Surgery!

Happy birthday Jono! Dr. Pons (Jono) and his wife made it back to Swaziland safe and sound. We spent the day in surgery. Jono usually does about 20 cases in a day, but he had a lighter schedule given he just got back into the country. He did one phacoemulsification (standard cataract extraction procedure in the U.S.), seven manual small incision cataract surgeries (“MSICS”, the most common procedure for cataract surgery in the developing world), three conjunctival lesion excisions, an emergency lid laceration repair in a patient that was involved in a motor vehicle collision, and excision of multiple eyelid cysts.

 

Operating Room at Good Shepherd

Sister Senani preparing for the next case. There is a wonderful television screen for medical students and visiting surgeons  to watch the surgery live. It is fantastic quality and a great learning tool. In this photo, Dr. Pons has finished removing the cataract and is placing the intraocular lens (IOL).

  

Dr. Pons at work

It was quite an efficient day with no mishaps. Two of the cataracts were traumatic, and those can be a bit difficult surgically. Jono handled them with great skill and ease. We took a group photo to document Dr. Tim's last day in Swaziland. We sure will miss him!

From left: Dr. Jono Pons, Dr. Tim Fetherston, Q, Sister Senani, me, Camille, Sister, Angela

 

Tonight we had a birthday party at the Mabuda House (Jono and Helen’s house). It was a lovely party. They are definitely taking very good care of me here!

 

Jono's Birthday party. Front row: Me, Charlotte. Middle row: Viv Fetherston, Milly, Angela, Linda, and Linda's mother. Back row: Dr. Tim Fetherston, Ashley, Camille, Ciaran, Helen Pons, Dr. Jono Pons. We all had a good laugh that Dr. Pons had inadvertently positioned himself right in front of the antlers!

Tomorrow Dr. Tim and Viv leave to go back to the UK. Now that Jono is back, it will just be the two of us in clinic.

One of my dearest friends, Angie, who is also an ophthalmologist (we did our residency together at Iowa), will be coming to visit me in Swaziland for two weeks. She arrives here at the end of August. She is going to help out in the clinics and keep me company J I can’t wait! It will be nice to have a friend to travel around Swaziland/South Africa with me.

Photo for the day:

My bedroom at Mabuda Farms, complete with a mosquito net, which I have been finding very handy. There is plenty of room for Angie when she comes to visit!