Tuesday, April 7, 2009

First Day On Call...

Today, Zsila and I are on call. We will see how things go. There were several surgeries at the hospital this morning, but no clinic. We have not had much to do this afternoon. I suppose we will probably spend most of the evening in our house, because that is where the nurses can find us most easily. There are no phones between buildings, so the nurse hops on a motorcycle ("moto") and drives down to our house, rings the doorbell, and tells us what is wrong. We then hop in our little truck (or "lorry") and drive real fast to help or admit or do whatever. I know it is such a huge blessing to the doctors here to have someone else be in the call rotation with them. There are only 3 full time doctors here, so they are on every 3rd day when there are no volunteers. Unfortunately, if someone needs immediate surgery or a C-section, we have to call one of them anyway. Hopefully they will be able to get some rest tonight and not have call!

I guess I missed a day of blogging, so I will catch you up on Sunday's events. We drove to a village called Nassuan, about an hour away. There we attended church where another missionary (actually a Wycliffe Bible translator) was preaching. It was kind-of a reunion for all the missionaries in this part of Ghana/Africa. Several missionary teachers had been staying here on spring break, so we were bringing them back to their families. I think there were 6 families there! I could not keep everyone straight, but it was a really great time. There is a Belgian family here who work in Burkina Faso, the country right north of Ghana. The husband is a doctor who has just started his own "hospital" there, in a grass hut! But he has great dreams for it! He wants it to be eventually a nursing school. It has been so wonderful to get to fellowship with them and with the doctors here. I truly feel like I am standing among giants. With the Belgian family is a Belgian nursing student who is staying in our house. She is very sweet and wonderful to get to fellowship with. All of them are so sweet and have such a heart for missions!

After church and lunch on Sunday, we went out to hike The Escarpment. No one told me we were going hiking, so I was ill-prepared, but I didn't want to miss it! It was beautiful! I kinda felt like I was in The Lion King. It was this huge rocky ledge and you could just see the flat land below out for miles and miles. Without tennis shoes (and in a skirt), I chose not to climb to the highest point, because it was a little more tricky. But it was amazing. I cannot wait to share my pictures with everyone! It was also hot, and I was running out of water, which by that time was about like drinking hot tea anyway. So then we stopped at a tiny store in the village to get some Cokes, but they almost didn't have enough for all of us. Here, they mostly have Cokes in glass bottles, so we had to stay there and drink it, then return the bottle to the store. Gulping Coke that fast takes some practice! On the way back to Nalerigu and the BMC, we saw a beautiful sunset above the plains. The pictures of that are also beautiful! I loved the ride on the way back as well. We were riding with the Belgians (their last name I can't remember how to spell), and they were playing worship music and all singing along. It was such a great time of fellowship.

Okay, on to Monday... It was a little bit crazy! And hotter than the rest of the days. We had rounds at 7:30, then clinic when we finished until 9:30. At that time, we have a break, because there is a devotion for the patients in the "waiting room" (which is kind-of like a lobby area but is really an outside patio between two offices). Then more clinic until lunch time. Lunch - we had hamburgers (which taste all right, but nothing like you'd imagine) and of course, Sweet Tea! Then more clinic. After clinic, we go down to what is called the Theatre for procedures. The Theatre includes 2 procedure rooms and 2 OR's. That was where the day got a little crazy for me. There was a man with fluid in his belly who needed it drained (a paracentesis). Normally these things are pretty simple.. stick a needle in, fluid gushes out. Tell that to my poor patient. I had to stick him 5 times! All with no more that 40 cc's (a little more than 1 oz) of fluid TOTAL!!! By the last stick, I was in tears and very upset at causing him so much pain, wasting so many precious needles, and at failing at my task. Luckily, there was not much to do after that, so we went home for dinner.

Dinner was great! A traditional Ghanaian meal - rice balls and peanut sauce with chicken. It was really good. Then I set up my camera and tripod to take some pictures of the moon. I think they will be really cool. I had to keep praying not to get bitten by snakes during the very long exposures, because I couldn't turn on my flashlight. Things kept rustling in the grass and scaring me. But, don't worry, no bites! Jesus knows I needed those pictures!

Then we did night rounds with Dr. Dickens (an Ob/Gyn on staff). There was a man doing very poorly, writing about in his bed and moaning and groaning. He has end stage liver disease and hepatic encephalopathy, which just means that his liver has shut down so much that all the toxins in his body have built up and made it to his brain. It was heartbreaking and beautiful. His brother was in the bed next to him, holding him and constantly fixing the sheet on the mattress so that his sick brother would be more comfortable. At one point, he had his brother lying across his lap; he was bent over him just rocking back and forth. You could see the desperation and the deep love he had for his brother. That scene almost made me cry.

After that we showered and crashed! Then work today. I watched one hernia repair in the OR, but did not scrub, because the Belgian doctor is here only for a few days and is here to learn procedures and get better at surgery. I hope that call goes well tonight! It's a little bit nerve wracking, but I know God will provide with knowledge and strength!

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