Monday, July 4, 2011

The Blair Witch Project: Arvairkheer



“I am so scared …”
June 28th, 2011. Our start this year was fraught with some interesting challenges. Flickering images on a 15 inch monitor were interrupted with crackling electric surges. Five minutes of crisp, clear picture would suddenly disappear. After trouble shooting the camera, the light box, the camera box, and all the cords in between nothing seemed to work. Blank screens stared back at us as we wondered how we were going to get over this hurdle …

We started asking questions, raiding closets, and digging up old pieces of electronics. Idle, early generation laparoscopic equipment began to appear. Antique camera boxes, old cameras, we pieced together random parts donated by various organizations and patched together our mismatched solution. And there, in the operating room that is smaller than my closet, we performed laparoscopy … in black and white. Blair Witch lap choles – that’s the way we roll.

Blood/bile?? Not sure. Black and White. It was a surreal, retro experience that pushed our surgical skills and intuition to the limits. We made it work.

After completing our laparoscopic cholecystectomies for the day we were approached by an Australian aid worker we had met at our hotel. His translator had abdominal pain and everyone was convinced it was appendicitis … could we help her out? We moved our mismatched laparoscopic tower and set up for a lap appy.

And in the end, we walked home well past dark through the dusty, rock laden streets, wearing headlights – another Blair Witch moment to this Blair Witch day.  “I am so scared …”

Scrubbing with Allison


3 comments:

dcr said...

I am so proud. . . .

Jason Evans said...

You're a trooper Doc Yoder !!! I'm very proud to have spent a week with a provider of your caliber.

--Jason

Matt Ricci said...

Ditto to Jason's comment!