My Trip to Kenya, Africa

To my nieces and nephew:

2009-11-24T16:56:00.000-08:00

My plan was to create a DVD and share with you some of the things I was able to see and do. Unfortunately unless a miracle happens I think I am going to have to postpone the DVD because of my PC issues. I have a few other options up my sleeve but for now I am going to just have to post pictures.

This is one of the many pictures where we have Lucy playing with her new baby doll. She loved it, and because of the donation you gave, we were able to give it to her. She held it, played with it, and cuddled it. On the last couple of days she looked much better than this picture she was smiling, blowing kisses and playing with her doll. I don't know this for sure, but I am go out on a limb and say that I think this is the first baby doll toy she had ever had. She also was able to get some other things like hair clips, stickers, crayons, and other things. Thank you for your very generous donation.

By the way this box was used to help provide her with oxygen, because she didn't like to wear anything on her face.

Andy

2009-11-13T18:28:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

I need a new PC, (I know that sounds ungrateful since this one isn't that old. I have the DVD mostly done, my PC just continues to freeze on me.

I know I know, I guess I am going to have to come to everyones houses and just give a presentation one by one. That is fine by me.

I have been thinking a lot more about the trip as I have been going through hundreds if not a few thousand pictures. What an experience. Just incredible.

Thanks for continued prayers for my PC. I have wanted to be done with for almost two weeks now.

At this rate, it will be next year.

Andy

DVD almost finished.

2009-11-02T18:06:00.000-08:00

To those who have been following my trip or who have supported me along this journey, I have been working on a DVD with music and pictures. I promise it will be done by this weekend and will have it mailed by next week.

Thank you again,

Andy

Safari!!!!! Hakuna Matata!!

2009-10-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

Thought this warning was kind of funny.... Not like you would see me getting out of the jeep so I could get closer.

The accommodations were pretty awesome. Safari was a great way to end a very busy trip, but it was sad leaving Tenwek, and I started missing my family a lot more at this point. Laura and I had purchased a cell phone in Nairobi a week and a half earlier, that cell phone didn't work at the Masi Mora Safari.

Yes it was a tent but it was a "tent" a real one. Everything all the way to the food was just awesome.

We all paid extra to enjoy a Bush Dinner, the food again was great, and they made us a big bonfire, drinks and desert., and anything else we wanted. There was a port-a-poty out in the bush and all of this even came with its own armed guard. It was a pretty cool experience.

You can see we were definitely spoiled.

These giraffes were sparring. Here we are with the Nouri's Nathan by brother, Ann, Malic and me getting ready to go out on a safari.

This is the Masi village we visited. We were greeted with dancing, singing, and hand shakes. It was also a great way to catch the culture.

The animals we saw were pretty amazing, we saw the leopard on our very first safari. That was heart racing and jaw dropping fun. It is sort of hard to describe.

Here are the girls, just having fun.

Below are the Masi warriors singing and jumping as a part of cultural tradition.

At the very top of the picture you can see a croc, our guide said that the hippos created sort of a kitty pool idea to protect the two babies. In my opinion I don't think security could be any tighter.

At the Bush dinner there was a part in the program where the Masi danced and sang for us again. That was awesome. But by the end of it we were attending Laura's wedding. As you can see from the photo she is carrying the marriage stick.

It was pretty amazing to see all of these animals in their element.

Rain was constantly threatening while we were there but it only rained a little that very first day we went out on safari. We were lucky. The temp was actually quite enjoyable.

The Masi territory made up some 2,100 square miles of land.

This Cheetah was just trying to rest.

This leopard, was pretty incredible. Our guide put us right in front of it. It was hunting a rabbit.

After we all shot pictures with us touching the rhino the guide told us that not much bothers rhinos, and about the only thing that really bothers them is when you mess with their young.

Maybe someone could have told me this before I touched the baby.

All of the giraffe we saw were so beautiful.

Just random pictures

2009-10-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

I guess this picture is pretty random, the night before we left, Dr. White and his family invited us over for dinner. Just before we sat down to watch a presentation (which was pretty awesome), his dog Emma decided she needed a hug.

She looks cute and innocent here, but she is far from it, on our way to the mountain she liked to nip at my heals. I thought I was going to get bitten. I declined rabies prophylaxis, who would have thought I might need it because of a dog bite. It would be so much more interesting if I said I was bitten by a Rhino or something. (Of course Emma doesn't have rabies, just being silly)

This is our trek back to Nairobi, to left of the picture is about a 500ft drop to what would be instant/sudden death. It was a fun ride.

