After we finished rounding I went with Julian to take Mama Virginia (ver-gin-ee) to the OR to have her dressings changed. Mama Virginia is the woman who was burned before Christmas while lighting her oil lamp and it caught her skirt on fire. So I saw her wounds open today... YIKES! The entire back side of her right leg is raw from her mid-calf to her mid-buttocks. I took some pictures. She was in such pain as they were debreeding her wounds... I held her hand, hummed, and patted her back... She did very well... I can't imagine... the only pain medication she is on is Ibprofen. At home we give morphine, or dilodid which is much stronger.
After her, we changed the dressings of a little girl (about 5 years old) named Eda. She has bilateral hand burns on the palms of her hands. They are pretty deep on the "meat" part of her palms below her thumbs. I did her dressing yesterday... I wish I could have again today, but instead I just helped hold her down... poor thing... again... I don't think she had ANY pain meds before the change. And the whole time she was crying "e-boyee...e-boyee" which in Lingala means "I refuse! I refuse!" Afterwards she still let me play with her and tickle her... so I think we are still friends despite her efforts to kick us as we were doing the dressing change! Such a strong little girl... and such a strong mommy who was with her the whole time.
Then I found Sean walking to the isolation room where a pediatric patient (a 6 month old little boy named Prince) is with Meningitis. They started an IV on him so they only had to administer the drugs he needs once a day opposed to giving him a shot 2 times a day. Much less pain and hassle for everyone! So as they started the line I was distracting him with an orange b
alloon... talking to him and "occupying" him... I am an occupational therapist I guess! :) I find it interesting because the mothers at time do not seem to be interested in what is going on, but as soon as I put my hand on her leg, shook my head, and smiled, she smiled back. That is what makes me wish I could have a full conversation... but I am learning new ways of conversing... which sometimes can be more challanging and out of our comfort zones through body language, it is more vunerable than just words.We then had lunch - fish, rice, papaya, fried plantanes, and cabbage salad. After lunch I took a little rest and then headed out to the pediatric ward to see my little friend Enoch, the 2 1/2 year old who's leg is in traction. I took some pictures of it today... hopefully I can upload soon! It's quite the contraption. I went by myself... I figured tying a balloon with fishing line above his bed was self explanitory! He LOVED it! Hopefully he continues to like it. I thought I could gradually add somemore things, and teach mom some more games since he has only been in it for a week, and he still has 2 more weeks to go! (turns out he is in traction for a total of 4 weeks, then a cast after that.... I was afraid it was traction for 6 weeks... thank goodness it's not!) It was fun to play with him though... I think he is getting more used to me.... he really loved the balloon... at first it was scarry (I don't know if he knew what it was)... but once he saw it "bounce" when he hit it... oh man... it was the BEST! :)
Before leaving the pediatric ward I tried out my newest Lingala phrase... Tikay la malamu (may you stay well). It is basically a nice thing to stay when you say goodbye. They all were impressed and laughed in praise at my efforts. It feels good to make connections, even if they are small. :)After going back to the blue house for some water... Sean came to find me and said Dr. Joe had a patient for me... an older man who had a stroke 3 days ago leaving his left side flaccid (floppy/ paralyzed). So since I am here Dr. Joe admitted him... otherwise they would just send him home. So I will be working with him for a week on transfers, and using his left hand and leg as an assist for functional activities like dressing, eating, toileting ect. It'll be interesting! Oh... and it took him 3 days to get to the hospital... can you imagine... 3 days to get to an emergency room?
Shortly after that, some people brought a 19 year old girl named Josephine, to the ER in a wheel barrow (a normal form of transporting patients to the hospital here). She had been ill since new years day, went to a clinic a few days ago, thought she was pregnant, took a pregnancy test, it was negative, but they still did a DNC (cleaning out her uterus), and maybe poked through something they shouldn't have because, Sean, Dr. Joe, and Dr. Fuka, determined that she is septic and basically came alert with a lot of pain, and now is somewhat comatose... pray for her... hopefully she makes it.
Dr. Joe was telling us that this is unfortunately not that uncommon... someone goes to a "church" or a government run clinic and they "treat" the patients, and as soon as the patient turns for the worse (basically is dying) they refer the patient to the Pioneer Christian Hospital (this hospital), or they call it the "American" hospital even though the majority of people here running it are Congolese, and Canadian. :) So sad... she is too young... but it happens a lot.
Tonight is Sean's first night of being on-call... he will be all this week until next Thursday night. YIKES! We'll see what happens... so he is the first one to be called if a doctor is needed. I am proud of him... he is doing very well.
Well... I guess that is enough for now... it is amazing how tired we get! Sean is asleep on the love-seat right now... so I guess it is time for bed!
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