Day 75 & 76

Monday & Tuesday, December 19 & 20, 2011

Back to work, too bad. Today was super busy, we saw lots of patients as usual on Mondays. Tuesday as I recall was busy in the morning, but once afternoon rolled around it was much slower. We had an interesting guy come into the clinic to get checked up, he was quite the character. He looked really young but he was actually in his 40’s. Anyways he was really funny, and awkward. Besides that there wasn’t anything too exciting that I can remember, so it wasn’t that interesting in the clinic the past couple days. We took Lizzy to get a spaghetti omelet on Tuesday and I think she seemed to enjoy it.

During the evening we all went to the church. We listened to Bill talk about Trusting in God and then after he spoke, we all went up to Clerk’s Quarters and enjoyed beans and puff puff. It was amazing, such a good meal, I get full for 200 francs, about 40 cents. If I could say so myself, I think it’s a pretty good deal.  On Tuesday night, Trixy quizzed everyone at the church in regards to what we talked about for the past week. When we finished Lizzy and I packed for the mountain, which we will be climbing on Wednesday and Thursday. I talked with my parents and then we headed to bed because it’s going to be an early morning.

Day 73 & 74 - Weekend in Kribi

Sabbath, December 18, 2011

Lizzy is here!! I am so happy to have her here!

 Today we woke up early and headed out to the beach. We grabbed a bite to eat at the bakery and then left for Kribi. When we finally arrived in Kribi we moved into our small little room and then got dressed to hit the beach. We walked down the beach to the falls, it was so beautiful and it was a nice walk. We hung out down there for a bit and took pictures. When we got back to our hotel we ate a little something and then went back out to the catch some more rays.

We got ready for dinner, took a shower in our lovely shower that was basically wide open in the room and then we took pictures on the beach with all of us girls. After we took pictures we headed to town to get some dinner. We had pizza again for dinner, but it was quite delicious. After dinner we stopped by the bakery, and Andrea, Rosisn and Lizzy and I decided to stay out in the town for a bit longer. (I guess on the way home Bill and Trixy got hit by a moto in their car and it took off their mirror, it was crazy I guess, but we missed it).

The four of us girls hung out and relaxed and then we decided it was time to head back so we got two motos to take us back to the hotel. But first they took us to the wrong spot and then the other moto driver had to stop and get some credit on his phone. We then finally headed back to the hotel. It was my first moto ride and it was awesome! I felt so free! This was Lizzy’s first moto ride as well and I am so glad that she got to experience it while here in Cameroon!

Rosisn was riding with me because she spoke French, so we told the driver we were married, but we also got them to take us back to the hotel for 1000 francs because we said “but were pretty”. Oh Africa.  When we got back to the hotel, they came out and yelled at the guys that brought us back because I guess they weren’t suppose to. It was kind of scary.

Everyone was out on the patio when we got back so we visited. We then were going to call it a night, but the 7 of us girls decided to go for a dip in the ocean! What a great night, we took showers after we got back. One of the girls had ants all over her, so she ran to the shower, it was an experience, but a good one! Oh yes one more thing, their were bioluminescence’s in the water, they were really neat, it was a night well spent in Kribi.

 A little taste of Africa

Lizzy at the falls! So cute :)

 The falls about a 30 minute walk on the beach from our hotel

 Local putting his boat in the water to go fishing

 All of us girls in Kribi on the beach, it was beautiful!

 Lizzy and I on the beach in Kribi! This girl is the best!

 My first moto ride...I'm in love...

 Lizzy on her first moto ride in AFRICA!

Day 74 - Sunday, December 18, 2011

Woke up pretty early again, we were going to walk to the Ilomba hotel to eat some breakfast, but we decided to drive instead. On our way there we saw a moto accident. I’m not sure what happen, but there were 4 people on the moto, two stayed on top of the bridge, the other two were barely hanging onto the side of the bridge and the bike was long gone in the water at the bottom of the bridge. It was very scary and we pray they everyone made it out with no major injuries, everyone seemed to be fine however.

After we ate a huge breakfast, we headed back to the hotel, packed up and left for home. We got back around 3 or so and it felt so good to be home; never thought it would feel so good to call this place home, but it actually feels like home now. When we got back, we slept for a long time. We then made some dinner and went down to Bill and Trixy’s. We had spaghetti and the works and then watched a movie. We called it a night after the movie and headed to bed! Ahh it’s so nice to have Lizzy here, she’s a great addition! Also Mom and Dad, thank you so much for the bag of goodies you sent to me, I love love love them! Love you all and miss you every much!

Our lovely hotel room that was a million degrees.

Day 72 - Lizzy is here!!!! :)

Friday, December 16, 2011

Lizzy is coming in today! I am so excited. Today again was super busy at work with nurse consultations. I got to hear a gallop today, which was pretty neat. Anyways we left work early and I worked on finishing packing. We were on the road to Douala by 1 or so. When we arrived we went to the bakery got a snack then headed to the hotel. We hung out at the hotel until it was time for dinner, then we went to dinner at the Mediterranean restaurant. Enjoying an iced coffee along with some pizza and ice cream. We then went back to the hotel, played apples to apples and waited for Lizzy to land.

We went to the airport and waited, but no Lizzy, we then checked the board and her plane had been delayed, so they finally landed around 9:40 and we didn’t see her until about 11. Before then I had some guy asking me for my number and then luckily she came so I just walked away, however, he was a pretty nice guy.  We got back, and headed to bed. I am so happy that Lizzy is here, I am so thankful that she is here with me!

