A Brief Introduction

Well, to say the least, the hospital is full of new experiences. I havent yet participated in much, but I have been offered to insert branulas, similar to an IV, into patients. I was about to until I saw how difficult it is and how many tries it took. Next time I may be up for it. Other than that, I have been walking around with the doctor and interns in the male ward for the past 2 days. My first day I had an opportunity to help catheterize a patient in a coma, but I backed out at the last second. I felt I should ease in more slowly. I might end up regreting that in the long run...

Today we were supposed to perform a lumbar puncture, which, from what I understand, is very similar to a spinal tap, but people get lazy here and tend to push things back. There was also a cesarean section going on, but I didnt find this out until it was over. There are plenty of them, so I am not too worried that I missed it.

The patients are a complete mess. I will try to explain their circumstances with the best detail I can, but I am no doctor. I warn some of you to not read on if you have a weak stomach for this kind of stuff. First off, it is always assumed that everyone has malaria and TB, since they are all compacted in the same room. On top of this, some have menengitis, AIDS, or cancer. One older man, whose age is unknown, has been in a coma for a long time and was laying in his own urine and feces up until yesterday. No wonder there were maggots on him. His diagnosis is unknown, since it is hard for them to run tests while he is in a coma. On top of all this, his scrotum is enlarged to about the size of a softball, most likely from a hernia that he has lived with most of his life. This is a very common thing to see here. One patient was living with 95% of his intestines in his scrotum for 31 years. It reached down to his ankles, so a wheel barrel was used to carry it. I didnt see this personally, but my close friend did, and from what I have seen so far, it seems perfectly possible.

Next up, there is a man who has had his whole bowel removed. With that being said, he cannot eat any food since there is nowhere to digest it. He is left in his bed to slowly die. There is not much that can be done.

There is an amputee in the ward who has no movement below his waist. This all happened from a matatu accident he was in. It is scary to think that I take these everyday when traveling to work. Oh well, its probably best I dont think about that.

Lastly, there is a man who has been smoking unfiltered cigarettes for 40 years. He doesnt look like he is in too good of shape.

Overall, it is very difficult to give each patient a specific diagnosis, since they have a bit of everything. It is hard to tell which symptom is from what. Most of the time doctors just end up treating the symptoms since they have no idea what the real problem is. Alongside this, none of the patients have money, so they cant even afford x-rays to be taken, let alone medication.

Tomorrow I will learn a lot more about the patients since the head doctor, Dr. Mwea, is doing the rounds. He makes all interns speak english only and asks them plenty of questions. I will bring my notebook to take some notes and get a better understanding.

This post was only meant to be a brief introduction. I will have plenty of stories to come once I get comfortable. It sounds like it is going to be a more hands on experience than I inititially thought. Thursday there is rumor of a surgery. I am really hoping for this. Stay tuned.