Dasuba!!
May 17th, 2012 Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
Dasuba means Good Morning!!! So here are some thoughts from the past few days!!!
Sat May 12, 2012
Another exciting day in Ghana! We rounded this morning and then started on our adventure. One of the missionaries and his son drove me and two of the residents 3 hours away to Paga to spend 10 taking pictures and sitting on a crocodiles! So first we stopped in Bulga at the “grocery store” for some stuff, and an “American lunch” where we had “American” pizza. It was called “The Swap” - the home of American Pizza. Well, we had pizza – and it was far from “American” pizza, but good none-the-less. Then we went to the crocodiles. It was hysterical, we paid for two baby chickens to be used as bait and keep the other crocodiles away. They whistled and called for the crocs, a big old one finally made its way up to shore. We all “sat” on it and took pictures. The sound of the snapping of his jaw and teeth when he ate the chicken was crazy! Thankful that they were “tame”, whatever that means here! Then we stopped at a market of hand made goods and saw some beautiful items. Then back home we went. It was a long but fun day! I love getting to know people and their stories. Tomorrow we round and head to church and have the rest of the day to ourselves! Hopefully get some rest, do some laundry, and hopefully some internet is on the menu!
Monday May 14, 2012
Another full day at the hospital! I can actually see my confidence growing! I did my first D&C, several wound debridements, sutured a 2yr old, and more! Definitely seeing a lot of OB cases – which I love!
Yesterday was Mother’s day – would like to wish my mom a very Happy Belated-Mothers Day!!!! It started off with rounds and planning to go to church, but we were detained at the hospital with some critical patients. The rest of the day was very restful ending in a dinner with all the missionary families at our house for Mother’s Day dinner! We also received a new team of people yesterday! A doctor, nurse, and two medical students will be spending this week with us! They are from Canada, and it is wonderful to get to know more people!
Tuesday May 14, 2012
So as not to be cliché – every day is a busy day here at BMC. I can definitely see my confidence growing which is exiting! Today I was mostly doing minor procedures and helping seeing new admissions. Though I have not done my peds rotations yet, I can fairly safely say that I don’t like peds! I love healthy kids, but it is so hard to see them hurting, and hard to treat them! But its all a learning process, and if I really want to do Family Medicine, I ought to start liking peds more! Found out our OB resident has to leave a day early. I am very sad – she has been a great teacher and I wish I could learn more from her! As she leaves it is my turn to step up the game! Here comes night call and OB call! Yay! Also more responsibility during rounds. Hopefully I soaked in enough while she was here – but there are always people to call on! Every one here is so gracious and willing to help.
Now, to tell you about the Ghanian people. They are very friendly, gracious, giving people. The language here is Manpruli, but there are several different dialects as there are many tribes here. I am slowly learning some words and phrases, but they all laugh when I say them – I guess I carry my Wisconsin/Oklahoma/Baltimore/Florida accent with me! Haha. But truly, I think they appreciate me trying.
I have learned a new type of anesthesia here – Verbal Anesthesia! Works wonders. Haha… we say “Gafara” over and over, which means sorry, and it seems to help.
There are three religious groups here – Traditional, Muslim, and Christian (in order of popularity). I told you some about their living conditions – basically mud huts. They eat a variety of foods, mainly starch (yams), chicken, and beans. We keep requesting our cook to make us traditional foods instead of “American” fare. The other day we had “Red-Red” which is composed of boiled yams/yucca (kind of like potates) and a stew of sorts, which is composed of a red sauce, black eyed peas, chicken, and a variety of spices – it was delicious! Tzed is another dish that is traditionally eaten with your hands and has a peanut soup, I am looking forward to trying it. People here travel for days (usually on foot) to come to the clinic, which is why we never let them leave without some sort of prescription – to be worth their while. But when you think about it, to not have easy access to even Tylenol is amazing, or vitamins — thankfully the pharmacy seems to have a ready supply of these items.
Every time I travel somewhere I am always reminded of how good we have it in America. This has taken on new meaning as I see the medical side of things. They reuse and recycle everything here in the hospital. I feel like I am a picture of an early 1900s hospital here. We have glass jars of saline for IVs tied up with cloth, and odd assortment of beds and other equipment. Pts bring their own bed coverings – a piece of plastic and a piece of cloth. The “pyxis” (thing that contains medicine) – is basically a box with a bunch of hand-labeled containers (pictures to follow). Everything is precious. I thought the hospital in Dominica where I went to school was primitive – but its several steps further here. I am so greatful for my experience here, and I am so thankful for quality of health care we are able to provide in America – despite all the politics.
Prayer requests:
1) Confidence in my work
2) Quality time with Jesus, and opportunities to share His love.
3) My family back home who need guidance and direction from the Father
4) Continued safety and discernment
Love you all! Thank you for your continued prayers and support! Please let me know if there is anything I can pray for you for!!
-~- Dr. Grace
