I've just finished another day in the clinic. I thought you guys, especially the medical folks, might be interested in what that is like. I started at about 8:45, took 1-2:30 off for lunch (supposed to stop at noon and be back at 2, but you know how that goes!). Then from 2:30 to ~4 PM. My patients today came from Malawi, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Holland, the UK, the US, India, Pakistan and Eritrea (and maybe a couple places I missed). They worked for the diary association here in Malawi, lots of NGOs (non-government organizations), missionaries, teachers, banks, stores and lots of government workers, including some chief of police somewhere (I should have paid more attention to that info - you never know when knowing the police chief will come in handy!). Their complaints ranged from cough / cold /flu to a horrible pneumonia. Lots of upper respiratory infections this time of year - dry, dusty and cold - so heating fires are everywhere. A RTA (road traffic accident) that was seen at a small rural hospital a couple of days ago - they have no x-ray, so he came in for films. Fortunately only his hand was broken. Pregnancy and pregnancy related problems, inc. vomiting with dehydration. Tooth pain. Lots of belly pain and arthritis pain. A couple of weird cases - unexplained elevated ESR for months - slowly resolving; and a hematuria that I diagnosed and is 'new' - I am hoping it is just bilharzia and not something terrible, like cancer! HIV patients with early onset pneumonia. Probable HIV patients that refuse the VCT (voluntary counseling and testing)... and so will just get sicker until they agree to be tested and started on treatment. Sickle cell anemia patients - two - one in early crisis. Lots of hypertension and diabetes! A little girl with a 'fall down and go boom' on her head - not serious, and a couple minor rashes. An abdominal pain that is hopefully just colitis / diverticulitis (since we don't have a CT scan). So, all you doctors out there - want to come and play next year? They will be in desperate straits when Dr. Young goes on her leave for 8 months! And remember, NO LAWYERS!!! Yeah!! Jose was back at the Korean hospital today, finishing the paperwork on his CPR classes.
OK, now for the non medical folks - what are the nights like here in the capital? I included some pictures of where we are staying and my car. As you can hopefully tell, it is a very secure area, surrounded by a high brick wall topped with barbed wire with electricity. We have metal gates and a guard at all times (mainly to open the gate for us when we drive up). All of the doors and windows on the house have bars as added security. But we feel safe- ha, so safe one night we forgot to lock the door! oh well. The sun sets about 6 PM. The call to prayer from the nearby mosque is heard about then. The traffic on the street outside the wall is busy. Everyone has a gate and a guard, so lots of honking to bring guards to open gates. Occasionally a siren on Queen's drive (the closest major, but still two lane - road to us)... after total sunset the car alarms start to go off. It is the weirdest thing, but everyone has a horribly loud car alarm and they go off all the time - usually with four different 'warning' sounds. It seems evening is the time for them (along with randomly in the middle of the night).... then the traffic dies down and everyone settles in for the night. That's when the dogs start - again, everyone has guard dogs. When one starts they all start. Howling, barking, all in a cacophony of canine sounds! Occasionally gun shots - which are a little un-nerving, but some of the guards have guns, and the ex-president lives up the street from us with his henchmen...... of the course, the shots start the dogs again..... and so it goes. Once bedtime comes, I am so tired I usually don't awaken except occasionally for the sirens or gun shots. In the wee, wee hours of the morning (3-4 AM) I have awoken to complete silence. No dogs, no cars, no sirens, no nothing. It is blissful... but by 4-4:30 the roosters are awake, followed by the wild birds....then the predawn call to prayer from the mosque - by sunrise at 5:30 the world is awake and making noise! The worst noise I hear in the morning? The sound of our neighbor's generator - which means we have no power - hahaha. Ok, the pictures - even though it is dry season, there are still lovely flowers everywhere. There is the drive way to the gate, and you can sort of see the high brick wall. And then there are pictures of the duplex where we stay- with Mr. Whiskas bend over working outside. The white car is the Rav 4 that is our reliable transport!
Another thanks to all of you for your prayers, and to those who have donated, a huge THANK YOU. When we do the village clinics, those medications, bandages, etc, etc. come out of my pocket (except the malaria medications, which the government provides). God has helped stretch my limited funds, and with the help of my donors, I think we will have enough to continue the work. We hope to do another village clinic next weekend, plus a few other little things we would like to do. However, our plan is to take this weekend off and go to Kasungu wildlife park and chill out for a few days. I think we have pushed ourselves pretty hard, and need a time to rest for a couple days. More later!
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