This weekend is the Tihar festival of lights and New Year's day on the Nepalese calendar.

During the Tihar festival houses and buildings are decorated with marigold garlands and lights.

The pyramid-shaped mountain behind the ridge is Mt. Everest.

We have now completed our service at the hospital in Banepa and have a few days off before returning home. We just returned from an Everest Express sightseeing flight on Yeti Airlines. We had clear skies and a great view of Everest and several of the other highest mountains in the world! Having visited in May the town of Jericho, the lowest point on earth, it was thrilling to now see the highest point on this beautiful earth and contemplate all that Jesus Christ has created under the direction of our Heavenly Father. Nameste!

Today we completed the final surgeries. In all, we performed 19 surgeries this week. So far all the patients have done very well.

The most prominent peak left of center is Gauri Shankar which is 23,442 feet tall

The Rice Harvest

Brian at the Kathmandu Branch chapel

Misty mountains of Nepal

Jr. Doctor Grover

New Beanie Baby Owners

Brian Visits the Operating Room and I Visit the School

Today Brian visited the operating room for the first time. Our first patient was a 55-year-old woman with a 12 cm ovarian cyst. We opened up her abdomen and removed the large mass that was causing her a lot of pain. I asked Brian if he wanted to observe the surgery. He was very interested; so before school started, he dressed in scrubs, and joined us. I warned him that if he felt sick, he should be sure and speak up or sit down on the floor. As it turned out, he did great, and was fascinated to see the cantaloupe-sized mass come out of the patient's abdomen. Hopefully, she will have a good recovery and be relieved of her pain, and--who knows--maybe we have a budding surgeon: Brian!

Later in the day between surgeries, I visited the school where some surplus Beanie Babies found a new home, thanks to Brian. As he presented the toys to the children, he quizzed them on the names of all the animals, as they are all learning English. He also played kickball with the kids today.

Sunrise Over the Himalayas

Preop Clinic Sunday and Surgery Monday; School is in Session

Preop Clinic on Sunday and Surgery on Monday; School is in Session

On Sunday we held our preop clinic at the hospital. I saw 19 patients who had been prescreened by the local doctors and felt that 9 of them would be good surgical candidates. The patients, who are from Southern Nepal, speak Thauru but not Nepali, so I asked my questions to one of the nurses who speaks English and Nepali, and then she interpreted to Nepali my question to the daughter of one of the patients who speaks Nepali and Thauru who then spoke to the patient in Thauru. With each of the patient's answers it was back around the translation chain again, so I could understand her responses. One of the patients was having a problem with very heavy periods and had an enlarged uterus, the other patients had prolapse symptoms. We scheduled 4 patients for surgery on Monday. I got a call from the hospital on Sunday evening that the patient who had been having abnormal uterine bleeding was severely anemic with a hemoglobin of 7.2! (normal is 12). We gave her a blood transfusion over night to prepare her for surgery.

On Monday we performed 4 surgeries. A volunteer Ob/Gyn from Germany sponsored by Rotary assisted me in the first 2 cases. I also saw 7 new patients. 6 of whom are surgical candidates.

Brian began his service in the school on Sunday, as Sunday is a regular school day here. The children are adorable. They wear uniforms with light blue shirts and ties. Brian is working with the science teacher. He shared the photos of home with the kids; their favorite was the one from pack meeting where Brian has an albino python around his neck. He also taught the kids the game "Duck, Duck, Goose" and the song "Old McDonald Had a Farm."