However the past 2 days have really picked up. Mainly because of the tumor cases. The hydrocephalus babies are usually uncomplicated overnight stays. They come from OR, wake up to breastfeed, give them a dose of Panadol (the African form of tylenol) and they're hanging out. But the first tumor case was Peter and he came to the ICU Tuesday night after the resection. He's a 1 1/2 year old from a village in Western Uganda that is very far away. He has a posterior fossa tumor, which I was told was quite large. Initially his mother brought him to a witch doctor before she understood what was wrong with her baby. He still has the marks down his back from that. He was in the ward all last week, and he cried all day every day just about. The poor mother walked with him and cuddled with him and carried him everywhere. They were waiting for equipment to arrive at the hospital to assist them with the surgery. In the mean time they tapped the resevoir they had placed early last week to drain off CSF to help with the increasing pressure on a daily basis. But finally on Tuesday it was his turn for surgery. Currently he's still very sleepy, awakens enough to breastfeed but other than that does not move. He started having seizures this afternoon, things were a bit stressful in the ICU for a bit. But he's now been started on antiseizure medications, things are still very tense with his situation, keep him in your prayers!
His mother amazes me. Her strength and love for her child is very inspiring. She is all alone at the hospital. All day Tuesday she sat outside the ICU on the ledge in the sunlight. Some mothers sat with her during the day, but for the most part she sat off by herself. I wanted so much to comfort her, however due to the language barrier I could only smile at her every time I passed and share some of my pineapple with her. I kept thinking back to the typical family support systems we see in the US when a child is having a brain tumor removed. Those are usually the cases where the whole family has come in the morning to pray and support the parents all day while they wait. But at CURE the mom's are on their own (I've seen 2 cases where it was the father who brought the patient in, but still on their own). They stay, sometimes for weeks, by themself. Many have phones to call home, but that's it. But the community amongst the mothers is amazing. During the day they sit outside the ward, braiding eachother's hair, caring for eachother's babies, and talking. It's quite a unique situation they're in. As I was typing this blog I heard singing coming from outside. I went to explore and found one of the nurses leading all the mothers in praise outside the chapel. It was quite beautiful. Many of these mothers travel from so far away, often times they are outcasted from their village because it's thought that an evil spirit causes the babies heads to grow large. Yet their love for their babies brings them here.
Overall so far this week has been great. Many eye opening experiences at work. On Wednesday we had to say goodbye to one of our roomates Chris. He's headed back to the UK and will be sadly missed in the guest house. Tuesday night a big group went out for indian food and a few beers for his last dinner in Mbale. Indian food is the only option for eating out here, good thing it's so magical. Wednesday night I travelled into town with Shabani to the market and cooked up some guacamole and we ate it with chapati with grilled banana for dessert. Tomorrow I'll be going to a satellite clinic near Kampala. They do follow-up appointments for pt's who have previously been taken care of at CURE for follow-up and also see new patients with concern for neurosurgical issues. Because travel can be so difficult and many of the families don't have the money to come to Mbale, CURE does several clinics each month spread out throughout Uganda. It's about a 4 hour drive to Kampala, which we will be doing there and back all tomorrow. Will be a long day, but atleast I don't have to travel in a matatu!
Few pics from the week:
The view of the walk from the ICU to the ward. This is where the mom's hang out all day to the left, to the right is where they do all their laundry.
Baby Cassian, one of the sweetest babies I've ever encountered in my whole life. She had an ETV done for hydrocephalus, this is her the morning she was discharged. When I took care of her in the ICU we cuddled and talked all morning. The flash is a bit scary but atleast you can see how beautiful she is.
Some of my favorite nurses in the ICU: Rose, Okinei and Irene.
Rebecca and Gertrude who so kindly taught me how to fry chapati. I now understand why they are so amazing after seeing how much cooking oil is used...
Baby Abonya, my second favorite baby. He has spina bifida, which is when the baby is born with part of the spinal cord outside their back. Many of the babies have their repairs done at CURE and follow-up throughout their life time for the long term care required.
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