Anchored: Up and Running!

We are officially up and running!

I'm in there in the back somewhere, promise :)

Last Monday the hospital opened its doors to our first couple of patients in our second Madagascar field service. On Tuesday morning at 8am the first surgery officially started! The entire hospital had an air of excitement on board as this is the moment we’ve so anxiously and patiently been waiting for. One of the many things I absolutely love about Mercy Ships is how we are not shy to embrace the entirety of a patient’s journey to health. Poor health and physical abnormalities are not just problems we sew and suture up then send out the door to their new lives. We recognize that for most of the cultures and populations we serve, we are also helping heal their souls. We realize that we are no more capable of being hands of healing than the next person sewing or suturing back home across the Atlantic Ocean.

So what makes this place so different? Our transformations are not solely ones comprised of physical change, but of spiritual as well. We look at our gifts as nurses, therapists, surgeons, and dieticians as not gifts of our own. Our skills are God given skills that were specifically placed into our capable hands. When God says “go and serve the least of these”, we take him seriously. At the beginning of every shift we gather together as nurses and day crew and pray for the oncoming shifts. We pray for our patients both for physical and spiritual healing, and we pray for the nurses starting their shifts that they would use their gifts to serve the people of Madagascar.

For all of my nursing friends back in the states I’ll give you a peek into shift work on the unit. We have three shifts on the ship. A day shift (7am-3pm), an evening shift (2pm-10pm) and night shift (10pm-7am). On Tuesday and Wednesday last week I had day shift and evening shift orientation. It was a bit chaotic due to the ship being delayed and having such a large number of nurses needing orientation. And on Friday I started my first night of four on my own. The nurses come from a variety of backgrounds whether it be PICU, adult med/surg, peds med/surg, NICU, adult ICU, adult oncology, peds oncology, hospice, L&D etc. It really is quite fascinating to meet these incredible people with such different areas of expertise. It helps facilitate a team approach to our work on the wards. In any situation you have no knowledge in there is always a nurse who is an expert in that field willing to jump in and help (which has been incredibly helpful to this NICU nurse who isn’t quite sure how to handle a patient who can talk back to you).

I can’t even believe all the ways I can already feel I am growing as a nurse and as a person. I am being challenged in so many ways and I am so in love with the challenge and the Malagasy people. There has been a lot of stumbling through the Malagasy language but it’s worth it to see the smiles or laughs from your patients while they watch you completely mispronounce “Are you having any pain?” But it’s worth it to start feeling like you can communicate better with your patients.

Speaking of communication you are probably wondering how on earth we work with such a huge language barrier. Let me introduce you to our incredible day crew. These amazing Malagasy people work side by side with us to work as translators and help us love on our patients. They help us get to know our patients better, break down the cultural divide and teach us incredible and amazing things about Madagascar. They are such a fun, vibrant bunch that I am learning SO many things from.

I know I've posted this picture before but here are all of us together, nurses & the day crew

As of right now we are currently managing mostly general surgery patients and soon to be starting our plastics surgery rotation. For general surgery this mostly includes hernia repairs, circumcisions, benign tumor removals, lipoma removals, and neurofibroma removals. I can’t tell you enough how incredibly gracious and thankful the Malagasy people are. They bounce back so quickly from their surgeries and never complain. Its breath taking to watch the excitement in a patient's eyes when there is no longer a 15 lb lipoma gracing the back of her shoulders preventing her from sleeping comfortably or wearing her beautiful clothing.

I could go on and on with everything that has happened this week but I could never find the appropriate words. Outside of work has been a ton of fun with the community on the ship. Lots of card games, movie nights, trips to the beach, dock cookouts, dance parties, glow stick parties, and trips to the local market.