I wasn't going to post this, but just couldn't resist, this is a tape worm that was taken from a patient. Worms I guess a real problem in that region.

Cool huh.

It is amazing

2009-10-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

This is Chep Koech and Enoch. I have pictures of the others but I can't find them. They were all doing quite well. On Monday the 6th they were all out of the unit and in the Peds area. Some even were going home, that has been the most amazing thing I think I have felt lucky to be able to witness. 13 patients six days, by day 8 they were all doing well enough to move on.

I also was amazed by each of their inner strength and physical strength. I have obviously never had open heart surgery, but I can imagine that it is very painful recovery. Many of them did recieve some pain medicine, but not nearly what I thought I should have given them. We constantly ask if they were hurting, and then would deny any pain, mostly we gave them pain medicine when we could tell they were in the slightest bit of discomfort. Even so, it was mostly tylenol or codeine.

(above) These smiles were priceless.

Sad it was over, it seemed to go by really quick. Of course we were really happy everything had gone ok. Many family and staff prayers were answered.

Each one of them will continue in our thoughts and prayers.

This is Tuesday morning things packed and ready to head off to our safari. We were all sad to leave. Dr. Russ White was there to see us off.

Day of Recovery

2009-10-04T22:43:00.000-07:00

This is Tony the Tet, it is hard to believe he had open heart surgery just a day or so ago. He did great. Everyones prayers were answered.

This was our last heart patient. Can I just say one more time, can you believe they just had major open heart surgery just 24 hours ago.

Someone is having a great nap.

Today has just been praying and waiting for our paitents to be able to be moved to the wards. As of now we have three patients left, both remain on a little bit of nasal cannula, but doing much better.

The Tony's father told us he was very happy with his progress, and was one of the sicker patients we have had this week. He was a Tetrology of Fallot patient who's sats were only 40% when he came in for surgery. He was actually what seemed to be a persistant "tet" spell and constantly struggling for oxygen. He also has very prominent finger and toe clubbing. His uncle is the one that thought he needed medical attention. When they took him to the outlying hospital they told the parents that he had a heart condition but that they were not sure what it was so they sent him to Tenwek. He wasn't growing, and definately not having a productive life. I wonder how long he would have lived had he not had surgery. His story is very interesting.

Most of the 13 cases done were a result of rheumatic heart disease which usually is caused by strep throat infection. Isn't his amazing? This type of heart disease is so preventiable with a little education and very inexpensive antibiotics. I wish I had the resources to come back and do more education and help to prevent this from happening.

It has been a great week today we also packed up those things we needed to take back and packed up those items that were going to stay. Amy is going to leave her trunk so we can use it as a place to store all of the nursing items we will be using next time we come back.

Our goal is to get all of the patients out of the by this afternoon mainly because we leave Tuesday morning.

Love you all, this has been a tremendous experience one that I will never forget. Again I can't tell you enough how grateful I was able to come, the families and patients have been so gratious and thankful. Many have even said thank you for "saving me." For many of us this feels very natural and easy, but for these families we are giving life.

Day 6 Final day of surgery

2009-10-03T12:11:00.000-07:00

This is the second to the last patient. Tony.

Dr. Patel gave us all soapstone shaped hearts.

This was our second patient, isn't she beautiful.

Today was the last day of surgery, our surgeon Dr. Bichell and heads home tomorrow. to date we have done 13 cardiac surgeries, from shunts to mitral valve replacement and repairs, and also septal defect repairs, to three valve repairs. Only one of those was via thoracotomy procedure the rest were open hearts and only two didn't go on heart lung bypass. Wow what a week, it has been crazy, but fun. I can't believe that it is over, we still have four patients in the unit the two surgeries from today one a BT shunt TET repair, and the other was a cortriatriatum repair. Both are still intubated and on the ventilators but hopefully by morning they will be doing better.

Dr. Barr and Bennett left today, they had to get on the road before 3pm local time per the hospital director. There were also several others who are leaving tomorrow, this is really sad, this trip is coming to a close.

I don't think there are words that can adequately describe my feelings about this trip, not only am I am extremely lucky but I feel just honored to have been able to be serve in this way.

This has been a great trip, with a lot of neat things that have happened.

I am going to go to sleep now but will post more later, thank you again for the thoughts and prayers.

Love all of you and see you soon, I can't wait to share all of my pictures with you.

Day 5

2009-10-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

Two more surgeries today, both went well. It has been a good day the patients have done really well, both are extubated and some just on a little oxygen. It has been cool to be able to walk freely in the OR and take pictures of whatever I want. Common courtesy applies of course but other wise you may do what you want.

They moved all of the cardiac patients to one little 6 bed room and moved them out of the adult ICU. I feel so much better about that, the environment is much better and they are around others near their same age and their family stays in there with them.

I worked all night and then went home and attempted to rest before I had to come back at noon, I was slightly interrupted by my roommate Dr. Patel. He snores really loud and in fact I was even a little worried about him for a few moments. He was ok, but I wasn't getting any sleep.

The day has been really busy, just lots going on. Dr. Fingleton, Eric G, and Wynitia left for home today, so Dr. Bichell and the rest of them leave tomorrow and the next day. I can't believe that this trip is coming to a close, there are two more surgeries tomorrow.

Love to all and thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

More random pictures

2009-10-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

I should have posted this one first since without this hydroelectric dam Tenwek would not be the hospital today without it.

These little kids ask me for a "sweet" I gave them a lifesafer mint candy. They thanked me.

Both pictures are right near the hospital compound, the one on the left are little huts they sell little odds and ends out of.

There is an interesting story about these cute litte triplets. Culture is a lot different regarding multiple births, the middle child is not wanted and might be abondend.

I won't disclose the name of someone in our group who just loved to take pictures of the mules. Every where we went she was taking a picture of a donkey and you can imagine that since there are mules all over the place this person was always taking pictures. This is downtown Bomet, a hop skip and a jump from Tenwek.

This is a mountain we were driven to, it was pretty awesome, you could see the entire Tenwek compound. We walked back, guided by Jamie Dr. Whites son, we were a little sceptical at first but soon realized what an expert he was. It was a fun walk back home.

This is a picture of the top of this thatch hut. This was a common site while we were there. I was told that if the little spire was not atop the roof then it ment that the father, or husband had been killed.

Tenwek is just off toe the right of this picture.

"Roadside Butchery"

This is another picture from the above the hydroelectric dam that provides Tenwek with all of the electricity it needs.

Here is another picture of Bomet

One our way up the mountain there as a point when even our driver ask us to get out so he could turn around. It was a little scary, I am glad I wasn't in the jeep as he turned it around.

Some more cute kids. Down the street from Tenwek.

Day 4

2009-09-30T18:16:00.001-07:00

My day today was spent sleeping. The cardiac team completed two surgeries, one was a aortic valve repair who is already extubated and on RA. She is doing well, The other is a VSD closure, and a PAPVR repair, is also extubated and doing well on RA. Two of our cardiac patients had their chest tubes pulled and then went to the Pediatric Ward. The other still had chest tubes in so James is still in the ICU mixed with the other adult patients.
(Picture left, this was our oldest patient 17years, she too did very well) I think this was Chip 3
Below was Lucy she was cute as ever, she was so afraid of Rebekah it wasn't uncommon when you approached her bedside she would put her arm over her nose. She was just cute.

Here is the team.

I am sure it is a little intimidating being next to them, the patient to the right of him is a burn patient looks like isn't doing well, and the patient to the left of him is also really sick.

(The guy with the guitar is Jeff, the husband of Dr. Erin Cardiologist. He became our resident, child life specialist, tour guide, echo tech, ekg tech, doctor, equipement tech, social worker, and music therapist. We loved having him, it was a huge blessing to have him).

While i am talking about the adults and kind of a cultural thing, suicide is quite common here, the patient that is in the bed directly in front of him in the adult ICU ingested poison.

After I woke up from a good sleep, I walked down to find some of the team members who were apparently playing soccer with 450 boarding school kids, with there 14 teachers. I got lost trying to find it, and ended up down the road a few blocks, where I ran into 6 little kids carrying a bushel of sticks on their head, they ask me for a "sweet." It was a lot of fun, they also wanted me to take many pictures of them.

Well now it is me Dr. Barr, and Rebekah holding down the fort in the cardiac ICU we have 6 patients and again they are all doing well, we have frequently discussed how fast tracked a lot of patients are here, just a few hours after surgery we have them ready to go to the floor. Well that might be a little wrong but the point is they do well. I guess we are a little lucky and blessed, mainly due to the prayers that all of you offer on a daily bases for us and especially the surgeons.
Well tomorrow will be a new day. This truly had been a great experience, we have met some great people and seen some incredible things. I feel lucky to be here.

