Day 5 in the Clinic - Surgeries, Ultrasounds, Pachawangu

7/8/10 - Thursday

Today was another exciting day with Dr. Bon. Between Dr. Bon and Bibi, I am learning a lot of Swahili. Love it!!!

While shadowing and assisting the doctors here isn’t as different as at home, I am able to use the skills that I have learned to assist the doctors. We would listen to people’s hearts and lungs, perform abdominal exams, assist in ultrasounds, and occasionally “scrub” into surgeries. The doctors here are great teachers and of course, are well aware of common illnesses and treatments here. I was surprised to learn that there are local prescriptions here sold by drug company representatives that come to the clinic, just like in the US. I am learning all of the local prescription names. Since malaria is prevalent here, anti-malarial medicines are basically OTC.

Today, I met a brave boy. This boy was probably in his late teens. He had an abscess as bigger than a golf ball behind his left ear. I remembered the boy from earlier this week, when Bon had tied off the abscess to potentially reduce the bleeding that would occur during the surgery. Two days later, here was the boy, lying on his right side as Dr. Bon just goes to town with cutting off this growth. There’s still a lot of blood. The boy did not even make a sound. No local anesthesia. Nothing. Today, I learned the Swahili word for brave: jasiri.

Today was also a day full of ultrasounds. Dr. Bon is the only doctor who does ultrasounds at the clinic. People usually get ultrasounds for abdominal pain, pelvic pain, or pregnancy. Today, I saw my first ultrasound of a 3 month fetus. So cute, yet alien-like. At this point in my life, I feel that pregnancy entails this alien fetus taking over a woman’s body. It is true. If God did not make women to be nurturing and babies as cute as they are, then I’m not sure if women would be willing to have babies. Haha. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely want to have kids, but I’m not looking forward to the process of carrying and birthing a child. Unfortunately, today was also my first ultrasound of a miscarriage. Africa, including last summer, has been my place for firsts. Perhaps, it will be my place for lasts.

At the end of the day, I was informed that I had a mapacha (twin). The ladies in the front office must have been discussing the similarities in facial features between me and the administrative secretary, Mariam. She came in to tell Dr. Bon something and mentioned it. She has been deemed my twin, my pachawangu. 