 

Our hotel room in Douala! Aww it is so nice to have Lizzy here, finally, I've been waiting for forever it seems!

Day 70 & 71

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Wow, I’m sorry, I am so far behind.

So to give you an update! Today we went out to Kingston School and watched the Christmas Program that they put on! When we got there we took a tour inside the school and the kids just came and surrounded us and hugged us and told me how much they like my blonde hair. During the program, which was slightly unorganized and started an hour late, the kids were dancing and singing, it was adorable. The parents would go to the stage and throw money at the kids dancing up there. The kids there were out of control, it is so much different than in America, but it was an amazing experience! The kids were adorable, the people were so sweet, and the program was wonderful and just like I said before, an AMAZING experience.

When we got back to the clinic we basically did nothing in the clinic, but that’s alright. We went up to the church for the evening program where Mary spoke of the importance of exercise. When came back, hung out and went to bed.

The Christmas Program out at Kingston School, it was absolutely amazing!

Cutest albino that was dancing during the program!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Not a whole lot happen today, Sarah and Tabby worked on baking somethings for Trixy’s birthday. We saw a ton of patients in the nurse clinic today and we were super busy. I then worked on preparing my talk for the evening speaking of the importance of sunshine. I practiced it a little bit, while everyone worked on making tortillas along with decorating the cake and making props.

I was a sun for my presentation this evening. It was a relief to get it over with. After the program, we walked back. Visited with Surreal a sweet girl that we met and then when we got back we celebrated Trixy’s birthday with chilly, tortillas and cake. We relaxed and then went to bed. Happy Birthday Trixy!

P.S. Lizzy comes tomorrow and I am so excited!!!!

Trixy's birthday cake

Day 69

December 13, 2011

Today was interesting. We couldn’t stop laughing this morning while singing. We were full of laughter. Anyways today was super slow in the clinic for us. We have very few patients and four of us nurses, there isn’t very much for us to do. After work we went to Elizabeth’s house to pick up Tabby’s skirt and we were going to have her make us pants, but she said the fabric wouldn’t work. When then went straight to market.

When then came back ate, and headed up to the church for our Health presentations.  On the way up to the Church, Mary and I were making pretty good time and we had two people ask us “are you people making sport?’ We were both dressed up, and I was wearing a skirt. The second person that asked literally laughed “hehehehehehe” when she asked. After that we slowed down the pace just a bit. Tonight’s topic was on water presented by Tabby.  After the presentation, which started 15 minutes late, we headed back down to the clinic.  On our way back, they saw Sarah and instead of calling here white man, they said “Chinese”. It was hilarious.

When we got back we had s’mores thanks to Trixy. They were so delicious. We roasted them over tea candles and put them on graham crackers from the Heartland store. After s’mores we watched a little something and then called it a night. Goodnight.

Day 68 - God is Amazing!

December 12, 2011

Worship this morning was so touching. There was one lady who had lost her husband and she was “sick”, but she just wanted to thank God for allowing her to be alive and thank Him for showing her that she does have a purpose here. Then the girl that came on Friday was there this morning at worship and she told everyone her story in which she lost her mom when she was little and he father was never around and that she lives with her aunt and uncle and her aunt basically hates her. Mom Regina had prayer, and by the time prayer was over, there were about 3 people crying and everyone else was really moved by it, you could tell by all of the “amen’s”. I placed my arm around the lady sitting next to me to comfort her because she was one of the people crying during prayer. It was very moving prayer.

Trixy didn’t work today, so it was just a nurse clinic for the day. We saw a few people, but we weren’t super busy. However, a very good-looking German came in to the clinic today and Mary and I did the consultation. He was so cute!

After work we went and got some “corn” and then came back and made some popcorn. I worked on the Christmas letter for my mom. Spoke with my mom. Made my first online purchase in Africa and then got ready to head to church. Also Sharon the girl who came on Friday came to stop by and say thank you. She was so grateful; we helped pay for her schooling so that she could write her exams. When she came by we gave her food because she hadn’t really eaten all week long. Thanks to mom Regina, she took Sharon to the school today to help pay for it because we didn’t want to just give her the money, but mom took her and got most of it taken care of, however, mom got tired so she came back, which by then most of it was taken care of.

We went to the church for the health presentation; there were about 9 of us all together. Sarah did a nice job for being the first to present. She talked about rest. We sang some songs, and talked with everyone. I love all of the people in the church; they are all so sweet. After church we walked up the hill to Clerk’s quarters and got some beans and puff puff along with some soda. I made good use out of my flip flops tonight and opened one of the bottles with it. Once we were finished we had some man come and stand next to our table, but the waiter told him to leave and not to be in his shop, it was very nice of him.

When we got back to the compound, we went and got some frozen bananas, visited with Bill and then had lots of giggles. Today has just been full of giggles, I’m not sure why, but I guess it’s good to laugh every once in a while :). Came back to the room and was brushing my teeth we a cockroach ran along the sink. I definitely screamed. I had no were to spit, but I was not getting anywhere near that roach. I spit in the shower and Sarah helped with the destruction of the roach. SO GROSS! I then visited with my brother and Jamie and then called it a night.

Wow, there are so many things to be thankful for today! Sharon was grateful to get the help to allow for her to write her exams. We are grateful for mom Regina in taking the time to go to the school with Sharon. Thankful for our church family and friends. And thankful for rest. Today was just a good day! God is so good!

