Check the 'tude

Oooo man did I wake up with an attitude this morning!

 I do not know why I worry about the things I do. It just doesn’t make since and I came to Ghana to work on this. Today I was worrying about upcoming changes I know I will face, I was mad at Trinity, the girl I’m helping in math, for standing my up twice and I could not get my brother Gavin out my head. I had to have been stewing about these things in my sleep because they were in my face the second my eyes flickered open from the 6:30 a.m. heat wave. Nothing is going on with my brother other than the daily delights of Air Force Academy, so don’t let your minds wonder. I’m just being a sister. I’ll explain it like this: if he hit his thumb with a ball peen hammer, my thumb will hurt just as bad. It’s just how the Mills family works. I am continually amazed and encouraged by his strength, balance, brains and the tender heart he has managed to keep in such a harsh environment. You inspire me, Gavin Lee and you must keep going because you can.

I had a flash forward moment this morning into motherhood. I couldn’t believe myself. Trinity walked into my room this morning at 7. We were suppose to meet at 5:30 a.m. because she didn’t come the afternoon before, and I gave her a very forward talking to about her negligent behavior and kindly reminded her of the severity of this test and the self-discipline she better pull out of her back pocket in the very near future. It was a whole lot of Gary and with sprinkle of Gail. I am very much invested in getting this girl into nursing school and I might be more devastated than her if she doesn’t get in! In her defense, she had some unexpected things come up and she came over this afternoon, on time, and did an excellent job with her fractions! I was so happy! She got a 100% on the quiz I gave her for that part. The multiplication tables, on the other hand, could use some work, and she’s realizing quickly how important those are. She picks up on these things fast and is so grateful. I was so relieved after she left today. 

Dr. Jean got caught up in administrative things this morning, so we did not operate until nearly 2 o’clock this afternoon. This means the sweat through scrubs/dry outside in breeze cycle was on repeat for hours until we got into the ONE air-conditioned room in the hospital- the theater (operating room). It was amidst the sweat phase of the cycle that Joseph, Armani’s newest suit model (NOT the Damongo dirt bag), showed up. Great timing. He was off today but heard I was at the theater and wanted to know if I wanted to go to His Grace Academy with him for a few. Um YEAH.

I had the best time. I got the shortened version of his life story, which is a great one. One of eleven kids. His dad died when he was 12, which was very difficult as you can imagine, and that’s why he is so driven to help people medically. He has a major soft spot for kids, and because his older brothers helped him so after his father died, he wants to do the same for someone else. He came to Saboba to help Miss Ivy start her school right after high school when it was only a though in her head a dream in both their hearts. He traveled to villages with her to explain to parents the importance of educating their children, and helped with much of the manual labor. There are kid-like paintings on the outside of the buildings, and he did them all. He taught there for three years before he went to his nursing program, and iscompleting that at the hospital and eventually, God-willing, continue on to medical school.

And there you have it. Joe.

The skin graft today was jaw-dropping. The only time my eyes ever left the table was to go stand under the AC for a few heavenly seconds, and that was only twice. You will fall out of your chairs when you see these pictures, especially if you know how a skin graft by American standards is done.  She injected the whole upper thigh with local anesthesia, which numbs but also helps constrict blood vessels and then she took this apparatus I have ever seen before called a wecking (?) blade, which is similar, in theory, to those cheese slicers that you can change the thickness of and shaved in a back and forth, sawing motion the skin of this old man’s thigh… his thigh being held taut by two halves of cutting boards Dr. Jean had Bob split apart for this very purpose FYI. I never thought about this until the operation, but it was very helpful to see my first skin graft on black skin because it makes understanding the proper thickness so much easier because you can see it better. She skillfully shaved off a very thin layer of skin and it left behind white, pinkish dermis that quickly oozed with spots of blood. She put each island of skin in a solution and when the top of the upper thigh was, well, “shaved”, she very carefully placed each piece of skin out on one of the cutting board halves to see what she had to work with. She explains it like putting together a jig saw puzzle with pieces you just “make up.” Then, she took just a regular old razor blade and cut scored it gently so that when the skin was placed on the open wound, it could drain through the slits rather than pooling between the wound and the new skin. The graft will not take if that happens. She carefully placed the biggest piece she had over the largest wound on the top of his foot and meticulously smoothed it out with the blunt end of a pair of tweezers, ensuring the edges would not roll. She put in a few sutures, did the same thing for the ankle wound and called it good. She unfolded piece of gauze, again on a half of the cutting board and very carefully smoothed out the remaining pieces of skin, placed another layer of thin gauze over, rolled up it and dropped it in a sterile jar for later as he would most likely need another one.

Just like that.

This woman is unreal I tell you, and I know my respect for what she does will only grow once I begin to learn how to do what she does out of the  comforts of well-stocked America.

By this time, I was starting to do the “wilting flower” thing and needed to go to the house and perk up. It was 3:30 by the time I got home. Solo’s wife Joyce had made me tizit for lunch today, but I never got to eat it because we were just about to head into surgery. I thought that was so sweet of her.

