Rounds this morning were pretty uneventful. Some patients are really sick and we are out of options and ideas to help them, so we have to transfer them to Tamale, a larger facility about 2 hours away. Others are doing well enough to be discharged. Like my med school professors say, common things are common. I have seen lots of HTN (high blood pressure), congestive heart failure, and viral upper respiratory infections here. Other common illnesses include TB, meningitis, malaria, anemia due to parasites or multiple infections, malnutrition, and GI bugs.
After rounds, we went to clinic, which was crazy as usual. I only saw 18 patients in 4 hours of clinic…so it was a slow day. I’m glad that I had my preceptor, Dr. Tim Cahill by my side so I could ask any questions I had about each case. In clinic, I saw people for headache, abdominal pain, pneumonia, cough, hernia, diabetes and wounds, pregnancy follow-up, seizures, infertility, and others.
I also passed out pens to the nursing staff in the clinic. They were so appreciative! They work so hard (some are Ghanaian volunteers). A pen seems like such a little thing, but here they are expensive and do not work well. I also greeted the children that we colored with yesterday. They are all doing better. Please continue to pray for their healing. There are two children in particular who need your prayers; they both have a GI parasite and it is taking them a while to get better. Please pray that they have no more fever as the parasites die and they feel well again. Bless their mothers and help them to come to know Christ in this time.
I work at the Baptist Medical Center, but not all the staff…and certainly not the patients are Christians; in fact, only about 10% of the people here are Christians; the other 90% are Muslim or animists. Please also pray for me to form relationships with people and for language to not be a barrier (most do NOT speak English, making deep conversation difficult). Help me to show Christ’s love and help the people to see that it is Christ in me who is doing the work.
Thanks for your prayers!