Today was clinic day...basically everyone knows that Monday, Wednesday and Fridays is clinic day at the Baptist Medical Centre...I really mean everyone. We get to the hospital at 7:30am to round on our patients and there's already hundreds of people lined up to register to be seen. Again, it amazes me to see how far some people come from in order to be seen...even sometimes if its a simple dressing change or follow up. Some can even be seen by public health centres near the village...yet they choose to come and see us.
Clinic days are usually long and the goal is to try and see as many people as we can. Everyone helps out here...we all get into rooms and start seeing patients. Some rooms will have 3 of us seeing people and we are all sitting side by side with a translator. I have to admit, the one thing that disappoints me while I am here is that I am not able to speak their language (Mamprusi)...there are so many dialects here that even our translators have a hard time sometimes. One thing I love doing when interviewing patients is being able to get to know them quickly...interact with them...make them feel comfortable and try to cheer them up! MOst patients are quiet, we examine them and they interact with the translators and our on their way. It's tough...I try smiling and especially with the kids...try to not scare them....for some it's the first time they see a "white man". Today though, there was this one young girl who walked into the examining room with a huge smile on her face...she was coming for a follow up on her seizures and needed more medication. She also complained of "generalized body pains"...the nurse we had laughed at her and then they both broke out into laughter. Nurse said..."why do you have pains? I am way older than you and don't complain of these pains" The young girl just kept laughing and talking and talking and talking...very unusual because most a really quiet. She kept saying that she's in pains because she bends her back a lot while working in the fields at home. We quickly showed her the proper way of bending while working...hopefully this will help her. I was just so amazed by her though...seizures, working in the field, walked a few miles to come today, waited several hours....and still smiling.
Another interesting man I saw was this little old man who we really don't know how old he was. Most people don't actually know their age here...when they register, most times the nurse will "guesstimate" their age and write it down in their chart. This old man was walked in with his grandson...had a walking stick and looked very intellectual and wise. Probably the leader of some tribe it seems...he was very quiet, not complaining at all but rather sick. We admitted him to the male wards to keep a closer eye on him.
The rest of the clinic day was interesting...I got to see some obstetrical cases and even tell this one woman that she was pregnant after doing an ultrasound on her. This was a really cool feeling...she was happy yet quiet. It's a very important part of their lives here to have children...it makes the women more "important". On a sadder note....had to tell a woman who thought she was 4 months pregnant with a history of bleeding that I no longer saw any baby on ultrasound.
Later on, there was an urgent call for us to come to the to the maternity ward to see this woman who was admitted this morning after delivering at home and feeling weak. She was in shock, bleeding and not looking very great. Postpartum hemorrhage is something that can be a serious complication for woman...especially in Africa when most are anemic and with malaria. We quickly examined her...did the necessary things to stop the bleeding and stabilized her. When we returned to follow up on her later in afternoon...the nurse called us over to where her newborn baby was in an incubator while the mother was been looked after...no response. A day old and this baby for some reason....we will never know...died. Child mortality is something you don't see often....once again...here this is just another day. We waited to tell the mother about the loss of her child....she needed some time to recover from the shock of blood loss while we transfused her with blood...hopefully with no other complications.
At 5:30pm our day ended...headed back to the house while the sun was setting...bats were flying in the air...crickets making their noise and our flashlights out trying to avoid any snakes that may cross our paths. I am sure as we walk passed the Ghanaian people that they must be saying to themselves "look at these white people...so scared to walk barefoot without any light".
Again gooood foood....we were served this nice lasagna dish! I don't know how our cook is good at making these meals...a local here but he made an awesome lasagna...better than some I've tasted back in Montreal.
See you all tomorrow! It's american thanksgiving demain...so there's a party planned for all the medical team here. Very excited for turkey :)
BYE
P.S. Evs...I wore my blue cargos with the yellow shirt today...great match! Je t'aime mon amour xox. I know you got a busy day at school and evening...miss you!! xox
P.P.S. Babes...I just saw that there's a blizzard! Please drive safe tonight...I am not sure if you changed my winter tires yet...be extra careful!!!!!!
