We woke up early to be able to have breakfast before our 7 am departure. Despite being told that breakfast service starts at 6:30, many of our group were already in the breakfast area and eating at 6:15 when Kris and I arrived. We had plenty of time so I was able to grab a cappuccino from the lobby vendor to take along on the bus. The coffee served at breakfast is not quite as nice as a good cappuccino. By my calculations it costs 31 cents to buy. Everything here seems so inexpensive except for the super high end stores like Chanel, Gucci, Vuiton etc. that line the streets near our hotel.
It’s always a challenge to get started the first day. I needed to be sure that Kris had everything she needed to start the case. Since this is her first experience, it can be a bit daunting. All the first cases today are 1st stage ears meaning that they take from 4-6 hours to take out the cartilage from the ribs, carve it into an ear and insert it into a pocket to hold in position that matches the ear on the other side of the head.
Our room which is one of the 4 rooms we are using has the fastest surgeon. We finished both cases by about 3pm. Then we needed to get organized for tomorrow. We needed to move our setup to a different room since we were working in a very large OR that could accommodate a microscope needed for the next day. We left the hospital to return to our hotel.
We walked to a bar at the hotel Metropole. We were in time for happy hour. Drinks were 2 for 1. We met a couple who were beginning a tour in SE Asia. Fun conversation. I tried to get them to contribute to our cause. It might happen. We left the bar after drinks and snacks to return to our hotel.
Tomorrow will be a very big busy day. I am staying late to finish cases. It will be interesting for those who thought the early day today was typical. Not so!
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The Adventures of Anne 