They promised us today that if it rained again we could sleep in the houses reserved for long-term volunteers instead of our canvas abodes. Of course, that was all they had to say to keep the rain away. At least we’re dry!

Day 1 of surgery went very well. As expected, the trick was to both screen in new patients and get through the 10 surgeries we had on the schedule. Since both Dr. Pete and Dr. Trish have to see each new screen, this meant a full day of musical doctors. The good news is we did both; 10 successful surgeries and 21 new patients screened. The better news is that our team is now ranked in the International Musical Doctors League. Rah rah!

Tomorrow promises to be busy as well; with 11 surgeries scheduled for the day it very well may be another late night. We also expect around 10 new patients for screening, but since we have the musical doctor things down pretty well that should go smoothly.

Surgeon Eric Moore joins us tomorrow; he is coming down to perform the cleft surgeries and should arrive at the hospital around 4 p.m. He won’t start cases until Thursday however. We will continue to fix hernias Thursday and Friday in addition to the cleft patients; right now the schedule is set-up for half and half both days which will be a nice break for Dr. Trish (who has actually given up chewing to save time between cases).

We are all really excited by the work being done, and are eager to keep the momentum going into the rest of the week. This trip is a learning experience on so many levels and is opening eyes and doors to so many different aspects of our mission as a whole.