Tuesday the 28th was our first morning in the house and our first day at KCMC. We woke up to first of many beautiful views of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We prepared our things and headed for the hospital. When we arrived, we set through the hospital in search of Mrs. Mongi. We find her by shear luck and she lead us to Aneth, the visiting student coordinator of sorts. Thelma and I paid her our $1060 a piece for some residence permit and our two months of housing. Awesome. While filling out our paperwork with Aneth, another student, Sam, walked in and said that he was here for general surgery as well. He has since become our comrade from New Zealand. After Sam finished his paperwork, Aneth gave us her two cents of information, took us for a quick and pointless tour, and said that we should report for work the next day at 7:30 AM in general surgery. We spent the afternoon getting settled in and made a trip to Nakumatt, a westernized store that sells just about everything we could ever need, including 55' flat screen LED TVs. We also stopped at Vodacom and purchased a 3G internet SIM card. There is one thing in Africa that really works and that is the wireless phone and internet. Later that night, Thelma and I went to an IndoItalian restaurant with Sam, the Norwegians - Ingrid, Martine, Marte, and Siri, and the Swedes - Ana and Ulrika. Great times!
7:30 AM the next morning, we reported to surgery with no idea of what to expect. First, we listened to morning report. Apparently they had 72 patients in the surgery ward that morning. Insane. We began rounds in the ward. Before I can go further, I must explain the ward. As you walk in the door, you first see the entryway lined with cots of people in all sorts of different states. Some are recovering from surgery, some are prepared for surgery, some are vomiting in floor, and others appear to be on the brink of death. This was all in the first few feet across the threshold. That's when the smell hit us. The fragrance of vomit, urine, feces, and rot fill the air. Its a real nice place. Anyways, we started our rounds with the groups of residents and students. We bounced from bed to bed. Some had cancer, several had rotting diabetic feet, and some had liver failure. One man had traumatic injuries from a motor vehicle accident, including a basilar skull fracture. As we learned, there was going to be much to see over the next 2 months. After rounds we didn't know quite what to do, so we left for the day. We had seen enough. That afternoon we borrowed a fan from Sam's house to put in our room. No big deal right? We were just going to borrow it for our time here and return it to his house at the end. Wrong! Within an hour we had a forceful email from Aneth saying that we needed to return it immediately. Sam's house lady had called her and told her we took the fan even though she said it was okay. News travels fast around here. Awesome. We also made a trip back to Nakumatt to get Thelma and I umbrellas and Sam a bath towel. Surprise! Nakumatt sells everything imaginable...except towels. TIA! Awesome.
Thursday, March 1 will be a day we will never forget. We were following our new morning routine of breakfast and preparing for a days work at the hospital. Thelma and I sat down for our toast and juice and all of the sudden Thelma complained of really painful abdominal cramping. She went off to the bathroom and I continued to enjoy my toast and coffee. Then, out of nowhere, there was a loud calamity. I didn't know where it had come from, but I initially thought it must be the house lady doing something outside. Just seconds later I hear another crash. I was just about to check to see if Thelma was okay when she opened the bathroom door and crawled out on fours and proceeded to roll over onto her back in the middle of the room. Breathing heavily, she explained that she had passed out while on the toilet. When she did, she slumped back and to the right knocking the lid off of the tank - the first loud noise. Then, the toilet seat broke off and flew to the left slamming against the wall - the second loud noise. Thelma at that point, completely unconscious, fell head first into the trash can. She awoke lying on the floor next to the toilet with her head still in the trash can with the bag over her face. Don't worry, we still made it to the hospital on time. We still aren't exactly sure why it happened, but shes been okay since and we find ourselves laughing out loud about it daily.
After the bizarre morning events, we went to the hospital for our first day in the operating room. We had no idea what to expect, but now that we have seen it, we know not to get sick or injured here. The first surgery of the day was hernia repair and lipoma removal. In the middle of the surgery, the anesthesia machine lost oxygen pressure and the mans O2 saturation went into the 40s for about 10 minutes or so. Not only that, he later woke up while they were still cutting. The surgeon never stopped and at the end he said it happens all the time. "This is Africa!" We were just blown away be the whole event, but little did we know what was coming up next. Just a door down, we walked in on a cranial lift procedure. Apparently, a kid had fractured his skull at some point, leaving a depression in his head. Let the barbarics begin! It was frightening as the surgeon, "sterile" (which I say very loosely), proceeded to use an old crank hand drill to enter the boys skull. After squeaking and grinding his way in, he then used a steel rod to pry the cranial bones back into place. The whole event was terrifying.
