learnin' surgery...

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I'm sorry that I haven't been able to upload pics. I just spent the last hour trying to make it work... the computers here are not the best and the internet is incredibly slow!

Since I'm 'stealing' internet time at the Faculty of Medicine's Physician's room I have to be quick...

Since the first week, things here have improved significantly! Since then, I've really gotten to know the surgeons and the students in my department and they now are more than happy to include me in the OR and on ward rounds. Actually, I'm spending most of my time in the hospital - yesterday I was there from 7am until 9:30 pm! I'm learning so much from the docs and the residents & interns. I'm now somewhat competent at suturing - I was able to put in local anesthetic and suture a laceration across a woman's head from falling off of a bike yesterday! I've also been assisting in the OR and have seen some incredible surgeries - for those not interested in medicine, I apologize and I will be brief! The by far 'coolest' surgery that I have assisted was a tendon repair for a man who had fallen and cut all superficial and deep tendons, arteries and nerves of the wrist. It was SO NEAT to piece the puzzle back together and try to figure out which tendon attached to which muscle belly and so on. It took about 3.5 hours to do and I have pictures but can't get them online for some reason... Anyway - I have also, somewhat successfully, learning to put in IV lines which proving to be frustrating! Everyone keeps assuring me that I just need to keep practicing so I've been trying to do them as often as I can. So medically, things are going MUCH better at the hospital and even though I still don't have a supervisor or anything, I've learnt how things work in the department and have learnt how to create my own learning opportunities. I also still find the conditions at the hospital difficult and find myself fighting tears more often than maybe I should - just last night I was trying to advocate for this young man who had been in an accident and had suffered from minor head trauma. He had a massive laceration across his eye which we sutured but then he lay on a bed in the minor surgeries room for the entire day without food, water or painkillers. Finally, I pressured the doc on duty to get the paperwork done to move him into the wards so that he could at least be given analgesia. When I mentioned that the patient had been lying there all day without follow-up, the doc just looked at me incredulously and said 'this is Africa!'. I realize that the health care providers are hugely overwhelmed, and I that this is my own privileged, Western bias at work, but above and beyond the most BASIC patient care, nothing else is done for the patient's comfort or care. It's a luxury that we are so fortunate to have and although many people love to complain about our health care system, the care that patients receive in Canada is obviously way beyond what the majority of Rwandans receive...

Outside of the hospital, our international community has grown - there are now 4 Canadians, 2 Norwegians & 1 German. We all get along really well and have been getting together in the evenings to eat and 'debrief'! Last weekend, we all went to a national park about 2 hours from Butare where we all went hiking. It was a beautiful day and it was SO nice to get out of the hospital and see something other than an OR! hahah I haven't been doing any physical activity (I literally get up, go to the hospital all day then come home exhausted and go to sleep!) so it was great to get moving. We hiked all day through the natural forest and had a picnic at a massive waterfall before returning. Rwanda's landscape is so beautiful - so many hills and vegetation. We even saw Colombus monkeys and baboons! Unfortunately, since tourism isn't hugely popular here, getting around as a tourist is REALLY difficult (i.e. there is never public transit to touristy destinations like parks) and very expensive! I was thinking that Rwanda would be cheap but it cost me $50 USD just to get into the park and do a hike! I'm already out of money and needless to say, I've given up on my hope to go see the wild mountain gorillas... it costs $500 USD just to get into the park that they are in!... oi! Anyway - I still want to see as much of the country that my weekends will allow so this weekend, Julie & I are heading to the North to another national park to hike a volcano which is going to be amazing. I can't believe we only have a week and a half left before our Tanzanian adventure - it's really flying by.

We've also made really good friends with the interns at the hospital and have been going out with them during the evenings and weekends. Last week, one of the interns made us all dinner at his house which was amazing of him, especially since we eat the EXACT SAME THING every day at the hospital! Our dinner party eventually turned into a dance party - Rwandans love music and dancing and everyone dances really well! We even went out one night to Butare's only club which was hilarious - Julie and I held our own on the dance floor but we pale in comparison to the Rwandans! Tonight, we're all going out for dinner and drinks at the only Chinese restaurant in town (so random) which I'm sure will be a lot of fun.

Anyway - I am sorry for being MIA but it's been hard to find any down time to read, write or blog... Please keep the emails coming - I love hearing from home so much! I hope everyone is enjoying the nice summer weather - you'll all be more tanned than I since I never see the light of day! hahah

Ok - I really need to get out of my scrubs and off of the doctors' computer so I will write again next week before taking off to Tanzania on July 7th. We plan on doing a safari then climbing Kilimanjaro from July 13th until July 20th, then we'll be slowly making our way to Zanzibar and eventually to Dar where we fly back home on the 30th. It's going to fly by!

MUCH LOVE TO EVERYONE! Thanks again for thinking about me and reading my blog.

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