Well, I had the day off, which was a total God send. There was a meeting this morning at 7AM (African time, which means 7:15 or 7:30, whenever you get there), and I woke up at 7AM. So, I brushed my teeth, changed into scrubs, and made it there by 7:15, and I was one of the first ones there. After the meeting (a surgery morning report), there was a prayer meeting, held every Monday. It is always very sweet to pray with the Kenyans over the hospital and over the land. I have been struck by the turmoil of the region while I have been here. We minister to a lot of Somali's who have come across the border into Kenya to seek refuge from the fierce fighting going on in Southern Somalia. We treat war wounds, like limb injuries and bomb shrap-nail. Then there is the whole Zimbabwe thing going on, with Mugabe basically a dictator of the people, while they are suffering and dying. Not to mention another neighbor, Darfur. Sudan is still fighting. This whole region is wrought with unrest. And then there are those who are still suffering from the temporary unrest here in January. We have a family here that was badly burned in a fire in El Doret, and the kids are still bandaged up from the fire, and their faces are speckled with new skin from grafts and old, burnt skin. It is a sad world we live in. Most of us never get to see it, but being here has been a long lesson in the tragedy of humankind. Amazing what people will do to one another in the name of God, country, or tribe. Sad, really.
Anyway, I came home after rounds and went up to the Super Duka, where I did my shopping for the week. Every week I bring my backpack and load it with fresh vegetables and other goods (this time I needed laundry detergent), and then hike back down the hill to my house. Thankfully I live down the hill from the Duka, so I hike up the hill with an empty pack and back down the hill with a full pack. This time there were strawberries at the Duka! I was so excited! I bought two packs of them, and brought them home, soaked them in bleach (to kill the parasites), and then cut them up and feasted. Boy were they delicious. They reminded me of summertime at home. Fresh strawberries. WOW, what a gift from God.
I do admit, while I am feeling a world better from this cold, I was pretty tired after my trip up to the Duka. So I took a little nap, then showered and set to my tasks for the day. I have a few things due by July 1, and my task today was to complete them all. So far, I have 2 or the 3 done, and the third only needs minor revisions before it, too, gets turned in. So I am doing pretty well as time goes.
I suppose that is all for now. Oh, I'll give you an update on Simon, my patient with no perineum. He is doing remarkably well. Every time I walk into the ICU, I wonder if he is still going to be alive. But there he is, with a strong blood pressure and a nice strong heartbeat. He is awake, lucid, and not in too much pain. I really hope he survives this whole ordeal. Today he remarked that the Lord had been so good to him. And I replied, "Yes, Simon, the Lord has been very good to you." And He has. Simon is still alive, despite most of the odds. And he is getting top notch care, probably the best in the entire country. Our ICU is really great. Those docs work so hard to keep the patients alive.
Anyway, I should let you go. Check in again tomorrow. I start on the Peds surgery service tomorrow, so I know I will have some good stories. I think I am on call tomorrow night, so please start praying for me. Well, actually, pray that I am not on call tomorrow night, as I am just now starting to feel better from this cold, and I would like a few more full night's worth of sleep before another call.
Talk to you again soon!
Jill
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
A day of rest
Today I spent the day resting. I slept straight through church, and finally got out of bed at around 4PM, which I calculated was about 18 hours of sleep. I guess I really needed the rest, because now it is 9:20PM, and I am getting ready to go back to my familiar bed.
Not much to report when you sleep all day, though I am feeling better (after my marathon sleep). I have been given the day off tomorrow as well, so I will be able to get some household chores done like laundry and cleaning up the kitchen in preparation for my new roommates arrival, which I think is Tuesday.
Today was the first day I was really homesick. Maybe it was because I was feeling physically sick, but all I wanted was to go to Publix, get some Campbell's chicken noodle soup, some Nyquil, and turn on CNN on the TV, or a sports game better yet, and sleep the day away on my own couch. Instead, there is no Publix, no Nyquil, and NO TV!!! That made me sad, because all I wanted was the familiarity of home when I wasn't feeling well. However, one of the women has really taken me under gher wing. Her name is Dita, and she has been amazing. She stopped by my house this afternoon with banana bread and a package of powdered chicken noodle soup. She said those things always helped her feel better. I could have started crying right there. It was like God knew the longing of my heart and provided a way out from under it. I ate the soup for dinner along with two pieces of the bread. It touched my soul as well as my belly.
Tomorrow I have to round on our old patients, and then I have the rest of the day off. I am planning on walking up to the Duka and vegetable ladies after rounds, so that I can cook and do some laundry. I ran out of laundry detergent the other day. I think I might also get a Sprite while I am at the Duka. For some reason, that has become a comfort food here, and it always makes me feel better to have one of those. Maybe I will get a few...
Please continue to pray for me. Pray that I get the rest I need tonight, and that I have a productive day tomorrow. Pray that this virus passes quickly from the entire station, me included. Dita told me today that this bug is really making its rounds through the entire station, so I know there are others suffering with the same illness. Pray that we all get immune to it quickly. Pray also for all my friends who officially start residency on Tuesday. I know they are all a little nervous, some more than others. Please pray that they might feel the presence of the Lord as they face their first day as "Doctor."
Thanks again for checking in on me. Maybe tomorrow I will have more to report. Until then, enjoy your Sunday.
Jill
Not much to report when you sleep all day, though I am feeling better (after my marathon sleep). I have been given the day off tomorrow as well, so I will be able to get some household chores done like laundry and cleaning up the kitchen in preparation for my new roommates arrival, which I think is Tuesday.
Today was the first day I was really homesick. Maybe it was because I was feeling physically sick, but all I wanted was to go to Publix, get some Campbell's chicken noodle soup, some Nyquil, and turn on CNN on the TV, or a sports game better yet, and sleep the day away on my own couch. Instead, there is no Publix, no Nyquil, and NO TV!!! That made me sad, because all I wanted was the familiarity of home when I wasn't feeling well. However, one of the women has really taken me under gher wing. Her name is Dita, and she has been amazing. She stopped by my house this afternoon with banana bread and a package of powdered chicken noodle soup. She said those things always helped her feel better. I could have started crying right there. It was like God knew the longing of my heart and provided a way out from under it. I ate the soup for dinner along with two pieces of the bread. It touched my soul as well as my belly.
Tomorrow I have to round on our old patients, and then I have the rest of the day off. I am planning on walking up to the Duka and vegetable ladies after rounds, so that I can cook and do some laundry. I ran out of laundry detergent the other day. I think I might also get a Sprite while I am at the Duka. For some reason, that has become a comfort food here, and it always makes me feel better to have one of those. Maybe I will get a few...
Please continue to pray for me. Pray that I get the rest I need tonight, and that I have a productive day tomorrow. Pray that this virus passes quickly from the entire station, me included. Dita told me today that this bug is really making its rounds through the entire station, so I know there are others suffering with the same illness. Pray that we all get immune to it quickly. Pray also for all my friends who officially start residency on Tuesday. I know they are all a little nervous, some more than others. Please pray that they might feel the presence of the Lord as they face their first day as "Doctor."
Thanks again for checking in on me. Maybe tomorrow I will have more to report. Until then, enjoy your Sunday.
Jill
Saturday, June 28, 2008
A restful saturday
Well, last night's call was a little rough. I got called in several times throughout the night, and I think I got about 1.5 hours of sleep. After rounds, I came home and slept for about 4 hours, after which I got up and after a few ibuprofen, felt great. Best part is, the Lord provided a BEAUTIFUL day here in Kijabe. The sun is shining, the air is warm. It is like God is smiling down on this mountain today. I went out and laid in the sun for about an hour this afternoon. Don't get me wrong, I was fully clothed in pants and a long sleeved shirt, but my toes got to see the sun, and so did my face. I figured my body was a little starved for vitamin D, since it is mostly cloudy here during the winter. (Or at least that is the excuse I gave...). The sun felt like life as it warmed my face, and began tingling after a little while. I ended up falling asleep there for a little while, though I was aware that my presence was stirring up the Kenyan men who loiter around my neighborhood. They kept walking by, not saying anything to each other. But do you know what? Call me culturally insensitive, I didn't care. I was fully dressed, no knees showing, no shoulders showing, and I was in front of my own house, literally three steps from my front door. I figured they were making an extra effort to see me, as there was no where else I could go to be more discreet.
Anyway, I am feeling better today after my morning nap. This cold I think is beginning to clear, and I am feeling better. I do think I will aim for a long night's sleep tonight, and hopefully by tomorrow I will be on the mends.
My new attending gave me the day off on Monday, so I will do my weekly shopping then. I have a roommate coming on Tuesday, I think. She is only slated to officially be my roommate until July 5, but if we get along, we can stay as roommates until I leave. This afternoon I got to thinking... I am only here another 3 weeks. Time has flown by. There are some touristy things I want to do before I leave, and I have a limited number of weekend left to do them... I am going to have to get organized if I am going to get all those things in before I leave. I am trying to pull together a safari... We'll see if it works out.
OK, well I guess that is all for now.
Talk to you again soon!
Jill
Anyway, I am feeling better today after my morning nap. This cold I think is beginning to clear, and I am feeling better. I do think I will aim for a long night's sleep tonight, and hopefully by tomorrow I will be on the mends.
