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Published: September 8th 2011
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Another day comes to an end in Namibia. The time seems to be flying by, I can't believe our 1st week as doctors in Africa is almost over! Clinic was steady this afternoon and the 1st two patients I saw I had to admit. One was actually a nice admission because it was a straightforward every day asthma exacerbation from viral illness and he is going to be fine! The 2nd one was interesting, and the baby will also be fine, but he somehow got into dish washing powder and decided it tasted good. It was strange to see cases we would see in the U.S. since everything else has been so different lately. this morning we had a lecture with the interns by one of the medical officers. she is a fantastic teacher and it was definitely a good lecture for them about neonatal resuscitation. Rounding was mostly done by the M.O's while we were in lecture, but I managed to see two of the patients I had seen yesterday, both doing about the same. Another baby I had seen but not taken care of. Turns out she had a CT of her brain in JULY but no one had
followed up on the results and it is no where to be found. With the help of the sisters I figured out from the passport that it actually was done here at Katatura State Hospital, but when I called radiology they could not find it anywhere. This means my job tomorrow after rounds is to #1 find radiology, and #2 bring this baby's passport and find her head CT so we can send her home! She had it done for reported abnormal head movements, but I have seen them several times and they are stereotypical movements probably related to her developmental delay. It is not seizure, or chorea, or anything else bad. Which is good. Anyway, wish me luck in finding radiology and her scans! I miss EPIC right now. I actually don't mind writing the paper notes, its kind of fun (yes, i know that sounds crazy), but takes so much longer. I had another successful radial artery blood draw today which made me happy because I couldn't get blood from the baby earlier. And I feel comfortable doing them now, which is good because we are not allowed to do them usually at Geisinger unless its for ABG.
Raissa had admitted another infant to my ward from clinic yesterday, and we could not find her today. I of course thought the worst, then turns out she was down in ultrasound for something, but no one could tell us why! Something about her right arm, which was fine yesterday. So, have to wait until morning to find out what is going on. A few cardiac cases admitted to Raissa's ward overnight, but they are all stable and mostly waiting for review at the weekly cardio clinic on friday. It is definitely often a waiting game here, which is hard to get used to. At Geisinger we get impatient if blood takes more than an hr to result, when we select STAT, here that often means by night or morning. They do have a lot of things I didn't expect to have though, which is nice. We gave out some stickers to kids on 8A and they were so funny! pronouncing the words and sticking them on their faces or arms or shirts. It is awesome to me that stickers made their days!!! and when we offered seconds, they were thrilled. We even gave a sheet of stickers to one
of the sisters who is really nice and she was very happy about that! We started giving some out at POPD too, which brings some memories of Knapper. The kids are so shy about receiving them, but love it! We are both really enjoying being here and are learning so much! The Brown's are so generous and its like a home away from home. We have one more day of work and then looking forward to a relaxing weekend with a bit of good food, shopping, and maybe a tribal fair! Good night all, from Raissa and Shannon
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Mom
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Hello
Hello and so glad you are both enjoying your work in Africa. You both look like you are enjoying your work and the children are absolutely beautiful. Miss you and will talk this weekend. I get my computer back today. Love you "Mommy"