La Paz, Bolivia- Loan Le, Interplast volunteer anesthesiologist.
I can not tell you how grateful I am that I have proficient grasp of the Spanish language. It has added a whole other dimension of enjoyment to this trip. The other day, I had dropped off Fernando, an adorable boy who had surgery on his arm, to the recovery room. A half hour later I heard Fernando was awake and extremely restless.
I entered the recovery room to find three nurses trying to calm him down. I sat down at his bedside and asked him why he was crying. Fernando opened his eyes and said, "Doctorcita, donde estoy?"(Doctor, where am I?) What followed was a slew of questions: Who are these people? Why is there red on my arm? (blood soaking through his bandage) As he asked each question, he would close his eyes to ponder and digest the answer I offered him. When he finally ran out of questions, he simply closed his eyes to rest. It turns out he was just freaked out after waking up from anesthesia. Imagine waking up all by yourself in a room full of foreign medical staff trying to calm you down. I stroked his forehead and told him to get some sleep and that he’d see his parents when he woke up. He nodded, sighed and then fell into a peaceful slumber.
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