Home Sweet Home!  It is great to be back home.  I took a shower and a walk which were wonderful.  Now my goal is to stay awake as long as I can tonight, but it probably won't be all that late.  Since we change clocks tonight, I have no idea what time zone I will be on tomorrow!!  Thanks for all of the wonderful notes and words of encouragement during my trip.

On the plane in Frankfurt, heading home! We had a 2.5 hour layover and it was barely enough time. Rainy in Frankfurt. Glad to be heading home.

At the airport in Addis, waiting to board our flight to Frankfurt. We had an uneventful check in. I think we will all enjoy a little nap! It was a good week!

Heading to Cure for our last day. Hard to believe the week is almost over! It is beautiful and sunny, but the smog gets progressively worse during the week.

Oct 31- Nov 1

We spent the morning of the 31^st at Cure.  Dr Glenn was in the clinic and Dr. Mike was in the OR. The audiologists were busy doing hearing exams and fitting hearing aids.  Dr. Mary, the Cure anesthesiologist and Sue, our nurse anesthetist, went to a government hospital for the morning to help teach the nurse anesthetists there.

In the afternoon, Dr. Glenn and I flew to Mekele, in the North of the country to visit a relatively new medical school and hospital.  We met their ENT surgeon a few years ago when he finished his training.  He is the only ENT surgeon for the entire country outside of Addis Ababa.  He gave us a nice tour of the hospital, and we saw a few patients with him.  We had a relaxing dinner at the Hill Top restaurant.  Thursday we spent most of the day there, Dr. Glenn in the clinic and me in the OR with the local surgeons and nurse anesthetists.  We flew back late afternoon.

Tomorrow is our last day; hard to believe.  We are all a bit tired, and there are certainly times which are emotionally draining.  We have to remember that we are helping patients and also helping local providers learn how to give better care.

Time for bed!

Quick flight to Mekele, tour of hospital with local ENT surgeon, met with Dean, dinner at local restaurant. Tomorrow: Dr. Glenn visits ENT clinic, I visit OR.

I spent the morning at Cure, we had OR and clinic. Now in Mekele to visit. Patient from yesterday looks great. Sue went to government hospital with Dr. Mary.

Ethiopia Oct 29-30

October 30

Today was a busy OR day.  We had five ENT cases in the OR.  Three were ear procedures, one tonsillectomy, and one of a large tumor in the sinus.  One of the ear procedures could not be competed because the ear was infected, not an uncommon problem here in Ethiopia.  Hopefully we can have the patient start some antibiotic ear drops a week prior to our next visit so he can have his procedure done.  The tumor was a large one in a patient that we have been following for several visits.  The tumor was large and fairly involved; the surgery took all day and the patient required monitoring and blood that would have only been available at Cure.  The patients all did well, but it was a busy day.  The audiologists were busy at the school for the deaf.  Most of us had dinner in an Indian restaurant in the hotel.

Tomorrow – clinic in the morning, OR cases, and Dr. Glenn and I are going to visit another medical school and hospital in the north of the country.  Most of us have been in touch with our families back home.  Many are without power, but all seem to be ok.

October 29^th

It was cloudy and cooler than usual here in Addis today, and it looks like a full (or almost full) moon tonight, but nothing like the weather that Hurricaine Sandy is bringing to the East Coast.

We had a full day today.  All of the team except me spent the day at Cure hospital.  They saw about 40-50 patients, some follow-up, some new patients and scheduled many patients for surgery later in the week.  There are two with unusual types of masses or tumors who will have surgery tomorrow; the rest are rather routine ENT issues for the US, but the patients might not be able to have their surgery here if not for a visiting team.  The audiologists were busy doing hearing exams and fitting and fixing hearing aids.

I spent the day at a government hospital where I have been before helping the nurse anesthetists caring for their neurosurgery and general surgery patients.  Our first patient was 4 days old.  Because I have been there before and because recent visitors reminded me, I knew that they did not have any monitoring equipment for these young children.  It can be stressful enough caring for small children in the US with our many monitors, drugs and equipment.  It is very hard to imagine practicing daily in a place without those, especially with small children.  Through the generosity of Abington Hospital, I was able to obtain and bring a monitor to use and some other equipment.  The staff was very grateful, and I know the patients will benefit.  I was very conscious during the day of all of the things we take for granted in our operating rooms in the US.  It isn’t as noticeable at Cure, but in every other hospital we notice the lack of things that we feel are essential:  monitors, equipment, drugs, seat belts, arm bands, warming devices, etc.  The patients all did well today and I was able to do some teaching with the staff.

I believe today was Flag Day in Ethiopia.  We have seen lots of flags on display, and I saw a small parade going down the street and something on TV.  We had dinner at a very nice Italian restaurant and are now getting ready for bed.  Tomorrow:  surgical cases at Cure and audiology evaluations at Makanissa School for the Deaf.

Ethiopia October 26-28

Ethiopia Healing the Children October-November 2012

October 26-28

Our team started leaving the US on October 26 en route to Ethiopia.  This will be the eighth Healing the Children visit to Ethiopia, seventh of mine.  We are concentrating primarily on pediatric ENT but always have some other activities as well.

Three of us left from Newark and changed planes in Frankfurt.  There we met two others from Boston.  We had a several hour layover; time to walk around, get coffee and relax a little before another long flight.  It was raining with a few snow flurries mixed in in Frankfurt, and we were glad to be inside.  Our flight was a little delayed leaving because of the weather, but we made up most of the time.  There was a scheduled stop in Khartoum Sudan to drop off passengers and to refuel.  We’ve never done that before on this flight, but that is the new schedule.  Supposedly it is cheaper to refuel in Sudan, and about 25 passengers got off, so I suppose it is extra revenue for the airline.  We arrived in Addis Ababa without difficulty, got through passport control easily, got all of our luggage and got through customs with no problems.  We got to the hotel a bit after 10 pm and were in our rooms by 11pm.  All in all, more than a 24 hour journey from when I left home; but an uneventful one.  Sleep was wonderful!

One team member arrived earlier on Saturday; two others were supposed to arrive Saturday but because of flight delays in the US they were unable to make the connections and they both arrived today.  Our team has two ENT surgeons; one OR nurse, two audiologists, a nurse anesthetist, the Vice President of Healing the Children, and me.  The surgeons gave some lectures this morning, some people are off sightseeing this afternoon, and we will have dinner tonight as a team at a local Korean restaurant where we have been before.  Half of us have been here before, and for half this is their first visit.

Tomorrow we will be at Cure hospital, primarily evaluating patients for surgery and seeing some patients from previous trips.  We have a few complicated patients coming in for evaluation too.  I may go to another government hospital where I have been before to help with surgery there.

It is a little cool and cloudy here today with a few rain drops; a little unusual for this time of year here.  Still, no hurricaine like in the US!