Last day of surgery

Hi Everyone, Well we made it; 37 ligaduras. It seems the local Ecuadoran population has a real sense of humor. They say, "Close the factory and open the Fun Park" when referring to ligaduras. We are off to Otavalo tomorrow and a weekend of shopping, drinking and fun. Will add to the blog one more time before returning to the EEUU. Judy, Senior Nurse and still standing! So is Mary, next in line for Senior Nurse.

Winding down

The sun has finally shone. We still have not had a good view of Chimbarazo. To date we have done thirty ligaduras. Dr. Smith does very well with seven instruments and one retractor. Some of the younger team members have had some GI issues. But, the AARP members are still standing. Thank God for the elderly. Joan Hier has caught the fever. She has done more than most first assists.
Last day surgery tomorrow. Hasta luego.
Jill, Joan and Judy

Mon. morning, back to work

We all had a wonderful weekend. Sat. we visited Banos and climped to the ¨devil´s cauldron¨. The views of the waterfall were spectacular from the narrow rope bridge.
Sun. a group of us took the train from Riobamba to the ¨nariz del diablo¨. The ride was great with great views from the roof of the train. The train only derailed once. Lucky for us there were a group of manly men to clear the tracks. A couple of strong girls helped as well.
Today we are back at work. We have a new slogan; Ligaduras are us.
I will place pictures on the blog later today.
Our best to all of our family and friends.
jill

OR Day #4

Hi everyone!
Learning Spanish and having some interesting results. Dr. Smith told his patient in Spanish that he would be tying her tubes and he would never get pregnant again. Katie asked Martha, our hostess, to wear our dirty laundry instead of to wash our dirty laundry. Carol can´t seem to keep her languages straight, and insists in speaking Sprench to the patients. Jill is trying hard to speak Spanish, but can´t trill her rrrrrrrrrrrrrs, and keeps saying Glacias. Jenny teases her merciously.

Some of the younger members of the team witnessed a vaginal delivery. 13 Ligaduras to date. Visited and shopped in a nearby community called Guano. Much prettier than the name would imply. The rain has stopped for a time, and saw more parades prior to the upcoming weekend elections.

Carol O., traductora extraordinaire.

Hey everyone, Well we are into our second day in the OR- We´ve done 7 cases so far and there are many more to go. The first pics that you see with the older Ecuadoran women walking up the hill was on Sunday. We visited a village in Santa Anna which had much damage from a mudslide almost a year ago. We brought clothing , toys and toiletries to the remaining people along with the Ecuadoran Red Cross who had brought food. They had lost 30 plus people in the mudslide. They were so grateful. Oh All the mission bags made it to Quito, but there were 5 personal bags that didn´t make it. They arrived today, so now Carol can return Jill´s thong and Dr. Smith can have his BVD´s and give back the mesh panties. We did a BTL on a woman who had perforated her uterus with her IUD, so that was a bit hairy for a few moments. We have a C.Section booked for tomorrow. Thank goodness that the Bovie now works! Some are experiencing altitude sickness, but not to where they can´t function . Till tomorrow Judy Dakin, Enfemera , Mother Superior.

This woman beat the entire group up the hill at 10,000 ft.



Group photo leaving bangor. Monday O.R., surgeries started at 2 p.m. Three ¨Ligaduras¨