…everyone is wearing down. Working this many days with this much chaos is exhausting. I’m about to work on my 2nd mountain dew for the day and it’s only 0930. Only a few more real surgery days, then recovery days then we’re off to Cambodia. The goal is only to do surgeries that will be able to get off the ship by the 11th or so. Still working on a few cleft palates and lips. They really are having the most difficult time and requiring the longest stay. I am interested to see how Operation Smile functions when they come onboard in Cambodia. I’m not sure if we will incorporate them in our wards or give them their own. Last time they incorporated them due to staffing but it ended up being a great learning experience. Hopefully we can also incorporate them so we stay busy.
Yesterday was my liberty day off the ship. The liberty boats did not leave the Mercy until noon so we didn’t arrive in Quy Nhon until about 1300. Getting down to the boats was an experience!! We went up to the O1 level -first level with weatherdecks…but also 6 levels above the lowest deck (inside the ship we have from 1-5…1 being main and 2 below main, etc…). From the O1 level we had to climb down an ACOM ladder. It’s a very long ladder with rope railings and it rolls on the barge its positioned on as the ships and barge move with the water. I have a video and will try to post it…if I can, watch the bottom of the ladder to see how much it was moving while we were climbing up and down. Was almost like an amusement park ride …but for free! From there we boarded a Vietnamese Rescue boat. It has a large capacity than our band aid boats we use to transport to MEDCAPs. Whenever we go to shore, we have to use a shore pass. It is a government issued card with a designated number on it. Without it we’re not allowed past the pier and there are a ton of Vietnamese and our own security to make sure everything goes smoothly.
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