1, 2, 3 BUNGEE!!!

First week complete! It's been such an amazing week, I feel so comfortable here already. The second half of my week at the hospital went great. I got up to taking care and charting for 10 patients. By the end of the week I was surprised by how confident I was feeling and  was able to do lots of things on my own.

Here are some of the important lessons I've learned:  how their IVs work (bit different than the US); where they hide all the supplies; that the syringes are a bit wonky and if you push all the air out of them before drawing up your medicine the syringe locks and you can't use it anymore (only took 3 times of wasting syringes, finally got it); that the mothers leave for lunch promptly at noon and take the babies, so if you have medications due at noon you best be getting your gears moving atleast by 11:30 because they won't wait for you. Much more to learn, but progress for sure.

One pt I took care of this week was a 17 year old named Anna who had a shunt placed at the age of 3 months due to hydrocephalus. Initailly the shunt did not work so she had a revision done one month later. But since then she had no issues until now. She was functioning well in school and home, above level in her classes and a very very sweet girl, the only difference was the shape of her head. She came to CURE because she had begun to have headaches and what the family thought were to be seizures a few months back. They made the 3 hours journey from the village in northern Uganda to CURE because they were concerned something was wrong with the shunt. The doctors at CURE weren't convinced that it was the shunt causing the seizures, but they wanted to obtain a shunt series x-ray (they take x-rays of the head and abdomen to see if there are any obvious kinks or areas where the shunt has become disconnected). However our machine for the shunt series was broken. Instead the doctors asked if the family could travel to regional hospital to get the x-rays done there which could cost 40,000 shillings (approx. $20). The other option was to wait at the hospital until our machine was fixed, but it was unsure if it would happen that day or the next day. They did not have the money so they chose to stay and wait at the hospital. Luckily they were able to fix the machine later that afternoon. Everything with the shunt looked ok, she looked great, didn't have any seizures while at the hospital, definitely didn't present like the typical shunt malfunction. So she was started on anti-seizure medications with the plan for the family to return if things worsened, otherwise they were to follow up in a month. This famliy was one of the few families I worked with that spoke English which I really enjoyed. The father was a teacher in a primary school, and after finding out that there was a support group here in Mbale for pt's with shunts and their families, he planned to start a similar group for his daughter and families like them back home. Anna asked for my phone number (but I didn't think she'd want to make a call to Texas) so I gave her my email address instead. She was very confused when I said email address, but her father said her sister had used a computer before... So we'll see, maybe I'll hear from her again someday.

Friday night we went to a going away barbeque for one of the doctor's from CURE who was leaving to start a residency at a different hospital. The food was yum! Goat, chicken, sausage, chapati (which is similar to a tortilla, except it's like the best tortilla you ever tasted from Taco Cabana, thicker like a pancake), watermelon and pineapple for dessert. We danced for a bit, learned some new moves, lots of fun.

This weekend we travelled to Jinja (about 2 hours away). The transportation here can be pretty crazy. We rode what is called a matatu (a taxi van with 5 rows with typically 20-25 people shoved in as close as possible}. It's a good thing I'm not claustrophobic! I've really learned how to be a laid back traveller here, that's the only option.  In Jinja we stayed a hotel that was more like a resort, but so cheap! Jinja is where the dam was built that separates Lake Victoria and the Nile. So there are lots of activities to be done on the Nile. One of which is bungee jumping with the option of having your head dunked into the nile which my roommates and I did. OMG so much fun!!! Very very scary but totally worth it. Here's a few pictures of the location and me after the jump.

Picture below is from Friday when there was a hydrocephalus conference at the hospital. Information about hydrocephalus was presented to past and present families. I took this picture with some of the kids who were playing while the mom's were listening. The boy in the back row is Tom, he's 13 years old and had surgery with CURE when he was a baby. We talked for a bit, and he's doing awesome now. It was so great to see a success story like his. The other kids are siblings of kids treated at CURE, we had a fun time smiling and laughing at eachother, all so sweet!

This picture is from the going away party friday night. My roommates Oliver, Sarah, and Shabani (with the hand raised) are in the picture.

Long post, thanks if you read it all haha!