July 6th: Today was amazing. It all began in the main theater 2. Whitney and I got to sit in on two really impressive surgeries. We left the compound at 8 am yet surgery didn't begin until almost 10 am. -This is a part of the Kenyan culture I've begun to expect. Before the start of the surgery, we walked around to the 4 theaters to check out the day's schedules. We picked theater 2 which was the gynecology theater for the day.

The first surgery was a uterine tumor removal. So amazing. As we were waiting for the patient to be brought in, we were chatting with the doctors and nurses for awhile. They LOVE to tell about their heritage in the village where Obama's family's heritage comes from. Somehow everyone has some connection to Obama, but it is nice, it brings a common ground between us!

Then they rolled in the patient. She looked over 9 months pregnant! Whitney and I looked at each other questioningly but both decided to just observe before asking too many foolish questions. We knew her diagnosis was uterine cancer, but I think we were both thinking "I bet she's pregnant!" The surgery began and we watched attentively! The minute they made the incision she began gushing fluid. (by the end she lost 12 LITERS of fluid! holy man!) In addition, they removed a tumor the size of a basketball and did a whole hysterectomy. It was absolutely amazing! They weren't sure if the tumor was benign or malignant but they sent it down for a biopsy.

Its really unfortunate because most of the horrid conditions we see could be handled much better if the people sought treatment weeks/months earlier. They wait to seek medical help until its much too far gone and then their lifespan drops significantly. (The average life expectancy is around 60 yrs old here!)

Then we watched a fibroid removal. Every procedure is sooo neat. It is just crazy to see how resilient the body is (as they can pull organs outside the body!)

Our evening adventure was dinner on a floating restaurant! -it didn't feel like Africa at all! It was as if we were at a fancy resort in the states. Yet the view was nothing like I've seen before, very plush and jungle-like! About 15 of us went so we had good times spent together!