This has truly been a eye opener and a very different experience.

Thank you all for all you do thanks you for your love and concern and mostly your prayers.

Day 3

2009-09-29T22:51:00.003-07:00

This is Phillip, he was one of the three or four nurses who were just awesome to work with. We frankly couldn't have done it with out them. They helped us translate, an really for a lot of the time were right by us tapping chest tubes, giving meds, etc. just all of the regular nursing things. Phillip helped me through my two night shifts. He was great to work with.

This family above right was a family that brought their child to the clinic.

Well it is about 15min to 9:00, on Day 3, I have a second to post because I am in the clinic today. I forgot to mention yesterday that I was assigned to the cardiac clinic. It was a great day I had a lot of fun. CArdiac clinic involves checking in patients who either have appointments or a suspected cardiac history, many also come because they have heard that we are in town and just come to hopefully be seen. We usually see everyone but it makes for a long day for our two

cardiologist doing echo's and screening patients.

I get to take vitals on these patients as I check them in and get a health history. This can be a challange due to the obvious language barrier, luckly we have many translators who help us. After I am done I get to give them things that many of you helped to purchase, stickers, baby dolls, markers, crayons, etc. They really appreciate the gifts, it is sort of fun to watch them take one marker and just get sooooo excited. The parents are also very excited. About half of them don't want to be examined, as soon as you ask them to lay back on the bed they immediatley start crying, so it becomes my job to help calm them down. I want you all to know yesterday I because a human bubble machine. We saw about 20 patients all of which also had echo's done on them (keeps the cardiologist really busy).

(Here is a great picture, one would think that this patient was sedated for this ECHO, no no, no harm was done in the screening of this patient, he just got so comfortable with the procedure and fell asleep. This was certainly an exception and much appreciated).

I suppose the most difficult part of clinic is that about 4-5 of the patients that we saw yesterday were told that nothing more can be done and one was told that she may only have a few more months of life left due to an abnormal heart condition that causes her to heart to beat in an irregular manner. If not corrected then she would die. The cost here is $200 and the cost in Nairobi would be $4,000-$5,000. This was so sad and just created a sadness in the room as our team was just very matter of fact with the family in a kind and compassionate way.
The other 3 patients that were seen just were told to maintain the current medication treatment and that nothing else could be done. This mothers face is imprinted on my mind, she was very happy and talkative in the beginning and then was clearly just sad by the news. The medical director told us that it isn't uncommon for families who find out this information to abandon their children.

For about 6 hours this morning I also spent in clinic, it was great. For some reason I was more emotional than the day before. The father of one of the patients said, "so you mean that this condition could have been prevented?" It is just sad that a simple strep test, or education and penicillin could completely stop this.

It is 0407 on Day 4, and we have 6 patients in the ICU. I am up with Rebekah and Dr. Tzanetos. We are having a busy night. We extubated two patients, and both are doing well. The unit if full and we are running out of places and equipement. We will see what will happen today. There are supposed to be 3 surgeries today.

Day 2

2009-09-28T22:25:00.000-07:00

Hello all again from Tenwek, Bomet, Kenya. We had a great night, both patients made it out of the OR one was about 1530 and the other was midnight. Both came out very sick but the first case is was extubated early this morning, and the other is still on the vent doing better than last night. Is on pretty high vent settings. Both surgery's involved repairing the heart valves. The second case was three valves.

Anyway, things are going well, the ICU recover area is very basic and recovery is very basic with basic supplies and equipment. We are truly lucky to have what we do, it has really helped me realize how blessed we are to have what we do even with our very difficult and hard to work with system.

THe staff here at TEnwek hospital are awesome they are all eager to learn, and are excited we are here. We have been working with other ICU nurses here at the hospital and they are just great, we obviously couldn't work without them.

I think the things that stands out to me the most is how basic the iv pumps are, the availability of medications, and the equipment we have to use.

They just took the first case for day two back to the OR and are busy putting IV lines and making other preparations for surgery.

There are six beds in this ICU they use it a lot for overflow, they brought a patient in here yesterday that had aspirated and had to be intubated, after things were kind of settled her ECHO showed she only had a EF of 10% and she fairly old (80yo). We have heard from the locals that since her outcome wasn't very good that it comes down to either keep her on lifesupport or be able to provide food for their families. This is pretty opposite for us in the US.

