The Gift of Sight: The Gift of Sight

The focus of this visit for Dr. Nelson was to see the entire process for these patients from start to finish. Normally, he stays busy with cataract surgery, but he wanted a more in depth view of how the clinic runs so that he knows what they need and how he can better support it. The plan for the day was to watch surgery in the morning and then go out to the villages and see where they test the patients prior to bringing them to the clinic.
The room I stayed in was by the OR and by where all the patients were staying the night so therefore, I was up with the rooster. Not. Joking. Before getting settled for the night, I hadn't looked around the bathroom and Sister Innamma asked me when I wanted hot water to bathe. I assumed she had to turn on the hot water, but figured out that she meant a pale of water when I noticed there was no shower in the bathroom. Luckily, she forgot about the hot water and there was a shower in another room. I'm such a girl when it comes to that stuff. I just wasn't mentally prepared to use a bucket of water to bathe. Is anyone ever prepared for that?

After a piece of bread for breakfast - they don't eat until about 9-10am - I headed up to the OR to observe surgery. Dr. Nelson and one of the other doctors rotated patients. It was beneficial for me because I had the chance to ask Dr. Nelson questions while the other was doing the surgery instead of interrupting him in the middle of the procedure. I watched about 10 cases or so and took plenty of pictures. Is that even allowed in the US? I even got a video up close and personal of Dr. Nelson using the phaco machine to remove a cataract. Anyone interested in seeing it? It took me awhile to get used to watching eye surgery. I'm ashamed to admit, but the first time I observed, I had to leave the room.

More pictures of our morning:

A few of the patients staying the night for their surgery on Wednesday

The guy with the camera was everywhere - seriously. He was a patient assistant, photographer, driver, computer guy....you name it, he did it.

Dr. Nelson in surgery

Proof that I was actually there and can "suit up". (How I Met Your Mother reference..lol)

Patients in post-op. They stayed the night until they were able to be seen the next day.

After the morning of surgery, the sisters took us into a village where they see patients. The clinic is free for the patients and most come from very tiny, poor villages. First, we went to a testing facility that people go to for all medical conditions. Later, we went to an actual village and met the 'mayor' and some of the residents. As soon as we got there, they made Dr. Nelson sit down at a table. Within a few minutes, he had a line of people waiting to see him. I'm not sure where they all came from, but they wanted to be seen and wanted to be seen NOW. It was really interesting to see some of the patients who came. Dr. Nelson was simply just using a flashlight and many had very dense cataracts that we could see. He pointed out a few other problems they had as well so it was a good learning opportunity for me.

While we were there, one of the other doctors, Dr. Kumar, who volunteers at the clinic, stopped by to see Dr. Nelson. We ended up at his house for dinner after a tour of the hospital that he runs. His house was at least an hour from the clinic and he promised to have us back by 8:30 or 9pm. Surprisingly, we didn't eat until 9pm. Can't say I didn't see that one coming. He was very hospitable and his wife cooked a delicious meal for us. It was the first time I had been in someones house here and served food. His wife served all of us but didn't eat and just sat at the end of the table until we were done. This is just their culture, but it's so different than what we are used to. She was really concerned that we didn't like her food, but really it was 9pm and we still had an hour drive back to the clinic. If you've been in India, you know that it's not all fun and games driving here in the middle of the night. I didn't eat much for fear of getting car sick and I'm pretty sure Dr. Nelson was the same way.

The day in pictures: