“Our child became ill 6 months ago. So, we visited the traditional healer. We lost our money and our child was no better, so we went to the closest clinic. They did tests and gave medicine, but he didn’t recover.” Thus, begins an account we hear frequently. It continues like this: “Next we went […]
Life span in Angola averages only thirty-eight – a fact painfully experienced by our patients and families. We at CEML Hospital are diligent to help people better these odds. But all life has limits. As I pondered this truth, Pastor Moses phoned again, asking me to prepare a mediation for chapel today. Pictured above
Caution: This is a graphic description. In my post on July 2, Aberrant Abscesses – Angola Day 2, I described the plight of a seven-year old boy with pockets of pus erupting in his leg, shoulder and hip. Let’s call him “Lobito.” After drainage of the hip abscess on that date Lobito’s fever and
CEML Hospital‘s home city, Lubango, is facing a shortage of gasoline and diesel fuel. With a population of one million and some five thousand autos, the society seems to have literally come to a stop. This photo is illustrative. A line of car fifty cars is parked leading into a gas station, and the
Elias is an eight-year old boy whom I met 10 days ago in the CEML Hospital Emergency Department. He was febrile, vomiting and complaining of marked abdominal pain. Fortunately, our laboratory capabilities are growing more mature, and Elias’ results documented malaria, hepatitis, pneumonia and profound anemia. Ill children in Angola often do not recover,
How can we best coordinate health records over multiple consultations and by multiple providers? This essential and complex question is relevant the world over, whether in North America or Angola. In both locations, digital health information is priority – though the definitions are entirely different. Digital in Angola means the health record is literally
Healthcare professional in Angola face a plethora of obstacles that would bewilder and derail most North Americans. Let me introduce you to my Angolan physician colleague, Dr. Alberto Alfredo. Raised in the interior of this nation, he took advantage of the rare opportunity to study junior college level nursing at the famed Kalukembe Hospital
This gentleman on the left suffers from gangrene of his left lower leg. Note how the skin, subcutaneous tissue and even muscle has been killed by this ‘flesh eating’ bacteria, leaving behind only exposed bone and tendons. Pictured center is my colleague, Steve Foster, expounding on the management of this lethal disease to a
This seven-year old child arrived with an account of a fall and pain in his right leg. Steve Foster, CEML Medical Director and my esteemed mentor, discovered a deep pus-filled abscess that occupied most of his shin. This abscess Foster drained readily enough. But close examination revealed similar abscess on other locations on the
“I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are a substitute for joy… But then joy is never in our power, and pleasure often is. Our best havings are wantings.” This profound statement by CS Lewis may be illustrated by the life of Mary Buckler-Cairns. In the summer of 2008, while a medical student at Medical