A Night Under the Stars

Day 64 - 67

December 8 - 11, 2011

This past week was pretty rough. When I had to work in the pharmacy, I realized I’m not as tough as I thought I was. I tried to let it go, but I couldn’t. But the one thing I did realize is that Africans have a very different way of expressing themselves. The culture here is much different than in the States. I love them all to death, but this week was hard for me to see through the sternness.

We also had another girl that came in who wanted money from us because she couldn’t pay for school to take her exams, but how were we to know whether or not she was truthful or not. We talked with her and got to know her and we felt as if she really did need help and that she had a rough life. Please pray for her.

I am so thankful for church family, a little girl this weekend was telling me to “come” by waving her hands so that we could pray together, so I wrapped my arms around her and she wrapped hers back and around my legs as much as we could while we prayed.  I am also very thankful for my family and friends back home. I got to talk to my parents and best friend Lizzy who will be coming in 5 days. I am so excited and every time I get to talk to my parents I am just so grateful for them and I love them so much! I miss them so much!

So last night we thought that we were going to be able to view a lunar eclipse, only to find out that it actually happened the night before. That was a bummer, but look on the bright side we got to spend the night under the stars and a full moon while in Africa. What a great way to spend the night, sleeping under the stars in Africa, it was so beautiful. The three of us girls and an African cat to keep the lizards and whatever other animals might come along; and then to top if off waking up to a stunning sunrise, it was a great way to the start of a new week.

This is going to be a good week. Woke up to an amazing sunrise. Enjoyed some ICED COFFEE. Spent the evening with great friends. Played Dutch Blitz. Talking with Mary and Tabby about our mission here. And I get to see my best friend in 5 days!

 Mary, Tabby and Myself sleeping under the stars and a full moon, it was awesome!

 Sunday morning sunrise, what an amazing sight to wake up to!

Day 63 - Injection

December 7, 2011

Started out working in the pharmacy for a bit this morning, did some consultations with Trixy, but we were so busy that I started taking some of the patients in the other room and did the history and physical myself. I did that on 3 or 4 patients today; an old man with knee pains, kid that had malaria and anemia, another man with toe fungus. 

I did another knee injection today; I love giving them because it just glides right in. I also did a few antenatal consultations and then had Trixy check the cervix for me. Anyways it was a good day, and I had a ton of experience, because I did a lot of it on my own and then Trixy double-checked my work.

This afternoon, it slowed down a bit, but then we ended up working until about 4:30. After work I was tired, so I came and relaxed. It was a long day, but a very good day!

Went and ate some frozen bananas, visited for a bit and then decided it was time for me to call it a night!

So far along the journey I have had some amazing experiences and wonderful encounters with people! God is so amazing and I thank Him everyday for all that He has done for me and I pray that He continues to work in the lives of those around me along with continuing to work in mine. God is so good!

Day 62 - New life

December 6, 2011

Today was super slow in the clinic. We saw a few patients and then spent some time writing letters to my family when we didn’t have patients in the clinic. We had one of our antenatal patients come in with her baby that she delivered last Friday at a weight of 2.2kg. The baby was so little, but so is the mother. The baby was adorable and the mother is just the sweetest thing ever!

Tabby made us some lunch today, so we all went over to Bill and Trixy’s to enjoy it. We visited for a while because it was slow then headed back to the clinic.

After work we hung out, made popcorn, ate watermelon in DECEMBER and enjoyed some guacamole. We watched Rodolfo and Home Alone 2. It was a relaxing night. Slow day, but it was a good day.

 She is so precious!

 I was so excited for her, she is such a sweet person!

Day 61

Monday, December 5, 2011

Today was so stressful! I was the only one working in the pharmacy because Teclaire was busy working on other things. And seeing that Monday is our busiest day of the week, well yeah I must say it was very busy and very stressful! Some of the drugs I couldn’t find, or I had a hard time finding, and then some of them I didn’t know how much to give or how often because it wasn’t written in the book. And then I would have a long line of people and it was just very stressful. I made it through the day, but it was long and stressful. I think I left for about 5 minutes all day so I could use the bathroom and grab a bite to eat.

Even though there were a few down times throughout the day, when it was busy, it was very busy!

After work I was ready to just relax, we made some popcorn and then we started the process of making vegetables and tortillas, it was a lot of work, but it was delicious and totally worth it! After we ate we just hung out relaxed and then called it a night. I was ready for bed, because today was so stressful, but it was a relief to me when Trixy complimented me and told me I did a good job today working in the pharmacy.

Goodnight everyone! I miss you and love you all!

Day 60

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Well we have been here for 8 weeks now, wow where has the time gone?

 Today wasn’t too exciting on my end. Woke up early did a ton of laundry; my forearms are going to be quite strong by the time I get home with doing all this laundry by hand. Minus the laundry it was a relaxing day.

We went to get spaghetti omelets and it was a different guy than usual, well just say not as experienced so I got scrambled spaghetti omelet because it stuck to the pan. It was still good.  Nat joined us as well, and then we went and had coffee at Bill and Trixy’s.

Well I wasn’t feeling going to market today, but we went anyways, and Trixy drove us down there. After market we stopped in at Andrea’s place. When we got back, they did yoga and I went for a walk with Bill and Jordan. It was refreshing and not too hot.

