Time is winding down...

Three more sleeps until I board my plane for cold Canada. It's so bittersweet. I can't wait to see family and friends at home and all the festivities and activity that awaits me, but I am loathe to leave my dear new friends and this war ravaged, but God fearing country of Liberia. Time has truly flown by in an instant.
I've had a fabulous week again so far. I slept like a log after my crazy night shift on Sunday night. The kid I wrote about is still alive and well, by the way, but certainly needs our prayers a lot. His name is Kolywon, and he had the encephalocele repair. He faces a difficult life ahead of him, because he'll never look totally normal. I think he'll always have eyes that bulge out of his head and distorted facial features, but he's beautiful in a different way. He is curious and interested in everything that is going on around him. He's got a special spot in my heart.
Monday night, my very dear friends and I went out for a chocolate fondue to a really nice restaurant. It was fun because Lanita and Katelyn had planned this time, and didn't want me to know where we were going, so it was all a surprise until we got there. We stepped into the doors of the "Living Room" restaurant, and it was like going through a portal into the western world and leaving war ravaged Liberia far behind us. It was beautiful - modern booths and tables, low lighting, tasteful decorating, and a section with couches, in which we opted to sit and enjoy a fabulous chocolate fondue - it was Katelyn's first ever! We had such a nice time talking, praying and planning to see each other again someday - maybe at each other's weddings?
I'm working on crossing stuff off my to-do list before I leave, and I'm doing a pretty good job I think. I'm sure there will be "plenty-plenty" to do on Friday and Saturday, but it'll all get done! By the way, some of my favourite Liberian phrases are "plenty-plenty", "small-small", and "God-o". Sometimes the things they say are "funny-funny". Like on Monday - our taxi driver was complaining to us that our English was so hard to understand! Little does he know, but broken Liberian English would be hard to understand for most of the English speaking world.
I worked my last shift on the ward today, because tomorrow I'm doing a cleaning shift. It's okay with me because after this evening's shift I was really tired. I had only 3 patients, which is "no big deal" usually. However, one of them was a dehydrated 2 year old boy who is recovering from bladder exstrophy, and urinary diversion surgery. Bladder exstrophy is a condition where the bladder is basically on the outside of your body instead of the inside where it should be. Look it up online for pictures - it's pretty interesting. It's quite rare. Anyway, this little guy has been refusing to drink or eat for days. We can't get an IV on him. The only option is an NG tube and tube feedings. However, he's been vomitting and not tolerating his feeds. So it's a game of catch up, and trying to get anything possible into him.
I had two post-operative patients, which takes quite a lot of time because of the frequent checks. My little four year old developed a high fever, and didn't really wake up, drink, or pee well, so I had to restart his IV infusion. Anyway, I felt like I was running the whole shift, but it was good. I love my work, I love my coworkers, I love my patients, and most of all, I love my God who gives me everything I need for every moment of life. All glory be to Him!