Irishlaydi

Today was a great day in Africa! :-) Work was busy but so rewarding, honestly. We both had good days, and so did our patients! Raissa got another IV placed, I got to teach some docs how to do Saphenous sticks for the babies, and thankfully while I was teaching i was successful on the 1st attempts. I also let one of the interns teach me the incredibly scary but easy jugular stick. Basically they hang the child's head over to stretch the neck, find the external jugular vein, and pop a needle in. voila, blood draw. I just am not a huge fan of sticking any size needle into anyones neck, no matter how superficial the vein! anyway, I can now say I did it, and would be able to again if I needed. Watch ... read more

Cannot believe we are done with our 2nd week of work at Katatura State Hospital! It has been wonderful and different and busy and fun too. The time is going so fast! This morning ward 8B actually finished rounding before Raissa's ward! That never happens! So I went to join Raissa and see some of their interesting kids. The 6 year old I admitted from clinic with congenital heart disease (and NO surgeries) was doing well, thank you Amoxicillin for ear infections :-) She was actually a "scheduled" admission for cardiology review tomorrow. And by scheduled I mean a bus load of patients showed up at 430pm yesterday (clinic closes at 5pm, no matter what!) and almost all of them were sent from other clinics or far away parts of Namibia for admission to peds wards. ... read more

Can't believe the weekend is over already! Saturday was a lot of fun (despite the lack of sleep, thank you killer african spiders). We slept in a bit, and then went to the Namibian Craft Center in downtown Windhoek. It is an amazing place! We both found lots of gifts for people back in the States (and Phillippines). we also may or may not have gotten something small for ourselves as well. We can't wait to go back. It is all handmade and gorgeous stuff from carved bowls to jewelry to fabric and clothing. That night we had burgers on the Braai (outdoor grill), and we had further introduction to perhaps the best Television show ever. Packed to the Rafters. Thank you Africa! (well, I guess technically Australia but since the Brown's introduced is i'm thanking ... read more

This Is Africa. We learned that today. A full week of work at KSH is completed...it was a great week, but just a strange feeling at the end of today. Several of my patients may not be alive when I get back on Monday, and its just the way it is here. I don't know how I feel about that. The baby I posted about a few days ago, with the lymphoedema and hemangiomas is worse. He is adorable and his mother is the sweetest thing. But today I went in to examine him and his belly is discolored and dark. My 1st thought was something aweful like NEC (thank you NICU rotations). But it is most likely from a consumptive coagulopathy (sort of like his hemangiomas are eating all his platelets). Still not good because ... read more

Wednesday...Bedtime...Blog. It is very strange to get ready for bed and then notice it is afternoon back home. We both adjusted really well to the time difference. Thank you crazy residency lifestyle and On-Call lack of sleep schedules. Being awake for 30 hours straight several times a week really has its benefits. Especially if you need to adjust to jet lag and work the next day. Seriously though, I do think our schedules and changing rotations every month really made adjusting to a new time-zone, a new home, and new work environment much easier. We both had another busy but great day at KSH (Katature State Hospital). If you missed our blog from yesterday, go back and read it, its good :-) Our morning started our with a busy rounds on my ward, and a not ... read more