Again, we were done at around 2 PM. That is apparently when the operating rooms close for the day, whether they complete all the scheduled surgeries or not. Its all just crazy. TIA!! That night, we went to dinner with our friends at the Leopard Hotel.
7:30 AM the next morning, we reported to surgery with no idea of what to expect. First, we listened to morning report. Apparently they had 72 patients in the surgery ward that morning. Insane. We began rounds in the ward. Before I can go further, I must explain the ward. As you walk in the door, you first see the entryway lined with cots of people in all sorts of different states. Some are recovering from surgery, some are prepared for surgery, some are vomiting in floor, and others appear to be on the brink of death. This was all in the first few feet across the threshold. That's when the smell hit us. The fragrance of vomit, urine, feces, and rot fill the air. Its a real nice place. Anyways, we started our rounds with the groups of residents and students. We bounced from bed to bed. Some had cancer, several had rotting diabetic feet, and some had liver failure. One man had traumatic injuries from a motor vehicle accident, including a basilar skull fracture. As we learned, there was going to be much to see over the next 2 months. After rounds we didn't know quite what to do, so we left for the day. We had seen enough. That afternoon we borrowed a fan from Sam's house to put in our room. No big deal right? We were just going to borrow it for our time here and return it to his house at the end. Wrong! Within an hour we had a forceful email from Aneth saying that we needed to return it immediately. Sam's house lady had called her and told her we took the fan even though she said it was okay. News travels fast around here. Awesome. We also made a trip back to Nakumatt to get Thelma and I umbrellas and Sam a bath towel. Surprise! Nakumatt sells everything imaginable...except towels. TIA! Awesome.
Thursday, March 1 will be a day we will never forget. We were following our new morning routine of breakfast and preparing for a days work at the hospital. Thelma and I sat down for our toast and juice and all of the sudden Thelma complained of really painful abdominal cramping. She went off to the bathroom and I continued to enjoy my toast and coffee. Then, out of nowhere, there was a loud calamity. I didn't know where it had come from, but I initially thought it must be the house lady doing something outside. Just seconds later I hear another crash. I was just about to check to see if Thelma was okay when she opened the bathroom door and crawled out on fours and proceeded to roll over onto her back in the middle of the room. Breathing heavily, she explained that she had passed out while on the toilet. When she did, she slumped back and to the right knocking the lid off of the tank - the first loud noise. Then, the toilet seat broke off and flew to the left slamming against the wall - the second loud noise. Thelma at that point, completely unconscious, fell head first into the trash can. She awoke lying on the floor next to the toilet with her head still in the trash can with the bag over her face. Don't worry, we still made it to the hospital on time. We still aren't exactly sure why it happened, but shes been okay since and we find ourselves laughing out loud about it daily.
After the bizarre morning events, we went to the hospital for our first day in the operating room. We had no idea what to expect, but now that we have seen it, we know not to get sick or injured here. The first surgery of the day was hernia repair and lipoma removal. In the middle of the surgery, the anesthesia machine lost oxygen pressure and the mans O2 saturation went into the 40s for about 10 minutes or so. Not only that, he later woke up while they were still cutting. The surgeon never stopped and at the end he said it happens all the time. "This is Africa!" We were just blown away be the whole event, but little did we know what was coming up next. Just a door down, we walked in on a cranial lift procedure. Apparently, a kid had fractured his skull at some point, leaving a depression in his head. Let the barbarics begin! It was frightening as the surgeon, "sterile" (which I say very loosely), proceeded to use an old crank hand drill to enter the boys skull. After squeaking and grinding his way in, he then used a steel rod to pry the cranial bones back into place. The whole event was terrifying.
Again, we were done at around 2 PM. That is apparently when the operating rooms close for the day, whether they complete all the scheduled surgeries or not. Its all just crazy. TIA!! That night, we went to dinner with our friends at the Leopard Hotel.
No comments:
Post a Comment