The last two days at work have been the usual mix of head and spine trauma, mixed with neurosurgical museum materials . . . Problems of a scope not seen at home.  In the ultimate irony, the very first case presented to me was a young man who was removing a tree and was down to its roots.  In trying to extract them from the ground by hand, one of the root cracked, snapped up striking him in the back, and he fell to the ground paralyzed.  He needs an operation with the new instruments that I brought and that customs had threatened to confiscate.

Rounds with the residents

Yesterday, Janet and Rachel came to morning report with me.  Rachel then waited in the surgeon's lounge enjoying the attention she was receiving from the surgeons.  Janet went on rounds with me and the residents as we cycled thru a large ward with perhaps 16 patients in varying degrees of distress.

We left early as I have not been feeling well.

Last night was an experience Janet has been waiting six years to see, Shabbat at Rick's house.  Rick, unfortunately is in the States this week, but we nevertheless welcomed Shabbat precisely as we would have done with Rick.  His assistant this year is a wonderful fellow, Menachem Stein from Cleveland.  In a remarkable twist of fate, Janet had an email a few days ago from a lifelong friend in Cleveland.  After emailing back that she was in Addis, David replied that one of his best friends was in Addis working with Dr. Rick.  Menachem stein!  There was another woman there who had just arrived to spend 2 months as a volunteer with JDC.  turns out her father is a neurosurgeon in NYC.  The world Really is a very small place.

Lynne (a Burmese Jew), Rick, Sali (wife of Omar), one of Rick's kids with corrected TB of the spine), Omar and ?

Some photos that should have been in the last post, but I did not yet have my act together:

Rachels corn rows at the Boston Spa