I got to visit with Lizzy and my parents today! It is always so good to hear their voices, I miss them very much and I am thankful to have them in my life along with all of you people reading this (I think I have been in Cameroon for too long…I just wrote “all of you people”). Anyways as I was talking to my parents, Darius one of the younger church members came to our room. I told him I was talking with my parents so he said hello, he then went to my wall and looked at the picture and said, “Dad, I love the hair up on your face (as he pointed to my upper lip),” he then says and “Mom, I love your hair do, it’s very nice.” I thought that was very sweet of him to say hello to my parents and compliment them. 

It’s very interesting here because they call their elders either “mom or dad” or they call them “auntie and uncle”. I thought it was very nice of Darius to call my parents “mom and dad”, however that is their culture here.

After talking with my parents we went down and had dinner with everyone then we played a round of Apples to Apples, it was a lot of fun. We then called it a night. Goodnight everyone. It was so good to talk to you! I love you and miss you!

 Dad, you are very handsome, and mom you are oh so beautiful! I miss you both very much and love you lots!

Day 57, 58 & 59

Thursday, December 1, 2011 - Rabbit Rabbit

Well Thursday was pretty slow, we saw a few patients in the morning, but since Trixy had a meeting to go to we were turning lots of people away. It’s very slow without Trixy in the clinic.  We made it through the day. We went and hung out with Trixy Thursday evening, and then Bill came home and was there to keep her company. We left, hung out relaxed and called it a night.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Today Trixy was busy, so she didn’t see any patients; we did a lot of turning patients away today again. It was a pretty lazy day, we didn’t do a whole lot, and I worked in the pharmacy, worked on checking people in at the front desk and took vitals. This afternoon after work, I took a short nap, however one of our patients was so thankful for all that we had done, he brought us food. The food was so delicious, we all ate so much, I definitely ate way too much, but it was all so good! After we ate we went to the post office. We saw Nat there so we all went to the Heartland store since they had gotten their shipment in, that place was packed, it felt like I was in America…well not quite. Everything is twice the price there as it is in America. We then left, came back visited, prayed and then decided to go to bed.

Sabbath, December 3, 2011

Happy Sabbath everyone! Went to church today, walked up there, and let me tell you it was hot today, I was sweating like crazy, the only bad thing about walking to church. The one thing I really love about church is all of the people there. Everyone is so sweet! Same with all of the little kids, they love to laugh and giggle with you and come play with you. They are such a blessing, they are so much fun and really know how to make me smile! I love them all! After church we came back made some lunch.  After lunch came back relaxed. We took Jordan for a walk this evening, which was still hot out. We took out Mary’s hair tonight, didn’t take as long as mine. Then we watched the Grinch this evening eating popcorn. It was a good way to start off Christmas.

Some of the little kids at church that are involved in Pathfinders!

Day 56 – Aspiration & Heart Murmur

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

I woke up this morning and told myself it was going to be a good day. This morning our patient with the inflamed knee came back for a return visit. The inflammation in the knee had increased and it felt as if there was more fluid in the knee than usual. Trixy told us to aspirate the knee, she told us to grab a syringe and some iodine to clean it. Guess what, I got to do it! I cleaned the knee with the iodine swabs, then took the needle and put it into the inflamed leg. The first time I went in I got out 10cc of fluid, but I couldn’t find anymore with the first stick. We emptied out the syringe and went in at another spot. At first fluid was coming out, but I moved the needle all around in the inflamed knee and I couldn’t find any. It was awesome, I wish I could have gotten more out, but it felt amazing to be able to do the procedure.

We then had another patient come in that was complaining of fever. I did the exam on him. As I was listening to his heart, I heard something that I had never heard before. I heard the lubb-dubb, but every once in a while there would be a long pause, so I asked Trixy to listen to it, come to find out, not only did the patient have an irregular heart rate, but he also had a systolic heart murmur. Again another great experience, it felt good to catch that.

It was an interesting day from then on out. But we just pray that God will work everything out. Trixy was busy, and we were all eating lunch. Christiane came and got us because one of the patients wanted us. The guy with the heart murmur wanted to talk to us, so Mary and I went over and wrote out his impression and his plan. He was so nice and told us that he would be sure to keep us updated and be sure to come back to the clinic because he really liked us, he even told us all about his family. It was again, a great experience.

This afternoon wasn’t super busy, so we spent all afternoon cleaning out the pharmacy. We took off all of the medications from the shelves and wiped them off. Mary and I were there until about 5:30.

After work, I rinsed off because I was dirty from cleaning, made some popcorn and then went down to hang out with Trixy. We made some delicious scrambled eggs, ate some watermelon. We then watched Home Alone and relaxed and de-stressed. It was very nice. After the movie I’m going to call it a night and head to bed.

Oh yeah this morning, Mary and I tried to use our inhaler that we bought, it didn’t work out so well, but we will see, I think it might work eventually.

 This is what the knee looked like initially when he first came in, it looks a little better now, but this is similar to what I aspirated this morning, not much came out. The fluid is is little pockets and hard to find.

Day 55 - No more hair!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Today was a pretty good day. Clinic was pretty busy and we saw quite a few. While Sarah and Trixy were working together, Mary and I were examining patients in the other room. Since I am writing this a day later than usual, I am having a little bit harder time remembering what we saw today. We saw one patient who sounded like she had traveled outside of Cameroon because of her mannerisms, however we asked her and she said she hadn’t left Cameroon. She came into the clinic and we asked her what the problem was and she said, “Nothing…I’m pregnant.” She also was afraid of taking her clothes off in order to check the cervix, which most Cameroonian women don’t have a problem with.

