Today was a good day. When I arrived at the hospital I created the lists of patients that needed follow up by the surgeons and the list of surgeries for the day. Then the surgeons hit the ground running and the surgeries were moving.
Our communication system was working well. The anesthesiologists would call or text me when they were ready for the next patient and I would have the nurses take the patients to them. Things were running smoother than I even expected. I was very happy.
OPERATING ROOM PROBLEMS
Then we hit a snag. Our patients had to be bumped because of some emergency C-Sections that took over our operating room. We were starting to wonder if we were going to be able to get all the hysterectomy surgeries done today. (Please don’t ask me to explain to you what a hysterectomy is. You may have to Wikipedia or Google it.)
And my worst fears came true. A patient was waiting to be operated on since 8am the previous morning. I felt so bad because I kept reassuring her that she would have her surgery today. I feel like I let her down. Even though it wasn’t my fault, I still felt responsible.
Each of these patients is a person that is looking for a solution to his or her problem and we are trying to be part of that solution. I just don’t want anyone of them to suffer, and when something like that happens, I know their suffering continues for one more day.
PEOPLE PROBLEMS
Along with the issues in the operating room, this is the time in the trip where interpersonal issues can show up. You can imagine that bringing together fifty people from different backgrounds and different ways of seeing patients can lead to disagreements and misunderstandings. We had some of that today but we didn’t let it get in the way of the mission. We spoke to each other with love and kindness and sought a solution that would bring us closer to reaching our goals.
Tomorrow I expect another good day of helping lots of people. Will it all go smoothly? Probably not. But I don’t expect that. I just expect my team to work hard, and for people to feel the love of Jesus through us.
