April 4, 2022

 Went to JFK at 8:30 am with our 13 bags of supplies, and found that the elevator was not working. Without too much trouble a group of men was recruited to bring them all up to the Operating Suite on the 4th floor. We then went to Grand Rounds and were warmly greeted by a number of old friends. After the meeting, Dr Gbozee showed us the new ICU as well as the new trauma ward, and the we went back upstairs to unpack our supplies. I think we did well in matching their needs with what we brought! Mary, our Administrator Angel, came up and we reviewed some patient charts for possible surgery: most were routine, and some might be interesting. One is a right colon “mass” for which there is no documented proof, and the other is a “sarcoma of the sacral region”; I asked that both patients be asked to come in so we can see them before committing to surgery. Earlier in the hallway downstairs I saw Miatta; she is a young woman with inflammatory bowel disease who may need yet another operation. I asked her to come back on Wednesday morning when Santiago is here. Masmina came to the hospital to check on us; we decided there wasn’t much more for us to do at JFK today, so we went back to the hotel for lunch. In the afternoon we went out to the 14th Military Hospital which is on the road to the airport. It is quite new and sparkling! There we met Kevin and Nuta Strachy, who I have heard about but never met. She is Liberian and a nurse; he is a retired plastic surgeon. He closed his practice in Florida, and they moved to Liberia where he is essentially CMO of the 14th. We had a wonderful tour and discussion, and I think we will find a way to work together a few times on this trip. After a lovely dinner, we all went to bed early to get ready for the beginning of serious work tomorrow.