Last night, the guys were trying to invite me to go for a walk around the compound after we had dinner together. Knowing that I still had to iron my uniform, I declined and told them I need to be up early in the morning.

 

And so I woke up early in the morning to be able to prepare for my first day of orientation in the unit. I will be working in the Male Surgery Unit and I know that there will be lots of new things for me.

 

General Surgery is too broad for me. Before, I dealt only with neurosurgery, ENT and,  oral and maxillofacial surgery. But now, aside from those areas, I have to include thoracics, plastics, gen surgery, urology, orthopaedics and all the other specialities that do surgery.

 

After having a heavy breakfast that included rice, hotdogs and eggs, I hurried up to the bus stop, only to wait there for almost 30 minutes. No bus showed up. And so thinking that I will be late for my first day of work, I decided to take a walk going to the hospital. It was just good that it was not very hot outside, and so I was not really perspiring.

 

I was met in the unit by the outgoing night staff. The unit manager was already there as well, and gave me a quick tour of the unit. The ward that I will be working in is a 45-bedded unit (ouch!). It was divided into Side A and Side B, which correspond to the two hallways of the unit. There were lots of rooms for patients, for stocks and supplies, and for nurses’ use. It was confusing where to go!

 

Minutes later, I was introduced to Jaime, who will be my preceptor for my orientation period. He is also a Filipino, who’s been working in the unit for 10 years. Ugh! I wonder if I will be able to stay here that long!

 

After the endorsement, I started working with Jaime and breezed through the day smoothly. It was indeed a heavy ward. There were lots of procedures. I did not get much chance to sit down. My legs were achy at the end of the shift!

 

My preceptor and I had five patients: a bed ridden old man post laparotomy after an ischemic bowel, a 57-year old man who had an anal tumor and who went for surgery in the afternoon for secondary suturing and debridement of the perianal area, a pelvic sarcoma patient post hemipelvectomy, a multiple myeloma patient with infected AV Fistula, and another old man post right total hip replacement.

 

I learned a lot of things that I knew I will use during my stay here in Tawam. I hope to be of great use in the unit and I will try to show my best in the performance of my duties, just like when I was in Riyadh.

 

Good luck to me!