Day 1
The Askenasy Team woke up and was welcomed by filling breakfast and ready to start the day fresh. Once the team made it to the hospital, we went to the chapel and the pastor, Jacob, reminded us to stay in the moment by telling us, “Here. This. Now.” This empowered the team to remember our purpose, and help as many people as possible. Fito gave everyone onboarding training, then Dr. Askenasy split everyone into teams. The mobility team went straight to work assembling wheel chairs with their power tools and their rock music playing in the background. The surgical team began meeting the patients for the week by walking them through the operation and what it would look like. Then the anesthesia team reviewed their charts and discussed safety measures before surgery.
One particular man came in with his mom with an anxious look on his face. I was accompanied by Kip, who was able to translate, and Dr Dow, who gave him his assessment. Previously he fell into a coma three years ago due to a motorcycle accident, and had a catheter inserted. When he woke up, he had it removed and everything seemed to be fine for around 9 months, until the scar tissue reformed inside the urethra. This made him unable to expel urine from the bladder, and had to have a catheter placed on his belly. Dr Dow, with the help of Kip, went through all the risks and problems that potentially could arise after the surgery. He was hopeful for surgery and was more relieved.
After a full day of planning, the Askenasy team returned back to the hotel in pouring rain and were greeted with a nice surprise. The team was able to go to a different restaurant that had beautiful scenery with many artifacts hanging on the wall. Dinner was truly a treat with the presentation of the food, the art of the wall, and the great customer service that was provided. Everyone was buzzing with excitement and conversation was flowing great. Many people spoke about what cases they would be dealing with the next day, and everyone was ecstatic when they heard who they would be working with. The day ended with fried ice steam for dessert, and it reminded a lot of people of their Texan roots. Finally, everyone returned to their rooms ready to take on the next day.
Seth Askensy Photographer and Blogger
