Thursday: Two root-end surgeries (including one at one of the hospital's ORs)

 Drs Anil and Manisha were busy today with root-end surgery cases. It was fun to watch them work.

My morning started with my typical walk down 95 steep steps. Today seemed incredibly warm. In fact, it was almost 20° warmer than just a few days ago. It's as if someone suddenly turned "the heater" on in Nepal.

I was working in the office of the conservative dentistry and endodontics department when Anil and Manisha rushed in and told me, "Come on Dr. Karl we need to go… apical surgery case at the OR." So we rushed up the hill to the hospital's ORs, changed into hospital scrubs and joined this case in progress. Dr Travis Rudd had lifted the flap and exposed a large root-end cyst. My Fulbright grant restricts me from patient care, but Travis is a HVO volunteer, so he is able to touch and treat patients. Two of the visiting German dental students were at the OR. Julia, who had a prior career as a scrub nurse, was acting in that role  for this case -- holding a retractor. After Travis was done, Anil and Manisha completed the endodontic care of that tooth. These images show the surgical team at work and the high quality of this OR.  

As we left that building, I saw this UN vehicle. I'm not sure what a UN team is here for.

I had lunch at the canteen with Julia, Paula, Dr Kafle, and Anna. I was sooo warm!

When I returned to the conservative dentistry department, Anil and Mansiha were doing another root-end surgery case!

I saw this box of colorful beans on my evening walk.

A new pizza restaurant opened this week in Dhulikhel. It has a wood-fired oven. Julia, Paula and Travis joined me there for dinner tonight. The pizza was not as good as I had hoped. The cheese wasn't melty-mozzarella and the sauce had a non-traditional spice flavor.

This was the sunset from the front of the restaurant.