Kirk’s Blog

The Routine

I have received a request to describe my usual schedule here at Mseleni hospital…so I will do my best:

The day for me has been starting at about 4:30am when Ben decides he is no longer interested in sleeping.  I try to stay in bed until about 6:30am when I get up to eat breakfast and shower (we have hot water now).  I have been meeting with a few other doctors at 7:15am for a morning prayer meeting and then everyone else shows up around 7:30.  Each weekday we do a “ward round” in a different area of the hospital.  Basically a “ward round” consists of a group of us walking around and reviewing the charts on some of the patients and discussing the current course and plan for that patient’s care.  We go to a different round each morning.  The ward round is designed as a teaching tool and to improve patient care. 

Next we go about the rest of our day.  We have each been assigned to a particular area of the hospital in which we see patients.  I am working on the maternity ward primarily caring for women prior to delivery and any post-delivery problems that may develop.  I see about 7-10 patients a day.  One difficult challenge has been coming up with proper due dates for patients since very few of them have had ultrasounds to assist with dating.  Also many patients have trouble with transportation to the hospital so there is a lodge on the hospital grounds where women can stay as their due date is approaching.

Every weekday we also work a 2.5 hour shift in OPD (ER/Urgent care).  Depending on how sick the patients are I usually see about 4 patients per hour in the OPD.  You never know what might walk through door.  Many patients have simple aches and pains and are only wanting some tylenol or ibuprofen.  Other patients are very ill with burns, snake bites, TB, or HIV related infections.

We share the on-call burden.  In general we are on call about 1 night per week.  One person on call is designated to cover the OPD, one person is designated to cover the wards, and there is a 3rd person that is available if the others get too busy or if there is a c-section.  I am on call this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  I think weekends are usually busier, but I will soon find out. 

Hopefully this helps.  Thank you to all who have made comments, we appreciate the contact from home.

Pineapple

 One of the many pineapple fields we saw on our drive.

Elephant

Rhino

 Rhino sipping some of the scarce water this time of year.

Zebra

 A zebra grazing at twilight.  You can’t see his friends, but this zebra and another were walking down the road following a giraffe like they were on their way home from work.

Hilltop

 Lisa and Ben checking out the scenery.

Hilltop

 Lisa, Ben, and me at the hilltop lodge at Hluhluwe.

Giraffe

 A giraffe eating breakfast.

Road

 The view looking down the road from our house.

Another Weekend Away

After a mostly unsuccessful visit to a game park last weekend we were hoping for a better experience this weekend.  I finished work about 4pm on Friday and I ran home from the hospital excited about our adventure and hoping that we could reach our destination before dark.  (The sun sets at about 5:30 pm)  One of the missionary families had suggested that we stay at the Leopard Walk Lodge which is relatively close to Hluhluwe (pronounced shloo-shloo’ - weh) Game Reserve.  Zooming past the fever trees and pineapple fields in our trusty Chevy Aveo we arrived before dark and were very pleased with the accomodations, the delicious food, and the zebras we saw on our way walking to dinner.  It was great to have food prepared for us since we have been cooking for ourselves with mainly one-pot meals that can be made over the stove with our 2 small pans.

Saturday morning we left for a visit to Hluhluwe Game Reserve and ended up spending the entire day there both Saturday and Sunday searching out animals.  Once again we were able to drive ourselves anywhere we wanted to see in the park.  There are several outfitters that offer safari drives, but none that would allow a screaming 8 month old.  The biggest challenge proved to be entertaining Ben while we drove all over the park, but in general he was very well behaved. 

I hope to have a chance to post pictures of some of the scenery and animals we saw.  Both days within 1 km of entering the park we saw numerous giraffe eating breakfast as well as zebra and buffalo.  The best game viewing occurred during the morning or twilight hours and the park gates locked at 6pm (2 minutes after we exited on Saturday).  Up close we saw giraffe, rhino, zebra, buffalo, elephant, many antelope, and we almost saw a lion.  I am assuming we almost saw a lion, but we didn’t…and of course almost seeing a lion is the saw as not seeing a lion at all; but almost seeing a lion sounds better.  There were a few lion sightings and cheetah sightings in the park the days we were there, but not by us.  All in all it was a great weekend.

It is Tuesday and I am back to work.  Yesterday after work Lisa and I took a stroll with a baby (small man) bjorned to my chest in the general direction of Lake Sibayi, but again the sun was setting too soon for our liking and we had to turn around before reaching the lake.  It was fun to see the people out working in their yards and the children waving and saying “hello.”  Many people laughed at the sight of Ben strapped in to the Baby-bjorn.  (I think it was a combination of his general cuteness, his dangling legs in a strange device, and possibly that a man is carrying a baby which seems to be the work of the women around here.)  We wish we could communicate better with local people.  We say “hello” and “how are you in Zulu” and then the conversation stops or turns to smiles and them making faces at Ben.  Lisa had a frustrating encounter where she was trying to ask a lady working next to our house what she was planting.  The lady kept making hand motions of someone planting something.  Lisa knew she was planting, but wanted to know what she was planting.   We won’t be around a few months from now when it starts growing.  We may never know.