Moe’s New Brigade
-Written by Morag Bell
My name is Morag “Moe” Bell and I am a certified registered nurse anesthetist. I have been a nurse for 30 years and a CRNA for the last 14. I have gone to Honduras on medical mission trips every year since 2011 and when I was asked by Dr. Fullerton to join the Operation Walk NY’s surgical brigade to Ghana this year, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. I said yes before I checked to make sure I had the time off.
This brigade was a little different from the ones I have been with prior for a few different reasons. For the first time in a long time I was going to be one of the “new kids”, which even at 52, can be a little daunting (those who know me know I am not shy- but I am still human and being the new kid is never easy). This was a little bit bigger mission than I was used to. I usually go with a brigade of around 16-18 people. Operation Walk was more than 50… and sending equipment over on a Cargo ship… wowee. I knew it was going to be a lot, for lack of a better word, more.
I am always asked what was challenging about these trips. Is it the long days? I am used to long days on mission trips. Those don’t bother me at all. Is it the food? The long days are better with good coffee which I quickly learned was the one thing lacking on this trip. I did get by mixing some kind of espresso powder with Nescafe instant coffee– actually not bad and got my heart rate over 100. Lesson learned. In the future bring a French press with some coffee. Was it the heat? The heat, not awful but the humidity — that was something else.
I would say my biggest challenge on this mission was seeing the patients in their rooms post procedure and seeing their family member sleep on a blanket on the floor. There were either 4 patients to a room or 6 patients to a room. It put a pit in my stomach that I still can’t seem to shake. Knowing that we saw a lot more patients than we were able to help or hearing the patients beg for their other hip or knee to be replaced and having to say no broke a piece of my heart that will never be mended.
Some valuable lessons/experiences I took back from this trip. The kindness of the staff and the patients. They were/are so kind and always smiling. They made me laugh all day, every day. I always have my Bose speaker when I go on mission trips (and to any OR anywhere). So I was kind of the DJ in the preop/recovery area (sorry Maureen- we did play that German techno music- “Faderhead” for you though). You could tell when the Ghanaian nursing staff liked a song. You could see their arms raise and their hips start to move and then one day they made a request. That was the day I was introduced to Black Sherif, a Ghanaian musician, and have returned home with a theme song. Check out “So it Goes”.
I met some wonderful people from both the States and from Ghana. Eric and I worked together closely in the PreOP/ Recovery area. He is an ICU nurse working in Tampa who has the ambition of going to CRNA school. I fell into a bit of a mentoring mode with him and was so happy to hear he was offered an interview with a CRNA program in Florida while we were in Ghana. (His interview was after we returned and we are still waiting to hear back on the decision).
There is so much value to doing this kind of work. It is a definite check in on how lucky we are to live in the US and to have access to orthopedic services. Well, we are lucky to have access to all the medical services. Ghana is a wonderful country, filled with wonderful people but the need is so great, and I am sad that assistance from the US has been cut. I know the people there are worried about the cuts and are frightened for their future.
From what I understand, this surgical brigade drained the funds that were available for Operation Walk NY. Donations, grants, and fundraising are what we greatly depend on to return for another mission. I know that the patient Erica is desperate for us to come back; she needs her other hip done. She isn’t even 35 years old.
-Written by Morag Bell, Op Walk NY Volunteer
Operation Walk New York is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization.
To learn more about Operation Walk New York or donate check the website: https://operationwalknewyork.org/
#OperationWalkSyracuse #OperationWalkNewYork #Mobility4ALL #Changinglives
Very worthwhile and rewarding. Thank you for doing this.
You are an amazing person and I couldn’t help falling in love with you. Being in your presence was so relaxing and fun even though one was exhausted. You have a heart of Gold Morag. I commit to support this mission in my own small way by raising funds locally to offset some bills locally.
To the lady always giving of herself. You are an AMAZING human!