A Perfect Day

Yesterday was an amazing day for me - a working mom searching for balance between career and family. My day started with a run at 6:30 am with Heather and Alyssa, new friends who are both missionaries here at Tenwek for 2 years. Between the hills, high altitude, and mud caking onto our shoes from the unpaved roads, I had to stop and walk a few times. The walking did give me an excuse to take in the beautiful scenery: lush green valleys, exotic flowers, and a huge waterfall. Did I mention a donkey and a cow leisurely walking along our path?

I was home in time to let Bryan get to work - morning report at 8 am. Anna and I then started her homeschooling at 9 am. This may be one of my most challenging yet rewarding jobs. I get one-on-one time with Anna, and I have the opportunity to learn all kinds of fun topics. During this time, Leo plays with our Kenyan nanny, Miss Sheila. We took a break at 10:30 am to walk Leo to preschool, then back to the books. At 1 pm, Anna and I were done with school for the day.

We then had lunch with Daddy. Bryan has made it home for lunch every day that he has worked so far. It helps that it is only a two minute walk from our front door to the hospital. It's fascinating, though, that at a hospital with many deliveries per day and a busy gynecology service, that people find time for lunch.

At lunch, Bryan informed me that he had a patient scheduled for a LeFort procedure (a surgery to reduce complete uterovaginal prolapse). He asked if I wanted to scrub with him...He didn't have to ask me twice! Between the two of us, we had only performed four of these surgeries - which we found out later was more experience than anyone else had there. The patient, a sweet 70+ year old women, had eight vaginal deliveries in the past and presented with one year worsening history of prolapse and pressure. Before the surgery, she grabbed both our hands and with genuine gratitude in her eyes thanked us. We prayed with her before we started the surgery.

An hour and a half later, Bryan and I were done with our first surgery together. It was so fun to work together, since we don't have the opportunity to do this in the States.

We then performed a bilateral tubal ligation on another patient. The patient only received local anesthesia and she didn't even flinch once. Boy, are these women stoic!

So between 2:30 pm and 5:00 pm, we did two surgeries. We were both home by 5:05 pm to let Sheila go home. We then had dinner at home together and spent the rest of the night reading books. I have to say...It was a perfect day. I know there can be many challenging days ahead (both at work and at home), but I am happy with the way it has started.