Saturday March 15

 Saturday March 15

      We started the day with a mastectomy on a patient referred by Dr. . We saw her in the OPD Clinic earlier in the week, and then had the usual bureaucratic nightmare of trying to get her admitted. Fortunately all it took yesterday was a word to Mary, and she was admitted for surgery today. Unfortunately the lab was unable to measure hemoglobin this week, so we didn't know if she was anemic. The nurse anesthetist  complained a little, but she didn't resist when I told her that the surgery had to be done. Period. The patient unfortunately has an at least locally advanced breast cancer with a fungating external lesion and palpable axillary adenopathy; having pathology could be important in determining further therapy.
      Then Santiago and Rakesh did a skin graft on the scalp of a young man who has been waiting for surgery for a long time. He kept asking when we would do it, so this was the last opportunity.
       We then said our goodbyes to the OR Staff, and went down town to the new Chevron Park to watch an exhibition of dance and acrobatics put on especially for us and the group from Indiana University working on developing the nursing program. It was quite entertaining and fun to watch ! After a short tour around Mamba Point we went back to the apartments to rest before the party.
       For the evening, all of us plus the Indiana University group were invited to Adelaide's house for a party. Adelaide is a longtime friend of the President, and she is also the host of the radio show that Santiago appeared on. We arrived early, and were sitting in her backyard patio when another guest arrived; she introduced herself, but I didn't catch her name. She was quite interested in the work we have been doing on this trip, and we had an especially interesting discussion about John's experience as a biomedical engineer. I told her that we all thought we had done good medical work on this trip, but John was clearly the MVP for what he had been able to fix as well as what he was able to teach the local biomedical engineering staff. We talked about how the tendency here is to push broken things to the side and ignore them rather than try to fix them. It seems easier to ignore the problem and hope that someone else will fix it rather than putting ones self out to find a solution. It was quite a fascinating discussion as she applied what we have learned into the broader context of Liberian society and culture in general. Then Adelaide came out, and we learned that this erudite woman was Olubanke King-Akerele, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Minister of Commerce and Industry for President Sirleaf ! She just completed a stint as the UN Representative in Zambia. One of the joys of making these trips is the not infrequent unexpected encounter with an inspiring figure such as her.
      I had several interesting discussions with the Indiana people as well as others during the course of the evening. It was a great time, and a wonderful last night before we leave tomorrow.