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!