The other overflow patients have been infants and small children who have presented with respiratory compromise related too much narcotics (we see this too in the states). The have a infant warmer in this ICU and we saw three newborns rush by us, one was pretty blue which I would guess had a very low apgar score, wasn't breathing, and was pretty blue. It was pretty neat to see that she was finally resuscitated and was doing well.

That is all for now, I know this is sort of disorganized and may not make much sense, I am sorry for that I hope that you will understand.

More to come later.

It's great to be here, thanks

This is a picture of the Adult ICU, our doctors were consulted about a patient who needed a chest tube. The ICU looked to be about maybe 8 beds. We saw a burn, ingestion, and many other injuries.

Patient visit from last year.

2009-09-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

I don't remember this little girls name but she had surgery last year, Rebekah of course remembered her and naturally was excited to see she was doing well. She had a VSD repair. She was less the excited about see all of us and even her friend from last year wasn't even welcome. I can't imagine why she wouldn't want to see us???
We had to give her several intramuscular injections of medicine to sedate her so she could have an ECHO done. As a side note her ECHO looked fine her function looked good.

What a great story.

Here is more unpacking and preparations being made.

In the Unit today

2009-09-28T02:39:00.000-07:00

Both of these pictures are the apt where we stayed.

This is a little girl who when we first got there was just so friendly and wanted to hold everyones hand. As you can see just a sweet girl. I think we later found out that she was still at Tenwek until she could finish paying her hospital bill.

These are pictures of two of the native nurses who were providing us with Chai, otherwise known as "Chai time" This was a favored time for many of our staff.

The picture on the left is in the OR and is a picture of the bypass machine.

The picture on the right is us retrieving our first cardiac patient. It was only a matter of a few feet to the OR.

As we were setting up, and organized our recovery area, they had brought a patient for our team to help with. She was 80 year old.

I am actually sitting in the unit where we will be recovering the heart patients, they are still in surgery. Things just take a little longer sometimes, but all things considering everything is going well. I am working today and going to assist in recovering our first heart patient (valve repair), the surgery is just really starting. I think they were just in the chest and I don't think they have starting exploring to see what is going on.

Our accommodations are wonderful, here in the Tenwek compound. Everyone has been so nice we have met a lot of children and kids. We are really blessed to have what we do in the US, even to have access to the things we need. We have seen zebra's, ostriages (not sure how to spell), and monkeys. It has been sooooo cool.
surgically we plan to do two surgeries everyday until Sat. Without surgery these people would otherwise die. Dr. White the md that runs the hospital said there are hundreds kids that have rheumatic heart disease, that die due the lack of resources.
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

I am here

2009-09-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

I am here, just rolled in. Man the trip was long but we made it. I am wasn't all able to see anything since it was dark. But I will take pictures in the morning. I met a lot of very nice people along the way, even some experienced travelers that helped me get through.

The flight was a mear 9-10 hours from Chicago to London, then with a 12 hour lay over I made my flight to Nairobi, that was also about 8 hours. I have always been amazed at air travel, how someone can get on a jet and then in 8 hours just be at their destination. Many of you knew this but I thought I would mention, that I was flying solo on this trip due to a generous donation by my in laws. It was lonely, but worked out just fine.
This is the group, I was really happy to see familiar faces.

This is our group at the Mennonite Guest House in Nairobi. The sleeping arrangement and accomidations were great.

This is Sunday morning, we had a lot of things to put in a small van and make the trek 4 hours to Tenwek. Our driver Gerald was very entertaining, he was a great guide and a lot of fun. He said last year, the journey would have taken 6 hours, due to road improvements there is only about 3km that remains dirt.

Here is a picture of "Phillip" the strapping young man above is Nathan this is the son of Malik and Ann Nouri (Anesthesia MD, that saved our trip).

Nathan I became pretty good friends. WE have a lot in common, ELECTRONICS!

This picture is from the Rift Valley, this was on our way to Bomet and to Tenwek.

This was pretty breathtaking. The road down into the Rift valley was hardly breathtaking, but more like it took my breath away as I looked down a raven to our left and a mountain to our right with no shoulder and a lot of big trucks making a very slow decent.

Can't sleep.