They lady with severe malaria returned today, she was going crazy so we gave her something to calm down so that she could sleep, she did, but she was still out of it. Her family came and the little girl just came up to me and started hugging me, it was so cute!

We then went to market; it was blazing hot and not very much fun because we had to get so many things!

After market I started taking my hair out. Then Christiane started helping me and then Trixy came and helped, along with Sarah and Tabby, even Andrea came and helped out. Then it was time for the clinic to close so people slowly started leaving. So we migrated to the porch outside of Trixy’s house. Then Janelle and her mom came out and helped finish out my hair. After about 1 hour and 45 minutes, with the help of 7 people, Andrea, Janelle, Dawn, and myself finished the last of my hair.

Once we were finished we ate some supper, after supper we visited for a while, ate some dessert and then it was time for me to wash my hair! It felt so amazing! However, I felt as if I didn't have any hair left because when I showered I think I lost about 10 lbs of hair!

 The little girl that came up and just held on to me, she wasn't letting go either, but she was adorable!

The process of taking my hair out, I think I had at least 10lbs of fake hair, okay maybe not that much, but I had a lot! Ahh, I love Africa.

Day 54

Monday, November 28, 2011

Today there were quite a few patients at worship waiting to be seen. Most of them come in with the same complaints, but there are also some that are different.  It was interesting today we saw a little girl who was mentally challenged, she was 4 year old, but acted around the age of a 2 year old and still couldn’t speak. Her mom thought that maybe her tongue was tied, but that wasn’t the case. The mom told us that she was a triple, and that other doctors had told her the other babies may had been pushing on her and she didn’t develop correctly. That would be so hard, she was an adorable girl I must say so myself though!

We went and got some spaghetti omelets and then when I got back to the clinic we had a patient with severe malaria, she was so out of it. We also saw the cutiest little boy. Trixy was asking him questions about his symptoms and he kept saying yes, so she asked if his name was Moses just to check, and he did say no! Anyways he was super cute, and a sweet little kid! We had a rough morning with kids kicking and screaming and crying, so it’s always nice to have those who are good!

After work, we ran up to the post office and then came back and visited with Janelle Walikonis and her family, they were such nice people! We went for a nice walk and then got ready for dinner. We decided to go out to eat. For once it was super quick, but they ran out of food, it all worked out though! And the Walikonis were super sweet and treated us to dinner!

We then went to Lina’s for ice cream. I got asked by some random guy to take a picture with him, I didn’t know what to say so I did, probably not my best choice, but I learned from my lesson. Anyways, besides that I had a wonderful evening visiting with everyone and relaxing. Lina’s was closing and so we decided to head home. Got ready for bed, wrote in my blog and then called it a night! 

 We had dinner here and it was actually super good! I enjoyed it!

Day 53

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Well today I woke up earlier than usual and I went and played soccer with everyone. It was so much fun, even though I’m not good at all, it was still a good time.

After soccer I decided our room needed to be cleaned, so I took my bags out moved my bed and thoroughly cleaned everything by myself. I even cleaned the toilet and the bathroom (mom you should be impressed ;)).

I then went down to Bill and Trixy’s place to set up the Christmas tree, it was a ton of fun, but it really made me miss home! After the tree trimming party, we visited and hung out and then I headed back up to the room.

I worked on a few things and then the power went out. Went down to Mary and Tabby’s place, ate some popcorn and then finally the power came back on.

I then talked to my parents and watched a Christmas movie and decided to call it a night. Goodnight.

 

Day 52

Sabbath, November 26, 2011

Happy Sabbath! Went to church this morning, nothing to exciting, sat with the little kids which was a terrible idea because there are no fans, so by the time church was over, I was sweating like crazy. I missed most of what happen because I kept drifting in and out of sleep. We feed the guests today, not sure how much they liked our food, but that’s alright.

When we got back, we ate with Bill and Trixy, well Sarah and I did because Tabby and Mary were still up at the church. After we ate leftovers, we hung out and visited with Bill, I fell asleep, but everyone else was busy talking. We then went back up to the room, and I just drew. Made some amazing coffee with my new French press and then we made some dinner.

For dinner we had potatoes, popcorn, papaya and brownies. It was quite good. After dinner we visited for a long time about relationships, which is always interesting, we then watched X-men, and I did some more drawing. After the movie, I called it a night and went to bed. Goodnight!

Day 51

Friday, November 25, 2011

The clinic was kind of slow again today. First patient today came in with body pains all over…very non-specific. How are we supposed to diagnose this one? We had one echo today. We also saw another patient who was a little baby of 1 year old and extremely dehydrated. The baby was crying, but wasn’t producing any tears. We tried to put an IV in, but she kept crying and kicking, so every time we got it in, she would move and knock it out. We decided to do ORS for her, and come to find out it worked because when we got back this evening, there was no baby in the hospital, and no body was staying the night.

Around 12:30 or so we decided to go grab a bite to eat because the clinic was slow. We ate and never went back. Andrea came up and gave me a slip for the post office to pick up a package. So after lunch Sarah and I headed up.

