So I survived my night shifts! I stayed awake for the Easter service on the dock at 8am Sunday...then brunch at 10...finally went to bed at 11am til 5. Then had another night shift Sunday.
Easter was such a cool experience. The service was on the dock overlooking the ocean. Such a cool way to celebrate Christ's ressurection...lots of praise songs...even the kids on the ship did a dance..thanks to Elizabeth...as she teaches dance back home. The sermon was based off of Matt. 25...serving others..it was really good. It gave everyone the rare opportunity to dress up..many wore their African dresses that they have had made here. By the end of the service we were all sweating pretty badly.:) Then we all went inside for the yummy special Easter brunch...of which we are still eating today..and prob. tomorrow too:)...it's all about leftovers here...or shall I say variances on a theme.:) Good thing Im not a picky eater...actually they really do a great job and make some yummy meals. At 7pm there was an open house where families opened their cabins if they wanted to you and could go to different cabins to get some snacks and coffee and say hi...woulda been fun, but had to be at work at 7.
Work went well Sun. night...was kinda overwhelmed when I heard I had the whole B ward to myself...at least only 14 patients instead of 20 since some had been sent home. The nurse who was supposed to work with me was sick. But...it's all about flexibility:) It actually ended up being a great and quiet night...and I had a little help until 9:30. I had half the patients Sat. night so knew most of them. I got to do the dressing change on the guy who's surgery I had watched the other day...I think I had written about that...he is an albino who had a huge, smelly, cancerous mass removed from his neck and the Dr.s did a crazy skin flap and he will later go back for a skin graft. Anyhoo..so really cool to see that. And is was just a blessing being in that ward. There were 8 VVF ladies on one side and 6 guys on the other who had had different surgeries. I had a lot of fun with them. Andrew...the one who had the tumor removed is sooo joyful. He is in his 30s...and when I was starting vital signs early at 5 to get them all done he was up walkin around praying and singing worship songs. I just couldn't help but smile. And the patients are so appreciative for everything you do...for the most part. All in all I survived the night...just a little busier at the beg. and end of shift...but made time go by fast...and I had a few friends stop by to see me during the night. Six people were starting a puzzle when I came up to get coffee at 11. I went up at 2:30 and helped for a while on my 30 min break...then when I went to get croissants at 430am they were still there...and still there when I finished at 730!! Glad others arent getting sleep around here too:) Good times. I hope everyone had a joyful Easter!
Well, Im off to bed since I only took a 2.5 hr. nap this morning when I got off work. A bunch of us went to the beach since it's still holiday here on the ship. Maria and I swam way out to a rock...quite fun and good exercise. We were out ther for a while cause one of the Africans on his little wooden fishing bote went by and asked if we wanted to go for a ride...so of course we said yes...he said he had tdo drop some stuff off and he'd be back. We were thinking maybe he'd be like 10 min...then we thought about it and figured African "right back" is prob. dif. than our def. of "right back". So, ya we ended up having to go in before he came back...sad. A few of the guys got stung by jelly fish on there way out to the rock we were on....nothing serious though.
Easter was such a cool experience. The service was on the dock overlooking the ocean. Such a cool way to celebrate Christ's ressurection...lots of praise songs...even the kids on the ship did a dance..thanks to Elizabeth...as she teaches dance back home. The sermon was based off of Matt. 25...serving others..it was really good. It gave everyone the rare opportunity to dress up..many wore their African dresses that they have had made here. By the end of the service we were all sweating pretty badly.:) Then we all went inside for the yummy special Easter brunch...of which we are still eating today..and prob. tomorrow too:)...it's all about leftovers here...or shall I say variances on a theme.:) Good thing Im not a picky eater...actually they really do a great job and make some yummy meals. At 7pm there was an open house where families opened their cabins if they wanted to you and could go to different cabins to get some snacks and coffee and say hi...woulda been fun, but had to be at work at 7.
Work went well Sun. night...was kinda overwhelmed when I heard I had the whole B ward to myself...at least only 14 patients instead of 20 since some had been sent home. The nurse who was supposed to work with me was sick. But...it's all about flexibility:) It actually ended up being a great and quiet night...and I had a little help until 9:30. I had half the patients Sat. night so knew most of them. I got to do the dressing change on the guy who's surgery I had watched the other day...I think I had written about that...he is an albino who had a huge, smelly, cancerous mass removed from his neck and the Dr.s did a crazy skin flap and he will later go back for a skin graft. Anyhoo..so really cool to see that. And is was just a blessing being in that ward. There were 8 VVF ladies on one side and 6 guys on the other who had had different surgeries. I had a lot of fun with them. Andrew...the one who had the tumor removed is sooo joyful. He is in his 30s...and when I was starting vital signs early at 5 to get them all done he was up walkin around praying and singing worship songs. I just couldn't help but smile. And the patients are so appreciative for everything you do...for the most part. All in all I survived the night...just a little busier at the beg. and end of shift...but made time go by fast...and I had a few friends stop by to see me during the night. Six people were starting a puzzle when I came up to get coffee at 11. I went up at 2:30 and helped for a while on my 30 min break...then when I went to get croissants at 430am they were still there...and still there when I finished at 730!! Glad others arent getting sleep around here too:) Good times. I hope everyone had a joyful Easter!
Well, Im off to bed since I only took a 2.5 hr. nap this morning when I got off work. A bunch of us went to the beach since it's still holiday here on the ship. Maria and I swam way out to a rock...quite fun and good exercise. We were out ther for a while cause one of the Africans on his little wooden fishing bote went by and asked if we wanted to go for a ride...so of course we said yes...he said he had tdo drop some stuff off and he'd be back. We were thinking maybe he'd be like 10 min...then we thought about it and figured African "right back" is prob. dif. than our def. of "right back". So, ya we ended up having to go in before he came back...sad. A few of the guys got stung by jelly fish on there way out to the rock we were on....nothing serious though.
2 comments:
I love how your story went from yummy easter food to "huge, smelly, cancerous mass..." rather quickly. I got hungry and nauseous all in one sitting...:) Anywoo...keep up the good work!
can you explain what a 'bote' is? and i quote: "little wooden fishing bote"
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