2009-09-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

I am pretty nervous and excited to go. I have been soooo busy today. Thank goodness for Jen or I might have just gone completely bananas. She always brings me back to earth and grounds me. Next stop Chicago and then from there to London.

Andy

Difficult to leave, the young don't understand.

2009-09-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

I think today everything set in a little more. I am not going back to work for 21 days. That is pretty exciting, but I am going to have to leave the kids. I actually didn't think it would be this hard, but when Rebekah the one second from the left came in my room after we had put everyone else to bed and was just sobbing, I ask her if anything was wrong or if she was hurt (thought maybe on of her sister may have done something to her), upon further investigation, it was concluded that she was just going to miss me. I ask her if she understood why I was going, and what I would be doing there. She of course said yes, she said she knew that I was going to help others do a great and wonderful thing, but that she would just miss me.

These moments are just precious, I love my family, I love the examples they are to me. I haven't even left for Africa yet but I have learned so many things.

Thank you again soooo much for all of the love, support and mostly prayers.

I am getting a little nervous

2009-09-20T12:56:00.001-07:00

Man, I'll be honest, I am a little scared and very nervous. It isn't the same kind of scared you get when you go to a haunted house, or watch a scary movie. I am also nervous about leaving my family for so long. I don't travel for work so this trip for two weeks will be quite different for me and my family. The kids remain really excited for me to serve in this way. It is really neat to hear them pray and ask for dad to "please dad to be able to drive back from Africa safely." Jen has been super supportive and excited for me to go, I wish I could take her with me, how neat would that be to be able to do something like this with your wife.

I am sure little Hannah has no idea that I will be go for two weeks, I actually can't think about it for too long, I will miss them. I am blessed to have a job that doesn't require me to travel and be away from home. I am excited for this opportunity and feel truly lucky to be able to go, thank you to all of you who have supported me and continue to support me on this adventure. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Getting Close!

2009-09-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

VCH Champ Dolls are going to be shipped over. We are pretty excited to get those. This is Laura, Dr. Moore behind her, and then Kristen sitting at the table.

Here we are trying to weight everything, it had to be under 50lbs. To the left is Dr. Barr, and Dr. Albers, some clearly were wanting to show off their packing skills.

This may not look like very much but it was a lot of stuff. Most were going to attempt to pack 2 weeks worth of personal belongings in the carry on and and all of the medical stuff in the checked luggage.

This is Laura and Dr. Tzanetos.

This is Dr. Barr's daughter Bennett,

I can't believe it is almost time to leave, I am getting nervous and a little scared. We had a packing party on the 16th, Thursday. It was a lot of fun and interesting trying to get everything into our suitcases. We deliberately attempted to over stuff Dr. Patel's luggage (he wasn't present for the party). We managed to get everything plus a little extra in our 16 suitcases, it was pretty exciting.

More to come later.

Paper work

2009-09-08T18:46:00.000-07:00

I received a small package today in the mail, it was full of information about travel to and from. I am grateful that everything is so detailed. I know exactly what times and who will be transporting me to and from the airport in Nairobi and then to Tenwek. Also in the package was information about the visa we will need and other contact information.

I can't wait. I remember my interest in this trip came last year after my friend Rebekah gave a presentation on her trip and some of the things she saw and did. She expressed how amazing the experience was both physically and emotionally draining. I was impressed then, and thought how great it would be to be able to do something like this. At that time I thought it would be just another one of those "wish list things" something I would only be able to dream about doing. Early in the year Jan or Feb. I think it came up that the group would again return to Tenwek. After telling Jennifer about this potentially opportunity I was amazed by her response, "Do it!" She said, "I think if the opportunity is their I think you should do it." She paused and then said "How much will that cost?" Again then we were both brought back to reality. Something like this would just be a dream, I guess now we can say it was a dream come true.

Pictures like this one above really struck me, I am so grateful for the things I am able to enjoy and the health care services I do have (I am not addressing any current problems we have), but when you consider the people of Kenya it makes it a little harder to complain about what we are blessed with in this country.

Have a nice day!

Pictures from Kenya

2009-09-07T11:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from last year. The top two are pictures from the Unit where the heart patients will be recovered. From what it sounds like from my friend Rebekah. We make do with what we have.

This machine is a portable xray machine, I wish I could post one from VCH so you could compare the two. Again we just make do with what we have. I am sure Kenyans are very happy with what they have and are appreciative and grateful.

Here is a picture of the supply room.