I was just expecting one package from the SM office because Sarah and I both got the same slip. But come to find out, I received 3 packages. One was from the SM office and the other from my parents. The lady at the post office went to the back room and came out with a large package, and told me that it had been there for almost a month and asked if I had received a slip. I definitely never received a slip, but I have been waiting for the package and I finally got it! I was so happy! Thank you Mom and Dad and Lizzy!

When I got the package, it had a big whole in the side of it and I was sure that that was going to be a mouse in there and all of the food would be eaten. When I got back I decided to open it outside. Luckily, no mice or rats and only one bag had been gotten into, but I’m pretty sure it’s still edible.

After opening my package, Mary, Tabby and myself, decided to go “black Friday” shopping down in Molyko. We walked around, then went to the bakery and had a soda along with a pastry.

When we got back we relaxed, then decided to make some popcorn and guacamole. It was all super delicious. After eating we went back up, I talked for a bit on skype and then decided to call it a night. Goodnight! And thank you for the package; it was a wonderful Thanksgiving gift! You are all amazing and I am so grateful and thankful for you all!

Best package ever, plus the fact that I have been waiting for forever as well! Thanks Mom, Dad and Lizzy! Love you!

Yep, I'm pretty sure something got into this one!

Do you think its still edible!? Who cares, were in Africa right!?

 Hand Sanitizer is always good! Thanks Mom and Dad, Love you!

Day - 50 Turkey Day!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Well today is going to be a good day! It’s Thanksgiving and we are going to have a feast! Today work wasn’t super busy. Emmanuel was there which made things much easier. To be honest I don’t remember all of the patients that we had seen, but it wasn’t super crazy. I did one IV injection, but it didn’t work out so well for me today.

So Mary and I were hungry at about 1:30 or so, so we decided to go back to the room and grab a bite to eat, however that was difficult because all of the pans to cook something were being occupied. Instead of eating we just decided to help Sarah and Tabby who had been working on preparing food all morning long. We were so busy preparing food that we didn’t even go back to work!

We made all sorts of yummy dishes. We made, apple crisp, sweet potatoes, tofu, stir fry, and deviled eggs. It pretty much took all day up until it was time to eat, mainly because of the limited amount of pots and burners that we had.

Everyone came together around 7:00 and brought something with them, there were all kinds of different dishes. They were all very tasty as well! I had a wonderful time socializing with people and getting to know those who I had never met before. It was a great evening, and it took the sadness of not spending Thanksgiving with my family away.

After everything was finished, it was late and I was exhausted, however I needed to talk to my family! I Skyped the whole family, and it was amazing! I saw everyone and prayed with them; blessing the meal, they sat down to eat and I called it a night! I got to spend the first part of their meal with them and it made my day! It was so good to see everyone and I love you all! Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thanks to all of you, it was a good one, even though I didn’t spend it with my family, I made the best out of it because of everyone! It’s late, so goodnight! I am thankful for all you reading this!

The dessert table...it was delicious!

Walters and I getting some dessert, after being totally stuffed!

Those of us who came, but didn't leave very early, there were even more than those in the picture!

 Personally, my favorite dessert...peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate! Soo good!

Day 49 – Cockroach and Lidocaine

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Last night I woke up to use the restroom and guess what I found, a cockroach! Luckily I turned on the light in the bathroom! First one we have found in our room thankfully, and hopefully the last! So when I got up this morning…the roach wasn’t there…? Well today was a slow day in the clinic, well at least this afternoon. This morning we had one patient come back who has been having inflammation in the knee, it isn’t getting any better, but to numb the pain we did an injection in the knee with lidocaine. Trixy let me do the injection, she showed me where to do it and I did my first injection into the joint. It felt amazing, at least for me, no so much for the patient!

Mary and I saw another patient who had a swollen foot because of an infection, she did her labs, but was tired and didn’t want to stay any longer, so she just went home, no treatment or anything.

So after we ate lunch, there were really no other patients in the clinic, so we talked about menopause and contraceptives, it was quite interesting and we all had a good time visiting this afternoon. When we finished work we headed up to the Post Office and then walked up to the bank.

After returning we relaxed and then decided to make some spaghetti, we had that for dinner along with some soy nuts made by Trixy and a few other random things. We watched Castle and then headed back up to the room. As I was about to post on my blog, wouldn’t you know it…the power decided to go out, what’s new again, after all this is Africa. Anyways I think I’m going to call it a night shortly here. So goodnight everyone!

Day 48

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Today wasn’t super busy right at first, so Trixy left to do some things and we took in one patient and started doing her history and physical. Trixy then came back and we decided she needed to do a pelvic echo. We saw a few other patients and the one I remember the most this morning was the little kid that had a rash all over his body. At first it looked like scabies, but also like secondary syphilis, we ran some test and found it was probably a cross between the two.

At lunchtime all of the girls decided to go to market, but I wasn’t really feeling it so I decided not to go. When I got back to work we saw a lady who may have cancer of the ear called Cholesteatoma. We then saw our first albino in clinic! He was such a nice guy, however we ran some tests on him and were still not sure what’s wrong. We then saw a little girl who was afraid of the doctor and cried the whole time basically. Anyways so our last patient needed an echo for a threatened abortion, but they decided not to do it today, so maybe they will come tomorrow.

After work, Mary and I went to market to get some potatoes, we got a huge bag of them and then I carried them back while Mary went and got us some sugar. I then got ready to go.

