All good things...

Irene got discharged today. Finally. She gave me a huge hug, her mom smiled and shook my hand, and we took a picture together before they left. I told her I was going to print it out and when she came back for her check up, she could pick it up. Something to remember me by.

It's been exactly 8 weeks since I first saw her. Since her amputation. 

She left, and so will I. 

The decision is made. There will always be more patients. I will come back. But it seems that the cycle has ended. Two of my other patients were discharged todayas well. Blaise is officially free of infection and not taking antibiotics anymore. Gombo also seems to be doing better and no more pus is pouring out of his leg. Tahir (the 11 year old boy) went from dressings to steri-strips. He's almost ready to go home too. 

I don't know if my patients will miss me. They have missed me during the week I was gone, but once they leave the hospital, I guess they'll want to forget everything about their stay. 

I will miss them. And I will miss all the blood and guts part of it, the right to walk into the OR and scrub in any time I want, having the keys to the entire hospital and actually knowing exactly what to do and when. 

This has been an incredible adventure. It has been harder than anything I've ever done, but I have also learned more than I could have ever imagined possible in 2 months. 

Today I helped put a humerus back into place, in an arm that was pretty much torn apart in a car accident. 

I have had my hands inside various body cavities, seen intestines, bladders, prostates, hernias, hydroceles, etc. etc. etc. 

That's Dr. Scott's hand this morning, nuckle deep in Gombo's thigh. I did that dressing change twice a day for a month. To reach inside someone's thigh far enough to touch their femur--that's pretty incredible... 

I'm going to miss all of that. Sticking needles into people's veins or muscles, putting on gloves and snapping them off, the smell of alcohol and waving my hands in the air so they dry faster between patients, so I can put on a fresh pair of gloves. 

Might seem silly, but I will miss all of that. 

In a few months though, I will be thrown back into the world of medicine, and I will be the best freaking med student this world has ever seen! 

So I am leaving. In 48hrs I will be in a plane to Paris, and after 12hrs of eating stinky cheese and taking the longest, hottest shower of my life, I will be on another flight to Nepal. 

I have another day in the OR tomorrow though. I'll enjoy every last second of it. :)