A chaos of children!

Imagine...
You made it to an early screening day with your child, a young son who loves football (soccer), whose legs are so bowed that he's a full foot shorter than they should be.  Hopes are high until you're told...there may be too many people for surgery.  Your life waits on a phone call or visit...the waiting list.
And then, suddenly, surgery slots are open!

The hospital opened sunday afternoon, and already two of our wards are filled to overflowing with orthopedic patients from the north, children with their parents and younger siblings, an overnight census explosion.  For them, this is an unexpected answer to prayer.  Another ward is slowly filling with maxillo-facial patients as A and C wards have started to flood into B.

My day today was spent in the loving craziness that is C ward: 10 kiddos still waiting for surgery with their parent and some small siblings sleeping under the bed.  There are children everywhere, lively, laughing, full of fun, and looking for entertainment - being treated for everything from malaria to wounds to worms and scabies before they are ready for surgery.  Their giggles are infectious as I try out my Krio and Mende, teach them how to use the ever popular stethoscope and thermometer, and try to fit as many as possible into my lap for hugs, tickling and cuddling.  The nursing care itself is not difficult; the challenge lies in keeping everything straight: obtaining meds and supplies from a different ward, managing staff so that one of us is on the ward all the time (out of 1.5 nurses and a translator) and figuring out who gets treated for what when and how.  My charge nurse laughingly told me I received the assignment because I "thrive on chaos"...whoever told her that must know me well, because this kind of chaos is right up my alley!