This evening Mary, Trixy and I went to a drug promotion at the Eta Palace Hotel in Molyko. We walked there…it is quite a walk, but a good one. We were kinda late, but its Africa, I don’t think anyone is on time. It was very interesting, we learned about lower respitory infections, and then learned about the drug Augmentin that is used to treat it. After the program, they provided us dinner. It wasn’t too bad.

Before leaving the hotel we went and looked at one of the rooms, they were actually quite nice, definitely not like America, but they were nice. We then caught a taxi back up to the Clinic where Sarah and Tabby were finishing up making tofu for Thanksgiving dinner. We ate some watermelon then headed up to the room. Just as I thought I was going to call it a night we decided to do ab-ripper. Soon after ab-ripped I called my parents and went to bed! I miss you all very much! Love you Mom and Dad! It was so nice to talk to you both!

Day 47

Monday, November 21, 2011

This morning since all of us had our hair done we decided it would be a good time to take pictures of us in our African dresses. After pictures we went back to the clinic.

Today felt kind of slow for a Monday, but we did have quite a few patients to see this morning. Mary and I took a few patients to see them and then after we saw them we told Trixy what we found and what we wanted to do. We also brought her into see some of the patients we were unsure of.

We all ate lunch together because we had leftover black beans and some sautéed onions. It was quite good. Then for dessert we had cookies with bambi chocolate and frozen bananas.

When we got back to the clinic, we did an echo and saw maybe one or two patients. One of the patients was after the echo at around 2:45 or so. The patient had a little girl and so I played with her while they examined. She was so cute. By the time they were finished, I was sweating because it was so hot in the room with all of us in there.

After work all of us girls worked on a “music video”. You all may be able to see it if you look back in about a month or so. Anyways that was interesting, so after the making of the video we hung out. I did laundry which takes 20 times longer in Africa, but look on the bright side I’m gonna be buff by the time I leave! Then after doing laundry Sarah and I made some fettuccine alfredo again, it was delicious.

This evening Sarah and Tabby decided to take their hair out. I was going to help, but I decided not to, I decided to take it easy and get some alone time because that is hard to find here. So I hung out wrote letters home and then decided to go to bed.

Having some alone time was really nice to just catch up.

Day 46

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Happy Birthday Lizzy Kim! :)

I can’t believe I have been here for a month in a half now! It’s been quite the ride, but a good one! Well today was a rough start. Anyways.

Precious one of the boys from the church brought his dog by, it is so cute. I have no clue what kind of dog; it’s a mutt, but a cute one. Then after that I ran back up to the room and was going to go back down to play some soccer, but I didn’t quite make it back down in time.

After that, my day was over. We spent the 10 hours getting my hair braided. We got to the hair place around 10 and she didn’t show up until 11:30…its Africa. Then when she got there she didn’t have our color hair, so we walked to a store to get some. It was closed so luckily we ran into Darius who translated and told us she had to go to Muea market to get some. We gave her money and she left to market and we headed back to the shop.

We kept waiting for her to return, “is it this taxi”, “it has to be the next one”, and “she should be back soon, its not gonna take more than an hour”. After 2 hours of waiting, she finally returned and she started on our hair at 1:30.  I finished before Mary did and then she finished around 9:30 or so. As soon as I was finished I ran behind the building and relieved myself, I couldn’t hold it any longer.

Tabby and Sarah brought us some lunch but by the time we were finished at 9:30 we were starving. When we got back we ate some fried plantains and a frozen bananas. We were tired and our heads hurt, so we decided to call it a night. This will be interesting with the 10 lbs of hair that I now have.

 

Mary and I before

 Mary during the process

Myself during the process

Almost finished...after 8 hours...my goodness!

 Finished! Taken at about 9:30, these ladies I am sure were ready to go home to their family!

Day 45 - A Scary Movie

Sabbath, November 19, 2011

Happy Sabbath everyone! I woke up today thinking it was going to be a good day, and guess what, it was a great day! We walked up to church in time for church. Church was amazing today! It was Pathfinder weekend and all of the little kids did the church service today! They did such a good job and they were so adorable!

After church we hung around, took tons of pictures and had a great time hanging out with the kids. Sabbath today was amazing, I felt like I clicked with all of the kids and it was just a lot of fun, along with having potluck with all of them as well! It was a fun relaxing Sabbath.

When I got back to the room, I took a little nap. We then later went to Bill and Trixy’s where we made spaghetti and popcorn because we didn’t get that for lunch. After we ate we were going to watch a movie, but guess what…? It’s Saturday night and basically every Saturday night the power just decides to go out. So rather than watching a movie, we played apples to apples under the candlelight.

When we got back to the room, the power had come back on, but there were no lights on in the hospital…it was really creepy. It felt like a scary movie, we tried turning on all the lights; only light that worked was in the bathroom. Then we tried turning on the fan and it came half on, however there was still Internet. It was super creepy.  Talked on skype for a bit then called it a night. Goodnight everyone.

Day 44

Friday, November 18, 2011

Well today started out a bit slow, however it started to get busy around 9 or so. Emmanuel the student doctor was there again today to help us out. We saw a few patients with him. We saw a little baby who had herpes on his genitals along with in his mouth, poor little guy. We then saw a lady that keeps coming back for shortness of breath and joint pain. She talked extremely slow and it took forever for her to get out what she wanted to say…she kept complaining about things; I couldn’t take it anymore, I had to leave! Emmanuel finally finished with her about 45 minutes later.

