From Sara Stankiewicz, RN

Greetings from the Team Heart Stepdown Unit! Today is the last day of surgery. We have successfully operated on 14 Rwandans, and there are currently 8 patients in the Step Down unit, which is keeping Marie, Kristen, Carol, Terry, Monica, Egidia, Denise and I very busy.  There are many challenges to providing nursing and medical care here at King Faisal--losing power mid surgery with a 15 second delay on the back up generator, running low on supplies, language barriers and a difficult paper documentation system are just some of the biggest ones we face each day.  The entire Team Heart group has become very resourceful in the face of all these challenges...and I know all of the nurses on Team Heart will think twice before complaining about eMar at BWH! Our days at work are very tiring. All of the Team Heart members are putting in extremely long hours, but our patients are so appreciative, it makes our exhaustion all worth it.  We are managing to appreciate the beautiful city of Kigali and the Rwandan landscape on our days off. Many of us have been fortunate enough to travel to Akagera Park for safari and also to Volcanos National park to see the mountain gorillas-both were unbelievable!

The first group of Team Heart members left yesterday, and are already missed terribly.  We will say goodbye to the OR team on Tuesday and then the Step Down unit and rest of the ICU staff and physicians will leave this Saturday.

Thanks to everyone back at home for your kind words and continued support.   See you all next week!

Sara