Gold and Green: First Day of Surgery

Yesterday was the first day of surgery in our "adult" week. What most adults need surgery on here is not vessels that are blocked with plaque but valves that have become sickened due to rheumatic heart disease. Because people here don't have access to antibiotics like we do, they can get an infection like strep and left untreated it will attack their valves causing narrowing of the valve. This leads to heart failure. These patients are weak, get out of breath quickly, some have heart rhythm problems, fainting spells, constant coughing...the list goes on. One of our patients for later this week (potentially) has been having these symptoms for 7 years. I cannot imagine living life like this...unable to do so many things you long to do.
I digress. Our first days of surgery went great. Our first patient is Dorothy. She has rheumatic heart disease which has ruined her mitral valve, so the surgeon replaced it. Dorothy did amazing after surgery. Within 2 hours she was telling me about her little 3 month old boy Caleb and her desire to work as she has gone to University.
Peris is our second patient. She, like Dorothy, has rheumatic heart disease which has ruined her mitral valve, so the surgeon replaced it. She also did great. She was still pretty sleepy when I left the unit around 9 but was doing well, already drinking water and wanting to sit up.
Our nursing devotion yesterday was on taking time to be still and resting in God. This is especially hard to do here because it is go go go all the time. Today I have the luxury of going in at noon and working until midnight, so I got some sleep and have time this morning to go for a walk and be still. It is still a hard thing to do when you feel like there is work in front of you. But I need to rely on God, who is my source.
There aren't words to describe how beautiful it is here...I am sitting outside our room and it is green everywhere...such amazing beauty. I can hear the voices of school children reciting something and birds singing. God did quite a number here!
Today there should be two more patients. I think they are Jillian and Agnes, though they may have changed the plan for today. Prayers for their surgeries. Yesterday we started with cases we knew should do well, now we are getting into the more complex cases...ones that have a lot higher risk of having complications post operatively or not surviving the surgery. Continue to pray for wisdom as our team makes decisions with each patient.