My first surgery..

I really dig this hostel. The owners here are chill and have the most unique names; Tony Montana, Rooster, Tiger, etc. This morning I woke up early and went for a walk to see the sights before going to the clinic. Its dirtier here than anywhere else I have been but the people are super friendly and always ready to lend a helping hand. Breakfast took place at a little street side booth that served mystery meat soup and tea, which was amazing. I really missed having everyone stare and laugh at me while I ate but it took me back to the last time I traveled through this area. I met up with Brent and Lori and we headed off to the clinic in a tuk tuk. The clinic is exactly as I imagined it. There is one OR with 3 active surgeries taking place at the same time. We try to maintain sterility but everything we use is machine washed right outside of the OR and the instruments are hand washed (I think they have an autoclave somewhere..). They have a portable X-ray machine from the 1990's incase in a plywood "room" with a tech that has never worn shielding. Their recovery ward consists of 12 beds which each hold 2 people and if there is a third (caretaker) they sleep under the bed. I should have brought scrubs because most of the ones here are WAY too small, though the Cambodian nurses still whistle at me when I pass so it isn't all bad. We hit the ground running and Brent and I scrubbed in on my first surgery which was cleft palate repair. I "assisted" the surgeon by cutting the sutures, handing him instruments (some of which were the right ones), suctioning, etc. It was awesome! Dr. Lang was extremely patient with me and showed me everything he was doing. This past week was a holiday so we only had 4 surgeries and were relieved at noon. Brent, Lori, and I then spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city visiting museums, the market, and sampling some local foods. The strangest thing I saw today were dogs roasting on a spit. Brent and Lori thought they were calves but base of the direction of the knees there is no way they were cow. I am looking forward to sampling the K9 meat sometime soon. Thats it for now, more to come soon......