Trixy and I then started on our line of echos to do. We had two trans-vaginal echos and two other OB exams. They all went fine. These were the first echos that I had seen the baby before 10 weeks.  We saw cardiac movement in both of the babies that were only 7 and 8 weeks along. One of the women thought that she may have lost her baby, but we found that it had cardiac activity, which is a good sign. This again reminds me of what an Awesome God we have. How can something so small already have developed a heart that is beating, it goes to show how powerful God is and how precious life is. God is amazing, the things He does and creatures He has made are amazing!

We finally got off work today around 3, then Mary and I ran up to the post office, nothing…at least not for me. Anyways when we got back we at some lunch/supper and enjoyed some watermelon that we bought from some little girls that came to our door. We then just sat around, relaxed, and talked. We did Abs, then just decided to relax. I showered, got on the computer, blogged and just took it easy. Now I am about to head to bed and get some good rest, so goodnight everyone.

The little girls that came to the hospital to sell us watermelon and bananas, they were so cute! And the watermelon was delicious! The way they carry those is impressive!

Day 43 - Ultrasounds

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Last night I went to bed way too late, and I woke up way too early this morning. I woke up around 5:30 in order to say good-bye to Monica and Nadia. Then after saying my good-byes I went back to bed for about an hour.

When we got to the clinic this morning, we couldn’t get into the pharmacy because the key wasn’t working so Te Claire climbed through the window to get in. Someone finally came over to fix it. We weren’t super busy at first, but we had many echos today. Today was such a good day. I got to do an IM injection and I also got to perform two ultrasounds. Let me just tell you, it’s much harder than it looks. It took me forever to find some things.

The first ultrasound I did turned out pretty well because she was only about 20 weeks, so the baby was much smaller, however the next one she was about 38 weeks along which makes it much more difficult! The first ultrasound I performed I was able to determine the sex all by myself. I found the labia and guess what I was correct, Trixy said that I was correct and that it was a female. The next one was much harder, however once Trixy found it I could tell it was a male, the genitals at 38 weeks are much more developed. I have found that ultrasounds are extremely difficult, and it takes a lot of muscle to perform one! It was a great learning experience today with all of the ultrasounds, I felt very accomplished.

After work, Mary and I taught an antenatal class on the 2^nd trimester. We had two very sweet women there. I thought we did a good job teaching the class for it being our first time. It went well and I think the two women were pleased with it.

Once the women left we had a bible study together. We talked about baptism, it was very interesting to here every ones view on it. I kinda fell asleep towards the end, but I got most of it. We then went and ate leftovers from last night and watched a movie. I then caught up on blogging and am going to call it a night because l was up late last night. So goodnight world. Love you and miss you all very much!

Today was a good day, I learned a lot and am starting to feel much more confident in what I am doing, God is so good!

Day 42 - Life and Death

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Today was an interesting day. I did a few consults with Nadia and Monica and a few ultrasounds with them as well! My favorite part of today was that we got to see a woman who was pregnant with twins! It was really neat. She was a sweet lady and she was so happy to find out that she was having twins, however, so were all of us, so she had a crowd of us in the room with her! The human body is so amazing; everyday it just reminds me what a smart, wonderful, loving and powerful God that we have! I was so excited and happy after seeing the twins, which made my day…at least until the next ultrasound. The next ultrasound wasn’t as happy. We found in the next ultrasound a baby that was about 30 weeks along, however, it was not moving and it had no cardiac activity. The baby was no longer alive. The mother came in having some idea that there was something wrong, but of course that doesn’t make it any easier.

Today reminded me that even though we have an amazing God who loves each one of us very much, there is still sin in the world, which is unfortunate. There is both life and death, but one thing we know for sure is that with God all things are possible and also even though there is death on earth, we will soon be joined with those we have lost and we will live forever. It is my prayer that the mother who lost her baby will not give up hope, but will continue to believe in God and know that everything happens for a reason. Today was a powerful day, and even though we saw death, we also saw life; life is so precious.

So after work today, we made tortillas and then had some people over to spend our last evening with Monica and Nadia. We had a feast for dinner and it was delicious! After dinner I was going to head to bed, but instead I decided to go out with Monica, Nadia, Nate and Walters and a few others. We hung out, danced and had a good time together as we will be missing Monica and Nadia. We also met some really sweet Cameroonians that I hope to keep in touch with. We got back super late and then called it a night.

All I need to say is....GOD IS AMAZING!

Day 41

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Today was a bit slower than usual. After worship today we had a few patients and then it slowed down a bit. The girls were still sleeping because they got down from the mountain late last night. They were super tired and sore so they didn’t come to work today. Mary got the day off today because she worked in the hospital last night. I did a few histories on patients along with physicals. We saw lots of patients with malaria, one that had H. pylori. I believe we did an echo or two. I wanted to go to the post office, but I didn’t get time to because it is market today.

So after work today we went to market and got tons of things to eat/make. We also got all of our essentials that we needed. Today I even got some strawberry jam and I am super excited about it! After market we relaxed and then decided to go to dinner and get some fried rice.

 The fried rice we got this evening was so delicious! Going out to eat always takes a long time, but it is super cheap, I got a huge plate of rice for 500 francs. When we got back from dinner I decided to call it a night, so I headed to bed.

 My 60 cent scarf, I'm pretty proud of it, just saying! haha

 My plate of empty fried rice (although I found one piece of meat) for only 500 francs, it was perfect.