Day Five
There are so many moving parts in the hospital, from the pre-op room to the operating room to the PACU to the wards and physical therapy. Patients go through the hands of so many medical professionals before their operation and recovery is complete. It is such a large undertaking not only to operate a hospital, but to do so in a foreign, unfamiliar place where not everyone speaks the language or has their normal materials. It seems like it should be impossible to manage such a large system, but it is done.
It gets done the way it does because we have so many talented, cohesive individuals working together. Individually, it would be impossible to serve the way we do, but as a team, we are able to accomplish so much and keep the machine oiled. From the Zimmer Reps who organize the implants to the CSTs, handling the tools, to the anesthesiologists who hand them off to the surgeons, who get their hands dirty and the post-op nurses who keep them stable as their anesthesia wears off.
A great example of this teamwork took place on the last surgery of the day. The man being operated on was 38 years old, and has had an injury from a car accident and knee fusion for the last ten years. When a complication arose during the case due to incredibly tight muscles as a result of the time he had lived with the injury, the surgeons couldn’t get an implant into the hip, they lacked some of the tools that they ordinarily would have to fix the problem. They struggled for hours. About three hours in, most of the surgeons finished up their cases and headed back to the hotel, but after a text was sent out asking if anyone else would be willing to help, every single surgeon returned to the hospital within 15 minutes. With new eyes and arms, the case was resolved within 30 minutes.
In PACU, the nurses waited anxiously for the case to finish, expecting that he would have lost a lot of blood and experienced greater than average bodily trauma. Nurse Lesli Bennion reported saying a prayer, and when he arrived, he was awake, he had good blood pressure and a stable heart rate, and he was not in pain. He smiled and told us he was happy.
Every person is important to this team, even those without medical backgrounds. The translators, Carson Wingert, Kacey Harvin, and Jeff Early, who help communication flow smoothly. The team coordinator, Melissa Holmes, who has put countless hours into ensuring that everyone is in the know about where they need to be and what they need to do in order for everything to run smoothly. Even I, the lowly blogger, have found ways to make myself useful.
Every person is necessary, whether contributing medical knowledge, comfort, or even a simple prayer for success. This would all be too much for us individually, but as a team, we are able to serve effectively and change lives.
Maya Holmes
Team Blogger
