Burma...almost

On our last day in Mangshi, we started out in a Chinese operating room and ended up with our backside's in Burma!

 In the morning, we accompanied Dr. Zhang and Li Rong (my Fogarty twin, also a gynecologist in Chongqing) to the operating room to observe a oophorectomy (taking an ovary out) for a tumor.  It was interesting to see because of the differences yet fundamental similarities between the OR in China and in the US.  All of the differences were due to lack of resources, which all combined together to make undergoing an operation a scary prospect, but definitely still better than living with a potentially fatal cancer.  There were still a surgeon, a first assist, and a scrub tech (who was verbally abused by the surgeon, just like at home!).  They ran through a quick checklist before making the incision, although there were no nametags or wristbands on the patient.  The patient was awake with spinal anesthesia due to the cost of general anesthesia, and could definitely still feel her abdomen up to about 2 minutes before the incision.  There were no intra-operation fluids, no antibiotics, and in general, nothing invasive on the patient other than the actual operation.  There were MUCH fewer operating tools; apparently they  have no autoclave so all the scalpels, clamps, etc are thrown away after every surgery.  And lastly, the most noticeable thing was that the room looked just like every other room in the hospital: dingy, poorly lit, and with bad ventilation; it just had a operating table and light in the middle of it.  Definitely no positive pressure here!  However, the tumor was successfully removed in about half the time it would have taken at home, and as far as I know the patient is doing well.

After our 2-hour 'workday' our boss whisked us off on a car trip to Ruili, a small town on the Burmese border.  We went to a park in the middle of nowhere with a very tall waterfall, and in typical Chinese fashion, had about 2 minutes to look at it after taking nearly 2 hours to get there!  It was very impressive however.  After that, we went to the major checkpoint between China and Burma - we could see a huge building with a Burmese flag waving, and a small stone boundary marker.  Dr. Qiao seemed determined to get us onto Burmese soil, and the Chinese border guards, after scrutinizing our passports, said they would let us over, but they weren't sure the Burmese would let us back.  Adam and I decided not to risk it - being in Burmese prison is not on my to-do list for this year!!  But we did get to stand on the border next to the marker and take pictures - so I'd like to think my backside was in Burma!

 We spent the rest of the day making short touristy stops on the drive back to Mangshi - 2 more china-burma border checkpoints, all of which were equally unwilling to let us pass, a Dai village with houses completely made out of interwoven wood strips with holes everywhere (good thing it does not get cold there!), and multiple jade and petrified wood shops.  The Dai are a minority that are from the southern chinese-burmese border area, and they have different language, housing, holidays, etc from the dominant Han people in China.  In fact, there are nearly 20 minority groups who hail from Yunnan, and I will learn about a few more of them over the course of my trip!