hands, seeing camtodactyly fingers (bent fingers) get straightened, many skin grafts, and even shrapnel get removed from a finger.
Although PCRF primarily does surgeries on children, often times adults are also cared for depending on the severity of their issue. The patients this week ranged from 8 months old to 36 years old. It was interesting to see post-op care in this hospital versus the hospitals in the U.S., as well as the difference in staffing. There is less of a system in the Palestinian hospital, an issue that if improved could save a lot of time and frustration.
Since I was mainly observing and assisting with things outside of operating, I had the opportunity to see the patients and talk to them before their surgeries and sometimes after. I tried to do that especially with the younger patients, who once they were taken to the OR were often afraid and alone, listening to the beeping machines around them and the orders between one person to another often in English. With the younger patients, I made it my job to be in the OR with them before they were put to sleep, to ask them about school, their favorite class, and just talk about anything to distract them. In the case of one boy, he seemed so frightened by what was going on around him that I took to reassuring him what everyone was doing so he felt less lost and more in control.
Yesterday, four surgeries were done and I as well as another volunteer went to see them this morning to see if they had any questions for the doctors, who were in surgery. I noticed that they had many questions that they were used to not having answered, which quickly frustrated me and made me determined not to be someone else who told them I'd be back with their answers but didn't return. Instead, I chatted with them and even their family members, wrote their questions down, and went straight to the PCRF doctors to ask them their questions and their concerns. In a short span of time, the patients all had their questions answered and I left them feeling much satisfaction knowing that I hadn't left their room as someone else that they did not think empathized for them.
Once again I was reminded this week of the number 1 reason why I want to be a physician and that's for the doctor-patient relationship. There is trust that is easily obtainable if you can be someone that is a good listener and a strong confidant. I recognized some of my weaknesses as well this week, such as always putting myself in the patient's place and trying to feel their pain, and even how I could not get the terrified faces of the young patients out of my head as they were being put to sleep. That was the reason why I finally turned to talking to them and holding on to their hands while they were being injected.
Each day I was there from around 8 AM till around 6-8 PM depending on the day and the surgeries. I didn't do much exploring during this week since by the time I got home, I was exhausted and my legs were sore, but I left each day feeling more inspired than the day before. Although the hospital we were working in is one with more difficult situations than others, I walked into the medical complex each day happier than ever at the thought of what stories I might hear that day.
Personally, the most difficult patient that I was faced with was the last one. He was a victim of last summer's Gaza war, and walked over to the surgical floor with a cane and an obvious limp. The nurse came to ask the physician whether or not the patient had to take off his prosthetic leg for the surgery because he was shy to appear without it in front of others. That made me think of how people without limbs are treated in society today and whether or not this man may have thought less of himself simply because he was missing a leg. Would people really think less of him because a result of a situation that was not of his choosing? It was my first time seeing an amputated limb let alone a victim of a senseless war. It made me think again about my goal to one day go to Gaza after I finish school, but not in fear of it but rather futher determination.
In between interesting OR music playlists, random dancing in the OR, and learning how to cut sutures, this trip proved to exceed any expectations I had before coming. Overall, if I had to share the most important thing I gained from this experience this week, I would say I learned about the kindness of humanity. I learned that doctors who have no relation to Palestine can come on their eighth trip and still plan to return again because they see humans that are in need of their help. If these are doctors who are not even Arab and can dedicate so much of their time to go on these trips, what excuse do I have?
Today was my last day with PCRF (this year at least ;) ) but I did not feel ready to leave the hospital just yet. I get a day off tomorrow and then I start volunteering in the ER inshAllah. Until my next post....
In reality though, every day has just been SO BUSY this week. The past four days were all PCRF surgeries and since today was the last day of surgeries, I thought I'd finally get down to telling you about how AMAZING they all were. I spent the past four days watching nerves getting transfered from feet to hands, seeing camtodactyly fingers (bent fingers) get straightened, many skin grafts, and even shrapnel get removed from a finger.
Although PCRF primarily does surgeries on children, often times adults are also cared for depending on the severity of their issue. The patients this week ranged from 8 months old to 36 years old. It was interesting to see post-op care in this hospital versus the hospitals in the U.S., as well as the difference in staffing. There is less of a system in the Palestinian hospital, an issue that if improved could save a lot of time and frustration.
Since I was mainly observing and assisting with things outside of operating, I had the opportunity to see the patients and talk to them before their surgeries and sometimes after. I tried to do that especially with the younger patients, who once they were taken to the OR were often afraid and alone, listening to the beeping machines around them and the orders between one person to another often in English. With the younger patients, I made it my job to be in the OR with them before they were put to sleep, to ask them about school, their favorite class, and just talk about anything to distract them. In the case of one boy, he seemed so frightened by what was going on around him that I took to reassuring him what everyone was doing so he felt less lost and more in control.
Yesterday, four surgeries were done and I as well as another volunteer went to see them this morning to see if they had any questions for the doctors, who were in surgery. I noticed that they had many questions that they were used to not having answered, which quickly frustrated me and made me determined not to be someone else who told them I'd be back with their answers but didn't return. Instead, I chatted with them and even their family members, wrote their questions down, and went straight to the PCRF doctors to ask them their questions and their concerns. In a short span of time, the patients all had their questions answered and I left them feeling much satisfaction knowing that I hadn't left their room as someone else that they did not think empathized for them.
Once again I was reminded this week of the number 1 reason why I want to be a physician and that's for the doctor-patient relationship. There is trust that is easily obtainable if you can be someone that is a good listener and a strong confidant. I recognized some of my weaknesses as well this week, such as always putting myself in the patient's place and trying to feel their pain, and even how I could not get the terrified faces of the young patients out of my head as they were being put to sleep. That was the reason why I finally turned to talking to them and holding on to their hands while they were being injected.
Each day I was there from around 8 AM till around 6-8 PM depending on the day and the surgeries. I didn't do much exploring during this week since by the time I got home, I was exhausted and my legs were sore, but I left each day feeling more inspired than the day before. Although the hospital we were working in is one with more difficult situations than others, I walked into the medical complex each day happier than ever at the thought of what stories I might hear that day.
Personally, the most difficult patient that I was faced with was the last one. He was a victim of last summer's Gaza war, and walked over to the surgical floor with a cane and an obvious limp. The nurse came to ask the physician whether or not the patient had to take off his prosthetic leg for the surgery because he was shy to appear without it in front of others. That made me think of how people without limbs are treated in society today and whether or not this man may have thought less of himself simply because he was missing a leg. Would people really think less of him because a result of a situation that was not of his choosing? It was my first time seeing an amputated limb let alone a victim of a senseless war. It made me think again about my goal to one day go to Gaza after I finish school, but not in fear of it but rather futher determination.
In between interesting OR music playlists, random dancing in the OR, and learning how to cut sutures, this trip proved to exceed any expectations I had before coming. Overall, if I had to share the most important thing I gained from this experience this week, I would say I learned about the kindness of humanity. I learned that doctors who have no relation to Palestine can come on their eighth trip and still plan to return again because they see humans that are in need of their help. If these are doctors who are not even Arab and can dedicate so much of their time to go on these trips, what excuse do I have?
Today was my last day with PCRF (this year at least ;) ) but I did not feel ready to leave the hospital just yet. I get a day off tomorrow and then I start volunteering in the ER inshAllah. Until my next post....
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