Ready to Go!

Saturday afternoon I was starting to get a little nervous. I was scheduled to work 12-hour shifts at the hospital Sun/Mon/Tue, and then fly out Wednesday morning!! Somehow I would need to finish organizing my stuff, and pack it all up by Saturday night!! To complicate things, I had three boxes of medical supplies I had agreed to try to pack in with my personal stuff. I soon realized my own personal luggage was not going to work. So I made a few calls and quickly found friends and relatives with larger suitcases I could borrow for a month. So now everything fits, but the new concern will be are suitcases over the 50 pound limit!!?

But then I got called off early at work Sunday, and for the whole day today (Monday). That gave me plenty of time to pack and make any last minute arrangements. So now I feel – Ready to Go!

I fly out from Indianapolis Wednesday, May 30th, at 10 a.m., and arrive 10:30 p.m. Thursday night at Siem Reap, Cambodia (via Atlanta and Seoul, Korea). The staff at Angkor Hospital will pick me up at the airport and deliver me to the Hotel/B&B they arranged for me to stay at during my visit. I am told everything will be within walking distance. I also plan on renting a halfway decent bicycle while I’m there to get places, and for exercise (the RAIN Ride – all 160 miles – in July 21st). I have received all kinds of great advise from several doctors and nurses in the U.S. who have volunteered their time before me, including an ophthalmologist from Riley Hospital. While it is still not entirely clear how exactly I will be spending my time at AHC next month, there are a few projects I expect to spend most of my time working on. The biggest project is to work with the head of nursing education at AHC to help him develop a Preceptor Program for their newly hired nurses. Some other projects might be: teaching basic pediatric oncology (to nurses and doctors), helping nurses start small research projects, and infection control. Of course, I also hope to be able to spend time with patients at the hospital, and possibly visit some of the remote clinics in the countryside operated in conjunction with AHC.

Thanks to several of my friends at work I have a sizable discretionary fund to spend on gifts and toys for the children at AHC. I had originally planned to buy the toys here in Indianapolis and have them shipped to Siem Reap; but the staff at AHC informed me I would be able to buy all the toys I want right there in town (and probably at much cheaper prices). See you in Cambodia!!