Hello from Myanmar!

After all the team arrived safely on Sunday we met together for dinner which was hosted by several of the doctors from the Military hospital.

The next morning, with great enthusiasm, the team gathered in the foyer waiting for distribution to the three hospitals we would be working in.Six of us piled into the back of an army ambulance which headed to one of two hospitals we would be visiting for the day. It was peak hour traffic so took over an hour to get to the first hospital and we stopped to drop Brendon and Emma off to begin their education roll.

When we arrived I went to the Cath Lab where I observed an angiogram on a childwhich was being supervised by Dr Rob Gusto, one of Open Heart International’s (OHI) volunteer cardiologist. With some suggestions from him and a guiding hand the procedure finally got under way.

I was then taken into theatre by Pam Reid, a well-travelled OHI volunteer. It is wonderful to see how warmly she is received by all the theatre staff who have grown to love her after her many visits to Myanmar.In adjoining theatres there were two cases underway. Dr Wyn Wyn, the local surgeon was almost complete with a few finishing touches being made. In the adjoin theatre Dr Bruce French and about 15 other people, 5 of which were training surgeons were all observing and learning. It appeared to me that there is a high skill transfer which over the years have enhanced the expertise of the local surgeons to a high standard, to the point where they are almost ready to tackle the most difficult of surgeries on their own.

Dr David a lovely anaesthetist from RPA took the time to answer my many questions. The local anaesthetist and perfusionist were doing a great job and the machinery they were using appeared to be running well. As it appeared that this would be quite a long procedure I went back out to the ICU and observed the patient who had already returned from theatres.I had previously met some of these girls the night before. Kirika, a nurse from Melbourne was leading out in teaching post op care with great efficiency. Interestingly on the wall at the nurses station a monitorshowed the progress of the other surgery.

It was then time to gather our group and head back to Yankin hospital. Christine Darwell, the teams physiotherapist had been assessing the children who would be operated on today. It is important that these children develop a warm relationship with these strange visitors and the toys and books that have been sent by generous people back home help with this.

Today as I keep you up to date with our progress everyone else is out and at it again. The conditions here are very smokey and of course hot so early morning walks are all that is comfortable. This mornings walk with superfit Christine provided an indication that Yangon does have its beautiful places.