Trip Three: Week One! June 16-28

Praise God, I have made it back to Madagascar! This country holds such a special place in my heart and I am beyond thrilled to be spending the next few months here. I have been back on the ship since last Saturday evening, and it has been wonderful seeing many familiar faces as well as forming connections with new friends onboard. In many ways, it feels like I never left! 

Antananarivo, Madagascar (June 16-20)

    I departed from Raleigh-Durham airport on Tuesday, June 16 and arrived in the capital city of Madagascar late on Wednesday, June 17th. For the next couple of days, I spent time with a very sweet Malagasy family my dad connected me to through an online Bible Study Fellowship group. It was a blessed time with yummy café treats, intentional conversations, and card games. While I was excited to get to the ship, I was sad to leave this wonderful family. 

 

Ship Life   

     The first few days back onboard were so so busy, but great! It was fun getting to see old friends and running into people I knew from last year but didn't know I'd overlap with again! I was pleasantly surprised with a three person cabin again this trip - yay! 

    On Monday, I had the blessing of having the day to set up the operating room for general surgery starting on Tuesday. The pediatric orthopedic surgical block just finished, so some supplies and equipment needed to be changed over to prepare for many upcoming hernia repairs and lipoma excisions! The team leaders often do not have a bonus day like this to set up and prepare, so I was very thankful for this blessing. It allowed me to ease back in to the role and not feel as overwhelmed! After work on Monday, I went on a walk around the port and enjoyed some fresh air. 

 

    Tuesday was a busy first day of surgery! It was a brand new team working together, but I honestly couldn't have asked for a better first day. We all got along great and worked together like we had been doing it for years. Yet another sliver of God's goodness and kindness to me. Even though it was a busy day, I managed to fit in a workout and a couple rounds of Monopoly Deal. 

    On Wednesday mornings before work, there is an optional anesthesia in-service presentation by one of the anesthetists onboard. This week, Dr. Peter from South Africa (living in Australia) spoke about trauma and how to identify various types and follow-up care needed. 

    After work on Wednesday, I was quite tired from another busy day in the OR, but still wanted a bit of physical activity. I ended up walking around the port for a while and chatted with family back home! 

    Thursday morning brought my first Mada run of 2026! My friend Kelsey and I went out for a run on the amazing new road we discovered last year, and were not that surprised when we got caught in the rain. Kelsey is one friend I met last year who I was excited to connect with again! Even though we only overlapped for one week, it was so sweet to catch up. 

    Friday, June 26th was Madagascar's Independence Day! There were celebrations on Thursday night and I watched some sparklers/fireworks on shore from the pool deck after work. 

    Monopoly Deal quickly became one of my favorite games after I learned it last year on the ship, so of course it needed to make an appearance this week. I already taught many people how to play and I think they agree it's a crowd favorite! 

 

    We are back with "Funky Friday" on the ship! We also had to say our goodbyes in the OR to those who were departing over the weekend. Many goodbyes truly are just "see you laters" here on Mercy Ships, so I trust I will see many of these faces again. 

    I was on call Friday, but a kind co-worker agreed to hold the pager for me so I could attend a group dinner. We went to a local Indian restaurant and shared a family-style meal. I'm really not sure what I was eating, but it was all delicious! After dinner, we walked down the street to an arcade someone had spotted and played games for a few minutes before cramming back in the car to make it back to the ship by the 9pm curfew (different than 10pm last year). 

    I was also on call Saturday, but had a lovely day around the ship. I had a productive morning doing laundry and working on a few things on my computer, and even fit in a little time by the pool! After officially saying goodbye to departing friends on the dock, I enjoyed a very sweet 1.5 hour walk around the port with a new friend who was also on call. We chatted about life, faith, missions, and so much more. It was the first time we had spent time together, but I'm already so thankful for that new friendship with her. 

    Sunday was a lovely day! I attended the Hope Center church service from 9am-11am before coming back to the ship for a lunch, made by a couple of OR friends. I shared about the Hope Center in entries last year as well, but the Hope Center is where the patients stay before and after surgery. Because the majority of patients are coming to the ship from other areas of Madagascar, it is organized for them to stay at the Hope Center until all the follow-up care has been completed. Mercy Ships coordinates transportation to and from the ship for hundreds, if not thousands, of patients each field service. This is another example of how Mercy Ships really shouldn't work based on the countless moving parts. But by the grace of God, these patients are able to come to the ship and receive life-changing healthcare. 

Surgery On Board

    This week, my general surgery team operated four days, Tuesday to Friday. The ship is currently running two adult general surgery rooms right now, but I am only responsible for leading one of them. My OR team helped see 13 patients this week. We repaired numerous inguinal hernias and hydroceles, with next week bringing some lipoma excisions. 

    One of the special responsibilities as a team leader is to attend the consent rounds with the surgeons the evening before surgery. The surgeon will explain the planned procedure, answer questions, and then have the patient sign the consent permission form for us to perform surgery the following day. While attending consent rounds can add another responsibility to the end of an already busy workday, I really enjoy getting to meet the patients before surgery. 

    One patient that stood out to me was a younger man who was on the ship to have his hernia repaired. He looked familiar to me and I learned that he was on the ship at the end of last year for hernia surgery, but had to be postponed because of a pretty severe infection in his hand. I was one of his nurses in December and witnessed the disappointment of not being able to receive his hernia surgery and needing to surgically treat the infection in his hand instead. My anesthetist friend Maggie is also back on the ship now for a few weeks and we both had been his operating room team in December for his hand debridement. The patient said he remembered us from December and we were thrilled that he had come back with a healed hand, ready to receive the hernia surgery! It was a beautiful, full circle moment for both Maggie and I to take care of this patient again this week! 

OR Recap

Overall, the AFM OR surgically treated 48 patients across maxillofacial and adult general surgery specialties. Examples of cases include maxillectomy, mandibulectomy, hernia repair, hydrocelectomy, and lipoma excisions.