Wednesday March 4, 2020

     I didn't write yesterday partly because I was tired, and partly because I was feeling frustrated. Happily today I feel much more optimistic !
     Yesterday we started late (1st case around 11:15am) and that was the highlight of a frustrating day. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross wrote some years ago about the 5 stages of the grieving process: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. I have told people before that I go thru similar stages each time I come to Liberia tho I put Frustration in there before Bargaining. It usually takes me about a week to feel like I have passed thru those stages; yesterday I set a personal best by going thru all of the phases in a single day!  By the end of the day I was feeling totally frustrated by the pace and by our inability to accomplish what we set out to do.
     Today, on the other hand, was an excellent day and we are back on track. I had an excellent chat with Professor Ikpi this morning, and then we did a bunch of cases. I felt there was some good teaching as well as interesting surgery which required some outside-the-box thinking. Tonight we came back to the hotel around 7:30 and had dinner after cleaning up. Adamah came to the hotel and Mary and Sam, and Ben was with them along with Masmina, so we had a good evening. Tomorrow is going to be another busy day with a schedule that we are unlikely to complete, but we will try. But I need sleep first.