I can't wait to go. I have purchased a few things in preparation, and have made copies of all of my important documents. Thanks for everything, all of you supporters and this very awesome adventure.

Kenya meeting today

2009-09-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

This morning we had another meeting, just to coordinate travel, supplies, equipment, and concerns. It was a great meeting, the peds CT anesthesiologist that joined our group at the last meeting said he just "felt compelled" to make this mission trip, and that "there are just too many people who are wanting to serve." It was really neat as we all sort of cheered and thanked him during the conference call for saving our trip. It was really neat. We were able to firm up many things and discussed some other finer details like specific equipment and how we planned to get it to Tenwek. I am amazed that we can do this, people and equipment is just coming through the wood work, and at one point we had nothing and now we have a lot to take with us. There are still many logistical things to accomplish and then our next meeting will be a packing meeting where we will all try to fit everything in our luggage.

Here is a picture of my niece's and nephew who donated the $11.00. Mark, Emily and Paige.

Departure is around the corner.

2009-08-28T20:13:00.001-07:00

Time is really flying by. I can't believe Sept. 25th is coming up so close. These pictures are from Aug 22, we decided we needed to go through all of the stuff we had collected over the past several months.

Mostly we were amazed how much gets thrown in the trash. Nothing was wasted, items that we are not going to take, Rebekah took to another donation center for medical supplies.

Out of all of the supplies we had collected, due to limited space, only a 1/4 of all of this are items we are going to take.

We wish we could take it all, but we are having to pack it in our two checked pieces of luggage. Tape, masks, IV's, Alcohol pads, tubing, et tubes, dressings, scrubs, cables, and syringes are just a sample of things we are taking.

The other part of the meeting was to dicuss personal items and also expectations all provided by our seasoned medial mission person Rebekah. I think I would be a lot more nervous if it weren't for her guidance and direction.

L -R Deanna (MD), Laura (RN), Amy (RN), Michelle (PNP), Kristen (RN soon to be PNP), Rebekah (RN).

Here are two of the donated scrub uniforms that Laura and Kristen are modeling. They were more like dresses than scrubs.

Here is the whole group.... not really, there are many more that are going about 15 in all.

Can't wait to go!!!!!!!

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

2009-08-20T19:50:00.000-07:00

Well the trip was almost postponed. The team didn't have an anesthesiologist, well now we do. This disappointment lasted about 2 weeks and then out of the blue the critical team member was identified and the trip was back on. It would be an understatement to say that everyone was disappointed, I think devistation would have been a more appropriate word.

Mostly that the patients who need surgery would have to wait....if they could. I think much faith came from my daughters who have been so excited for me to be able to help in this way. I am humbled by their faith and prayers. I think from the time that I told them that I might not be going they were sad, and began praying. "Please help them find a doctor so that they can go help the kids in Kenya."

Let the supply hunt continue. YAHOO!!!

I was at Avida Healthwear in Franklin today and ask them if I could purchase old out of style scrubs or maybe with minor flause. The owner quickly responded, "well I have some older style scrubs of various sizes that I would love to just give you." She ended up giving me three big boxes of new scrubs. I was so excited, wow what a blessing, that was just a neat experience, I feel blessed.

A Great Story

2009-08-09T15:40:00.000-07:00

If you read my first post then you will have remembered me mentioning how humbled I have been with all of those who have spiritually, emotionally, and temporally supported me as I have been preparing for this trip. Some of you may have heard this story, but one day I reiceved a check in the mail for $11.00.
Thank you Christi (my sister in law) for sending the first-hand account.

"As for the story of the 11 dollars.... The day we got your letter asking for donations we told the kids over dinner that we would be donating and asked if they wanted to participate. They immediately got up and went to their various money stashes. They had just been told that we would be going to Sea World in San Diego at the end of summer and they had started to save up for spending money for that. Mark, Emily, and Paige brought money for me to send to you. Emily brought all she had.

Thank you for letting us participate in your trip to Africa. What a great opportunity for you and we were happy to help in our small way! Love Christi."

Isn't this awesome. Thank you Mark, Emily, and Paige for your help, what a wonderful example you are to me. Thank you for your kindness and generosity, and mostly your sacrifice to help those people in Africa.

Love your Uncle in Tennessee

Thank you all, have a great week!

I obtained permission to post these pictures, they are from World Medical Mission.

Just a few scanned pictures of Tenwek Hospital.

