What $100 Can D0

I watched a couple surgeries the other day. Dr. Akwaras had come to me earlier that week and told me about a woman he met during a consultation who needed to have her appendix removed. When the group from my church came over they brought with them some monetary donations from some friends of mine. I told Dr. Akwaras shortly there after to keep his eyes out for ways the money could go to good use, knowing there were more than enough people who needed such help. This particular case was $100. Dr. Akwaras doesn’t charge any surgeon fees, so the money strictly covers the costs of the OR, utensils and drugs, both anesthesia and post op. Most times Dr. Akwaras, in addition to providing his services free of charge, will pay the hospital fees etcetera out of his own pocket. Amazing isn’t it?

The ‘hospital’ was on the ground floor of what looked like a strip mall off the street. The operating room was something else, like we were walking into an abandoned warehouse, but it was actually the OR. Sanitary is certainly not the first word that came to mind. More like, seriously? A couple of mosquitoes buzzing overhead. Two of four fluorescents flickering above us. An operating table that looked like something straight out of a MASH episode, complete with wooden slats inserted on either side of the table for the patient’s arms to rest on. Which by the way didn’t do a whole lot of good after the patient had her anesthesia, they were flopping all over the place. Her OR gown, was a dark forest green, with a couple of holes here and there. There is very little use of “disposable items” such as paper gowns here. They can’t afford such luxuries. Only the basics. The mask I was wearing smelled like it had been sitting in a dust pile for heaven knows how long. The instruments came wrapped in checkered cloth with masking tape wrapped around it. At one point in the middle of the surgery the lights went out. Can you imagine? Laying on an operating table and boom, power’s out. “Hold that thought doctor, shouldn’t be long before we get the generator going…” Incredible. All that to say it was quite an experience. And yet the job was done and done well. Without the fancy equipment, the monitors, the team of doctors and nurses. Even without light at one point. It’s not that these things wouldn’t be nice to have, I’m sure they would jump at the chance to update their archaic equipment. But at the end of the day surgeries need to be done. A lot of them actually. So what do you do? You do the best with what you have and pray God takes care of the rest.