Clinic days are usually long and the goal is to try and see as many people as we can. Everyone helps out here...we all get into rooms and start seeing patients. Some rooms will have 3 of us seeing people and we are all sitting side by side with a translator. I have to admit, the one thing that disappoints me while I am here is that I am not able to speak their language (Mamprusi)...there are so many dialects here that even our translators have a hard time sometimes. One thing I love doing when interviewing patients is being able to get to know them quickly...interact with them...make them feel comfortable and try to cheer them up! MOst patients are quiet, we examine them and they interact with the translators and our on their way. It's tough...I try smiling and especially with the kids...try to not scare them....for some it's the first time they see a "white man". Today though, there was this one young girl who walked into the examining room with a huge smile on her face...she was coming for a follow up on her seizures and needed more medication. She also complained of "generalized body pains"...the nurse we had laughed at her and then they both broke out into laughter. Nurse said..."why do you have pains? I am way older than you and don't complain of these pains" The young girl just kept laughing and talking and talking and talking...very unusual because most a really quiet. She kept saying that she's in pains because she bends her back a lot while working in the fields at home. We quickly showed her the proper way of bending while working...hopefully this will help her. I was just so amazed by her though...seizures, working in the field, walked a few miles to come today, waited several hours....and still smiling.
Another interesting man I saw was this little old man who we really don't know how old he was. Most people don't actually know their age here...when they register, most times the nurse will "guesstimate" their age and write it down in their chart. This old man was walked in with his grandson...had a walking stick and looked very intellectual and wise. Probably the leader of some tribe it seems...he was very quiet, not complaining at all but rather sick. We admitted him to the male wards to keep a closer eye on him.
The rest of the clinic day was interesting...I got to see some obstetrical cases and even tell this one woman that she was pregnant after doing an ultrasound on her. This was a really cool feeling...she was happy yet quiet. It's a very important part of their lives here to have children...it makes the women more "important". On a sadder note....had to tell a woman who thought she was 4 months pregnant with a history of bleeding that I no longer saw any baby on ultrasound.
Later on, there was an urgent call for us to come to the to the maternity ward to see this woman who was admitted this morning after delivering at home and feeling weak. She was in shock, bleeding and not looking very great. Postpartum hemorrhage is something that can be a serious complication for woman...especially in Africa when most are anemic and with malaria. We quickly examined her...did the necessary things to stop the bleeding and stabilized her. When we returned to follow up on her later in afternoon...the nurse called us over to where her newborn baby was in an incubator while the mother was been looked after...no response. A day old and this baby for some reason....we will never know...died. Child mortality is something you don't see often....once again...here this is just another day. We waited to tell the mother about the loss of her child....she needed some time to recover from the shock of blood loss while we transfused her with blood...hopefully with no other complications.
At 5:30pm our day ended...headed back to the house while the sun was setting...bats were flying in the air...crickets making their noise and our flashlights out trying to avoid any snakes that may cross our paths. I am sure as we walk passed the Ghanaian people that they must be saying to themselves "look at these white people...so scared to walk barefoot without any light".
Again gooood foood....we were served this nice lasagna dish! I don't know how our cook is good at making these meals...a local here but he made an awesome lasagna...better than some I've tasted back in Montreal.
See you all tomorrow! It's american thanksgiving demain...so there's a party planned for all the medical team here. Very excited for turkey :)
BYE
P.S. Evs...I wore my blue cargos with the yellow shirt today...great match! Je t'aime mon amour xox. I know you got a busy day at school and evening...miss you!! xox
P.P.S. Babes...I just saw that there's a blizzard! Please drive safe tonight...I am not sure if you changed my winter tires yet...be extra careful!!!!!!
Phil, thanks for sharing your stories! I'm sure you'll come back with a whole new perspective on life. Enjoy, and be safe :) -Noura
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