FINAL BLOG... for now

The IVUmed Team to Nepal - 2009

Back in Taipei... we're headed home!

Farewell Dharan, Farewell Kathmandu...

This will be my last blog from Nepal. Tomorrow morning we will be leaving Kathmandu for Bangkok. We'll be staying overnight and then head back home the following afternoon. It has been an absolutely amazing experience and I've had a blast thanks to everyone on our team.





Dr. John Colberg a.k.a. the "ladies' man" bids farewell to the OT nurses. They were extremely dismayed to see Dr. John go... "May I interest you in some Courvoisier, ladies?"







Surichhya "Sanjiv" is a 2nd year surgery resident at BP Koirala who deserves a great deal of credit for ensuring that every aspect of our visit to Dharan went without a hitch. We enjoyed working with all of the residents. But, we especially wanted to acknowledge his untiring efforts. This picture was taken on the transport to the airport on the day of our departure. Even then, he was helping us with some last minute details.





We left Dharan by transport for Biratnagar. Then, we caught a flight to Kathmandu and stayed the night in Nagarkot, a village in the mountains with a spectacular view of the Himalayas. Sunrise in Nagarkot was incredible. However, there was a dense haze which obscured almost all of the peaks.




While photographing the sunrise Sunday morning, Bob was entertained by the swarm of Japanese visitors and tried to stake his spot early on. Happy Birthday Bob!!!




We have visited several incredible sights since our return to the Kathmandu valley.

Boudhanath Stupa - Kathmandu. This is the largest stupa in Nepal and is a sacred site for Tibetans who reside in Nepal. There is a mixture of Tibetan and Buddhist symbolism. Those piercing eyes are everywhere.







Bhaktipur and Mahabuddha Temple

A young Tibetan refugee reading poems in the sunlight...

Our last dinner in Kathmandu. Norma is making friends with a large peacock. She just loves birds! Keep in mind, she knows that there was a person within the bird moving the neck and beak. Oh, Norma...

From the Team Leader

Good morning from Dharan,

We have completed our stay at Dharan and about to leave to go back to Kathmandhu.

It would be an understatement to say that it was an interesting experience.

We completed 30 major cases in 5 days. When I say major... I mean major: cystectomy, bladder recontruction, continent urinary diversion, complex ureteroscopic stone ablation, pyeloplasty hypospadias, urinary fistula and strictures, and stone removal.

All the cases seem to get more and more complex and unusual.

All the patients are currently doing well and many have left the hospital already, to the surprise of our surgical colleagues here at Dharan.

Yesterday, we went to clinic and consulted on some more patients. I thought my clinic was busy. I greatly apologize to my assistant, Ivette, and promise her to never complain about my patient load ever again... or at least for a couple of weeks. Anyway, we have had a great educational opportunity. Every morning we began with lectures for the residents and interns. We hope to have provided them with some better understanding about the current urological diagnosis and management. The residents and interns sent some very nice emails and letters about how much they enjoyed working with us. We feel the same way.

I could not have been more fortunate to have such a great team. We all pooled together and worked our behinds off. I thank every one of them for giving 150% effort all day long. To correct Rich, it was not a mouse that scared Jean and Barbara, it was a mole. He came back this morning and visited Norma and Claire and scared the heck out of both of them. I greatly admire each and every one of my team members for their spirits and generous hearts. John, Rich, Norma, Jean, Barbara and Claire are people who truly make the world they live in a much better place. Please do me a favor and let these guys know when they are home what an amazing thing they have done and remind them how great they are every day.

We will be starting our journey back home. We all miss our families and friends very much and hope to bring you all back some wonderful souvenirs from this beautiful country.

Bob

Our final days in Dharan.

Today was our final day in Dharan. Our morning was spent giving a few lectures on tissue engineering research, stomal care and stone management. We then completed packing our supplies, visiting our surgical patients, and participating in a farewell ceremony. Over the last few days, our hosts have been giving us an astonishing assortment of foods throughout the day. The quantity of food is definitely much more than we are used to back home, but is commonplace for special occasions and honored guests.

These are pictures from our Thursday dinner taken at the Dharan Kitchen restaurant. Take a look at those tikkas that the ladies on our team were wearing. The Nepali nurses were awesome to work with and extremely gracious. When interacting with them, they are called "sister" as a sign of respect.

On Friday morning, we met with the OT nurses outside the OT suites and they performed a traditional ceremony to thank the IVUmed team for coming to Dharan and for all of our hard work. Everyone received a red dye mark on the forehead and a scarf. The men were given some cool Nepali hats!

Well, it's getting late and I'm completely exhausted from a week of challenging cases and the workload. Tomorrow, we're working our way back home via Kathmandu. Bob has planned out the next few days and it sounds like it's going to be magnificent. I'll keep you posted!

Nursing update

We are so pleased with the receptive audience for our teaching efforts! About 30 nurses from the O.T. attended our talks on Practical Application of Sterile Technique (Norma) and Caring for the Patient with a Mitrofanoff (Barbara and Jean). It was great seeing the nurses in the O.T. that day attempting to gown and glove just like Norma had demonstrated. Now getting the Nepalese surgeons to adopt this new method is something else! We applaud our colleagues for trying. We have done Mits on two adult patients and the ward staff was anxious to learn more about the care and patient education. Yesterday, Jean and I had a great session with the residents (about 15) and ward nurses (8) and then went to the patients' bedside for further instruction with the patients. Those low-tech flip charts are working out just great for this type of teaching! We are scheduled for another nursing in-service today so we will let you know how that turns out. We have a great team-- meeting challenges and being innovative as we go. Such as fashioning a ileostomy bag from a empty IV bag secured with lots of mastisol and tegaderm! My WOC nursing colleagues will love this photo! As well as using the finger of a sterile glove for a penrose drain! Gotta love it!

More later,
Barbara
Jean
Norma

Snapshots of our work day.

Jean has graciously taken charge of the supply room and data keeping today.

















Barbara is tending to the little ones with her Southern charm.

"Somebody has to watch over our brand new coffee table with matching chairs."

Norma has the kids entertained with toys from home. She speaks fluent Nepalese.

John's always thinking about ways to get us... we've got to watch out for that guy!

"Honestly Jamie the hand was for support only..." This photo was taken in the registrar's office.