Cooking Teams (#2)

If you missed the first installment of Cooking Teams you can catch up here.

My role as Chief Cook/Lead Chef (the title really does seem to change on a whim) sounds good on paper.  The reason I say that is because on paper my hours are from 8 to 5 Monday thru Friday (Riiiiiiiight).  I guess it could be in certain circumstances or if I really didn't care and wanted to get on with life outside the kitchen, but I am one of those people who love it.  I usually stay hanging around the kitchen thru to 6 or 630pm just to see things thru or just do some recipe research or the small 'pushing paper' part of my job by creating menu's or questions to bother my boss about, he loves it. (I am being sarcastic)

In the past we had some special events, functions, and dinners which usually involved me working on the weekends, and if you are actually on the ship when are you really ever off from emergencies and unknowns?  Believe me, a lot of unknowns or surprise things need to be done that involve guess what?  That's it, the galley!

If you remember me talking about the earlier schedules of the cooking teams in my last post you will see that my schedule has me working with both teams thru out the week (remember team Fried Chicken and team Watermelon?).  Oh and by the way, I named the teams not to be cliche (ok maybe partly because I thought it would be funny) but because I actually like both of those foods allot...although I try to keep my fried chicken intake down for all the obvious reasons.  Being able to consistently to work with both teams on and off thru the week really helps me to keep a good handle on things and to see both strengths and weaknesses in each team.  And that in turn helps me to know how to menu plan, clean, cook, and get organized in the kitchen/galley depending on the character and quirks of the team working.

Now that most of the special events or food functions have passed away I may actually have weekends off...BUT the joy in that is now I can start 'hanging out' or signing up for other projects and events.  This weekend I have signed up to go out Saturday to help work on construction projects for a local orphanage, Stephanie has also signed up for a totally different project than mine and she will get to visit with handicapped kids (& maybe some adults) at a home.

Hope in the Hall

I was walking in the hall from the kitchen to D ward when I stopped abruptly and was overcome with emotion. There were about 10 Liberian women, patients on A ward, walking toward me singing "I have hope, I have hope, I have hope in Jesus." These are the women that are having VVF surgery.

VVF stands for vesico-vaginal fistula. During prolonged labor pressure from the head of a fetus can cause internal tissue to become necrotic (dead). A fistula develops between the bladder and vagina and causes a constant leak of urine. More severe fistulae may include the rectum and feces will leak as well.

Western medicine has eliminated this condition in the developed world. But in Africa, at least 2 million women are leaking.

They leak because girls are forced to marry before they have fully developed pelvic bones. They leak because their bodies are malnourished. They leak because maternal care is not accessible. Often, a woman will endure five to six days of unattended labor. Her efforts produce a dead baby and a solemn memorial. It is insane to me that 1 out of 16 children die instead of live during the birthing process in west Africa.

Last night as these women, with their catheter bags in their hands, walked down the Hall of the Africa Mercy Hospital singing with a smile on their faces "I have hope, I have hope, I have hope in Jesus", I was reminded that I have a lot to learn.

Ciatta

Tuesday evening I was assigned to D ward and I had one of the Academy students (the school for the kids on board) as a job shadow. KimAna's family served on the Caribbean Mercy when we were there and now are on the Africa Mercy. She is 15 and is interested in being a nurse, she will be following Megan and I for 7 shifts. We received report, started our assessments, charting, vital signs, and of course held the babies.

Around 5pm we heard that we were getting an ICU patient with a Dental infection (big surprise). She came in and was having a hard time breathing. All the Doctors came in and we got her ready for emergent surgery.

We went to dinner and when we got back the patient was on her way back. Her name is Ciatta, she has 4 children and a husband for 13 years, that loves her so much that when he saw her after surgery he threw himself on the floor out of despair. Ciatta came back from the OR still intubated ( breathing tube in her nose and on a ventalator). We got her settled by putting her on sedation meds ans morphine for pain control. We placed all the tubes that are normal for a intubated patient. KimAna got to see a lot.

 The next day we both came back bright and early for morning shift. Ciatta looked much better. By late morning we started taking out all the tubes we placed the night before, including the breathing tube. Ciatta made a wonderful recovery. She sat up in a chair and was even transferred out of  the ICU.

At the end of the day I was blessed by Ciatta. I got to see the whole process including the recovery, what a blessing.

Yogurt!

I have had quite a few comments about yogurt but here is a general reminder:

Yogurt is like oatmeal, if it's done it will be a volunteer that will have to work around our limitations. I know maybe you have been in our kitchen/galley...if you have, you see our galley is even smaller than the ANA with more people to feed.

Last I heard someone was supposed to take over for the last person who was making it volunteer-ely (if that's a word) doing it on the weekend out of the way of the cooking teams & dining room working hours.

Also, we (galley/dining room) are not in charge of any part of it and can not be pulled away from our work hours to assist you, every working person in food services is precious and their time during work is precious...if you would like to be that volunteer you need to contact a previous volunteer that can show you how to make it, take care of it, and overall be totally responsible for it within the basic guidelines AND permissions for galley and dining room use. (because the warmers that are used for the yogurt are in the dining room).

Otherwise, you are free to enjoy the yogurt cups that we supply from time to time...no it may not have that 'fresh made' yogurt nutritional health, but it does taste good every now and then when you really start missing that yogurt taste!

B is for Baby

One of the weird things (there are many) on the ship is that even on your time off you hear about the new patients, the emergencies, and the funny things that are going on in the ward. When you live literally 200 feet from the ward it is easy to go down on my time off to see what is going on. Earlier in the day I heard we got 2 more babies on the ward. Actually, it is the mom who is having surgery, but the 2-week old twins are with her. I walked down to B ward and was taken back when I opened the door and heard 3 babies crying. It was music to my ear, mostly because I knew that I would be able to hold one of them. I picked up Anthony who is 10 days old and he instantly calmed down and nestled into my chest. He was brought to the ship when he was 6 days old with a condition in which his spinal cord was exposed in a little sack and was becoming infected. Now, little itty bitty Anthony is on the ward. after his surgery a couple of days ago, getting antibiotics and spoiled by all the nurses that crave baby time like I. Stephanie