24

One-Sentence Summary: 24 exciting hours of Karis’ life in Germany!

Sunday, 5 July 2009
1100
What a beautiful day! Since church doesn’t start until 12:30, I have time to sleep in until 10 AM on Sundays and get a little brunch before heading to church. It’s a quiet, pleasant morning. I’ve packed a change of clothes for playing basketball with some of the other young adults in the afternoon. I’m excited to be out on the courts again.

1200
I’m off to church. Do I have my Bible, notebook, and basketball clothes? Check, check, and check! It’s just a 7 minute walk to the U-bahn, a 15 min ride to church, then a 7 min walk to the sanctuary. I should be there right on time.

1230
IBC begins!

1400
Potluck on every first and third Sundays?! Look at all this yummy international food. I think I’ll take some of this rice, and stew, and casserole. Mmm I love church potlucks. What’s even better is the great conversations I can have with the people at my table. There are so many people to meet, and they’re all very friendly. The young adults are still planning to play basketball after we’ve had some time to digest our food… the only problem is that we don’t have a ball. I guess it’ll be an adventure to find one.

1500
It’s hot outside, around the high 20s (°C of course, which is equivalent to low 80s °F). We’ve tried looking for a basketball at the church office and a friend’s apartment. I think it’s time to call it quits and just hang out at an eis café. Eis cream sounds so good right now.

1600
Potluck then eis cream! This is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. It looks like a group of young adults are on the move. Did I hear correctly? We want to walk through the Altona forest? To the water? Well count me in. It sounds like a scenic walk and I’m sure it’ll be fun to get to talk to people along the way.

1700
Now I’m starting to feel the heat. We’ve been walking for about 30 minutes now and we’re still not there yet. I must admit that the scenery is beautiful but trees start looking the same after awhile. It’s a beautiful park if I were dressed to enjoy it. I’m still in my long pants and knit top that I wore to church. I wish I could change into my spare basketball clothes. At least this park is beautiful. I enjoy walking through it and seeing yet another side of Hamburg.

1800
We made it! And I must say it was worth it. The group didn’t tell me we were going to a beach. I would have brought my towel and flip-flops. I didn’t even know I lived within a train and bus ride to the beach. It’s not exactly like Southern California beaches, but I’ll take anything with sand, water, and waves. It’s so much fun to be at the beach during the summer.
I feel much cooler since I’ve finally changed into shorts and t-shirt. I even get to go into the water. I’ll just go in so far that the water is at my knees. Wave! Okay well now I’m wet. I don’t mind though. The cold water definitely feels good in this warm weather. What a great summer Sunday! I guess it’s time to head back home now.

1900
I’m on my way home for a quiet evening in my roo-*Ring ring*
“Hello”
“Hi Karis. Would you be interested in watching a heart transplant surgery this evening?”
“Yes! I would love to!”
“Okay. It looks like a heart just became available, so we’ll be doing the transplant in a couple hours. I’ll give you a call when the operating time gets closer.”
“Great, thanks!”

2000
I’m eagerly waiting for my phone to ring. Please ring, please ring. I’m so excited and have so many questions! How is the recipient? What happened to the donor? When is my phone going to ring??

2100
I think it might be more than a couple hours. I’ll take a shower and Skype with my family. That should pass some time.

2200
More waiting. It’s getting late. I don’t know when the surgeon is going to call me back. Maybe I should sleep and wake up when the surgeon calls back? Oh but I can’t sleep. I’m too excited about this surgery. I guess this is what they mean when they say “on-call.” I’ll just stay awake until I get a phone call. I hope everything is okay.

2330
*Ring –* “Hello”
“Hi Karis. The transplant surgery is a go. I’ll be making the opening incision in about 60 to 90 minutes. You should come to the hospital in about an hour.”
“Got it. I’ll see you in an hour then.”

Monday, 6 July 2009
0030
I’ve made it to the hospital. I’ve never been here at night. It’s really quiet and a little scary in the dark. Good thing I’m in the hospital where all the lights in the hallway are very much on and bright. I bet this keeps all the doctors awake during the night.
My scrub-in nurse is so helpful. She showed me where I can take off all my clothes and put on the fashionable green scrubs. We’re not allowed to wear any of our regular clothes in the operating room (or “OP” as the Germans call it). Even the rubber shoes are green. Now I’m going to meet up with the surgeon before he starts operating.

0130
The opening incision! We had to wait about 40 minutes more because our heart donor team had to wait for the lung donor team to arrive. I didn’t realize before how much coordination is needed with transplant surgeries. The organ donor teams from different hospitals all need to be present and working together so that all the organs can be used. In addition, the recipient surgical team has to be coordinated with the donor surgical team to make sure the recipient isn’t prepared too soon or too late. It’s all about the timing with these transplant surgeries.

0230
The expert surgical team is ready for the donor heart. We expect the donor team to arrive any minute now. There haven’t been any complications with preparing the heart to go on bypass. The heart does not look so healthy since this patient has been on the transplant list for a couple months. A few weeks ago, he had been told that a heart had become available for him. Unfortunately, the donor team found some problems with the donor heart and so he was very disappointed. However, this time the surgery is going very smoothly.
The donor team has arrived with a healthy heart. It is not beating, but I can’t wait to see it giving life to our patient.

0330
The old heart has been removed and the new heart is in. The surgical team is working hard to suture all the arteries and veins. The patient is still on bypass so the bypass team is also busy. The anesthesia team is constantly monitoring the patient’s status.

0430
The heart is beating! It is so exciting to watch the first beats of this heart in a new body. It will still be some time before the patient is fully removed from the bypass machine, but the heart looks much healthier compared to the old one.

0530
The heart contractions are regular and coordinated. The bypass team has done a great job and is finished for this surgery. The surgeons are able to breathe a little bit while the anesthesia team works hard to replace bags of nutrients going to the patient. Fortunately, the patient receives all of his own blood back. Much of the blood that was lost in the surgery is filtered almost instantly and given back to the patient. We’re almost done!

0630
Now I’m starting to feel the fatigue. I don’t know how these surgeons do it. They’ve worked a full day and are on their 5th hour of surgery. I’m tired and I’m not even doing the surgery. I am impressed and thankful that they give up so much of their time and energy to save lives. When the surgeon told me that the whole team had to be on call that evening, I told him that I think the patient is very thankful that they are losing hours of sleep for him.

0800
The last suture is complete. The surgery went without major complications and this man should be very healthy now that he has a new heart. Even though I’ll never be able to meet or talk with the patient, I hope he makes the most of this donor heart.

0830
I’m just in time for my lab meeting. My boss is a little surprised I showed up since she knew that I spent the night watching the transplant surgery. She’s telling me to go home right away. I just need to do a few things in the lab before I go…

0930
No eating or drinking in the lab. Exit the building if you hear the fire alarm. Don’t put flammable chemicals near the heater. Got it. Safety training done!

1030
I’m on my way home. It has been a full 24 hours and I’m exhausted. Everything I did was worth the lost hours of sleep though. I had a great time attending church, going to the beach, and watching a heart transplant surgery! I hope the summer gets even better from here.
In the coming days, I will be praying (and I invite you to join me in praying) for a quick recovery for the heart recipient, comfort in a grieving time for the donor family, and much-needed rest for my physical body.

1100
Sleep!

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26