The only reason I was able to continually pick up one foot and put it in front of the other on the way back home was the reward I was would get when I got home. Fan Ice with pralinutta and ground nut paste mixed in. I have to say it like because I can’t say vanilla ice cream with chocolate hazelnut syrup and peanut butter because I live in Ghana. I actually kept my head in the freezer for a few minutes after digging out my ice cream. I am getting really good at making things up to eat for a snack. I’ll admit some of it is really weird, but nothing compared to what Dr. Jean throws together and I always impress myself. Pumpkin spice in my oatmeal. Oatmeal in some soup that was way too thin. Pralinutta (similar to nutella) in my Ghana’s equivalent of cheerios with a little bit of milk… powdered milk. I do quite well. But I have to say that my dairy delight was easily the best thing I have come up with yet.

After Trinity left, I decided I wanted to go roam the streets of Saboba to see who I could find. It’s a great way to make new friends and be better friends with the ones you already have. I was hoping Joyce, Solo’s wife, would still be in her shop so I could personally thank her and apologize about the tizit today. I walked my Mr. Cico’s bike shop, Sarah my seamstress and found Solo on my way! I think he was in the middle of their equivalent of poker night, but he was happy to see me and informed me that….

Bug. There was a bug that just flew in my hair and I could feel it. I was just going to flick it out until I realized how huge it was.

“SOLO! Do you see the bug?! Get it out! Get it out!”

“See what?” with typical male cluelessness, I mean, calmness.

“THE BUG!!! It’s crawling! GET IT OUT!!”

At first I was lightly swatting because I didn’t want to touch it because it was so huge, but I was grossed out enough by this point I was slapping the side of my own head. Finally it relaxed its evil talons and fell to the ground. I killed it after three big stomps, and stomped on it a fourth time for good measure.

Poker night had paused for a moment by this point… white girl freaking out. Hmm. Don’t see this every day. Game will resumed when freak out completed.

I can handle bugs because I can kill them, but when they will not let go of me and I can feel how big they are CRAWLING on my head and can’t see them, apparently I spaz out. Dad, Lily Lake flash back! The first time my dad took us crawdad fishing, he was so excited he caught one, he yanked it out of the water so hard it flew off whatever it was holding on and landed on my head.

I know I am much stronger than I was then, but Ghana really brings out the wimp in me sometimes.

Anyway, Solo was trying to inform me Joyce had gone home, and asked if I would like to go the house to see her. Sure! I like visits. So off we went to see Joyce and Benedita via MOTORCYCLE. Oh I love those things. His quaint little compound was so homey and inviting. It was dark by that point so I couldn’t see the much, which was unfortunate because I have never been in that part of Saboba before. Benedita was rockin’ just the panties this evening and climbed all over me the second I walked in the gate. Not even the Grench himself could not be heart-warmed by such a thing. I adore this little girl and she helps fill the void from the kids I left in Damongo. I noticed when I met her that she looked a little pregnant, but I didn’t want to say anything and forgot to ask Solo today. When Solo told me how he wished I would be here when their second baby comes, I lit up like a Christmas tree. I wish I could be too.

I had jolof, similar to Spanish rice, for dinner tonight because Bob heard me say I wanted to try it. After last night’s Goat roast, I was happy with anything. I liked jolof very much. They use peppers in everything here and I love it. Hot hot hot! They use ginger a lot too, which I am not the biggest fan of, but when cooked with other spices, it gives the dish a nice little kick.

Speaking of, I nearly forgot- my breakfast this morning. Bob had Aggie go get some of the local porridge for me to try. Ready for this? It looked like gravy, was the texture of perfectly homogenized gravy, but tasted like cornmeal and cream of wheat and hot GINGER with a little sugar. (Helen, “that’s newJ). The texture sensor was already off, and my sense of taste system was jammed from input overload. Odd… very odd.

I took another stroll with Moses and Cosmos when they were done with work after dinner and we went to see Joseph for a bit and meet his brother. They are such lovely people. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy the people here. The topic of discussion this evening was using teeth to bite off bottle caps…. Yes. They do it effortlessly, which I first observed Abraham do and wanted me to try it. He says it’s because they eat bones so their teeth learn to be strong. Joe’s brother Pastor Jidoh (Gee-do) was telling me he even prefers bones to meat!! He and I will be splitting a beef. I get the meat. He gets the bones, and we will walk out the door as two satisfied customers.

Now that my feet are beyond dirty again and my two week pregnant lady cankles are at capacity, I’m going to call it a day. A very good day. Tomorrow is jam packed: Trinity is coming at 5:30 in the morning, C-section at 7, meeting with Jonah and school administrator about this crazy girls around here whenever we’re done with that, a soccer game at 3 between the hospital guys and the teachers (funny) and then Trinity is coming back again after that!

Holy Saboba.

Thank you God for the much-needed attitude adjustment.

I am missing March Madness, so I hope you all are enjoying it!