TIME TO DO THE SURGERY SCHEDULE

It's almost 10:15 in Bao Loc, and our intrepid crew is in the lobby of the Hong Thai Hotel working on the surgery schedule. It was a grueling day of screening, starting at 5:45 AM We looked at almost 225 children today, many from the Montagnard Mountain tribes in the Highlands near Bao Loc and DaLat. Everyone seemed to find his or her 'favorite' child, and it was heart-warming to see the joy in the eyes and expressions of the volunteers on their first mission. After a team dinner thrown by the hospital, at which everyone clinks glasses and says, "JOE" instead of "CHEERS", we started on the schedule. Dusty Clegg, Dr. Phuong, myself, and Phyllis Ross and Jane Howe are adjusting and re-adjusting the cases for the week. Monday's schedule of almost 30 cases seems to be finished. Tomorrow, the team heads back to the hospital to set up the O-R and conduct educational sessions for the local personnel.