1st Post

2009-08-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

This blog post is long overdue, I am sorry I have just been busy like everyone else. We have been working and celebrating birthday's. June through Aug are birthday months at our house.

This picture of this syringe symbolizes mostly what I have done to prepare for this trip. I had to get typhoid, yellow fever, Hepatitis A, already immune to B, Meningitis, and polio. I am taking antimalarial medications, along with many other "anti" medications for other not to be discussed medical problems I might expereince on the trip. Many of you know I sent a letter requesting donations, something I haven't ever done before, many of you also know that the donations have come from friends, family and even strangers. This has been very humbling for me. No words can adequately describe my appreciation to those who are supporting me on this trip. Naturally I am nervous and very excited. I can't wait to go.

We have been having monthly Tenwek meetings, and have been collecting things from the hospital. There are many more things I need to purchase for the trip, and will be doing that over the next few weeks. If I have counted right I will leave in 53 days. WOW time is flying. I feel very lucky to have this opportunity. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts.

This is a picture of my friend and coworker Rebekah. This picture was taken last year at Tenwek Mission Hospital. This is one of the patients she worked with, Rebekah is one of the 6 total nurses who will be going again this year. Tenwek is located 200+ miles north west of Nairobi in the city of Bomet (not sure if you call it a city). It is a pretty long and bumpy drive from what I have been told.

Here is another Native who as you can tell many of the staff quickly became attached to.

Letter

2009-08-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and Family,
As many of you know I work in the Pediatric Critical Care Unit at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital and have for about 5 years. I love what I do; I have the opportunity to work with a number of different patients from various backgrounds and cultures. I am paid to take care of these children but for me it does feel like a service that I am able to provide to these children.
Many of you also know that I have had rare opportunities to work specifically with infants or children with a Congenital Heart Disease. I am truly amazed at the way we can provide care for these children, and hold myself lucky to be able to work in a place where I see miracles happen. Naturally, not all stories end with a happy outcome, but being able to be there at the most delicate moments in someone’s life, is an honor.
I have been given a unique opportunity to be able to truly put into practice the things that I have learned over the years. I have the potential opportunity to help in a different way, in a completely different environment. I was invited to join a team of Surgeons, Doctors, Anesthesiologist, Practitioners and Nurses to help perform surgeries for children who do not have the same resources that we do. This group of Cardiac Medical Staff is leaving late Sept/ early Oct 2009 to Kenya, Africa. The purpose of this medical trip is to perform cardiac surgery to at least 9 children; my role would be to be a part of the team that supports these children post cardiac surgery.
This is an obvious chance in a life time for me, but moreover it would be a great opportunity to serve those without other options for corrective heart surgery. These surgeries are truly life changing for this small group of children. The trip is unfortunately not sponsored by Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Hours spent on the trip will come from my own personal vacation time, and other monies for the trip would also come from personal finances. The amount I have to have is $2,300-$2,500.
This is where you come in, likely I can’t make the trip without monetary help. These days I understand finances are stretched thin and resources are scarce. If you feel impressed to help in this way, with any donation, thank you in advance for helping me help those who do not otherwise have the same opportunities we have. Thank you again.
Sincerely,

Andy Lamoreaux

My Trip to Kenya

2009-06-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

My trip to Kenya would definately not be possible without the help of sooooo many people, I have already mentioned how humbling this has been for me. I have thought many times about posting the names of each individual that donated money to me, but that would exclude the many who may not have been able to donate in a monetary way. Both kinds of donations are equally important and I continue to request the prayers of all of those friends and family who know of this medical mission trip. The list of names is a broad list of those who are supporting me on this trip in any way. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, thank you...thank you! The children in Kenya thank you, specifically those who we are able to help.

Bills, CO; Brannin's, NV; David L., CO; Roger, TN; Mr. Heard, TN; Ellworth's, TN; Shipley's, TN; Cottles, UT; Michelle O., TN, Natalie G., TN; Sauber's, TN; Trewartha's, UT; Jim & Margo Lamoreaux, UT, Kent & Mary Streuling's, UT; Forest and Mia Smith, UT; Karen & June Levesque, TN; Andy & Catrina Bledsoe, UT; Troseth's, TN; Paul & Katherine Moore, TN; Bickmore's, TN; Dad & Paula, UT; Mom, NV; Allen's, TN; Dr. Parker, TN; please forgive me if I have left someone off of this list, because I am sure that I have.