My new attending gave me the day off on Monday, so I will do my weekly shopping then. I have a roommate coming on Tuesday, I think. She is only slated to officially be my roommate until July 5, but if we get along, we can stay as roommates until I leave. This afternoon I got to thinking... I am only here another 3 weeks. Time has flown by. There are some touristy things I want to do before I leave, and I have a limited number of weekend left to do them... I am going to have to get organized if I am going to get all those things in before I leave. I am trying to pull together a safari... We'll see if it works out.
OK, well I guess that is all for now.
Talk to you again soon!
Jill
Friday, June 27, 2008
Please pray!
So I am on call tonight, so I'll start this e-mail by asking for your prayers that the night is quiet and I get some sleep. I have come down with a cold, probably because it is winter here, and colds are common no matter what part of the world one finds themselves. Mostly though, I am learning to pray that God's grace would be sufficient for whatever it is that I will face. Oh, but pray that what I have to face is minimal!
Today was my last day in the OR with this current attending. Hence, it was a day of "piddling" as he likes to say, with lots of little cases that don't require overnight admission post operatively. We did do one supra-public prostatectomy, which is where you take out an enlarged prostate via the bladder, with an incision made in the lower abdomen. It is a procedure not really done in the USA, so it was cool to see one here. We also took our gangrene patient, Simon, back to the OR. He lived another day and is doing remarkably well. I do hope he lives through this whole ordeal. Given his present circumstance (of no perineum), he has little pain, "much less than when I came here," according to him. Yeah, he is awake and alert, with a good blood pressure and a high but good heartbeat. We keep explaining to the family that his chances of survival are slim, but when a patient looks as good as he does, it is hard to believe a doctor telling you he could die at any minute. But the truth is, he could die at any minute. He is straddling the fence of life and death, and he is fighting every minute.
I picked up my on call pager at 5:00, and it went off at 5:20, so I was at the hospital until 9:30 putting out fires. The thing is, this is how I view being paged on call. Unless something is going to kill you before your primary team sees you again, I am not changing anything. If you are stable but you have a little fever, give 'em a little fever reducer and let the primary team figure it out in the AM. I am not going to play doctor to the hundred or so patients in the hospital over night. We had this one guy show up to Casualty tonight for follow-up for his pneumonia that was diagnosed in outpatient clinic two weeks ago. I kept asking him if he knew that he was in Casualty, where people come for life-threatening emergencies. He kept saying that he did understand that. So I examined him... cured of the pneumonia. So I sent him home, and told him to go to outpatient clinic for any other medical complaints, and that Casualty was for life-threatening emergencies. If he had one of those, he was welcome to come back. Otherwise, go to clinic. Reminded me of Grady to some extent.
In other news, most of you know that I joined Weight Watchers this spring and lost about 10kg (20 pounds). I was somewhat nervous about coming to Kenya as it relates to my new lifestyle, given that there are no Boca Burgers or low-point ice cream bars around here. In fact, most of the items here are fried, or WHITE as can be (like everyone eats white bread, white English muffins, etc). I was nervous that I was going to lose some of the headway I had made in Atlanta this spring. So on Thursday while we were in clinic, I sneaked into the intake room and weighed myself. I had lost 2 pounds! So now I am down 22 pounds. Which is great.
OK, that is all for now. I have to run... just got paged.
Talk to you soon!
Jill
Today was my last day in the OR with this current attending. Hence, it was a day of "piddling" as he likes to say, with lots of little cases that don't require overnight admission post operatively. We did do one supra-public prostatectomy, which is where you take out an enlarged prostate via the bladder, with an incision made in the lower abdomen. It is a procedure not really done in the USA, so it was cool to see one here. We also took our gangrene patient, Simon, back to the OR. He lived another day and is doing remarkably well. I do hope he lives through this whole ordeal. Given his present circumstance (of no perineum), he has little pain, "much less than when I came here," according to him. Yeah, he is awake and alert, with a good blood pressure and a high but good heartbeat. We keep explaining to the family that his chances of survival are slim, but when a patient looks as good as he does, it is hard to believe a doctor telling you he could die at any minute. But the truth is, he could die at any minute. He is straddling the fence of life and death, and he is fighting every minute.
I picked up my on call pager at 5:00, and it went off at 5:20, so I was at the hospital until 9:30 putting out fires. The thing is, this is how I view being paged on call. Unless something is going to kill you before your primary team sees you again, I am not changing anything. If you are stable but you have a little fever, give 'em a little fever reducer and let the primary team figure it out in the AM. I am not going to play doctor to the hundred or so patients in the hospital over night. We had this one guy show up to Casualty tonight for follow-up for his pneumonia that was diagnosed in outpatient clinic two weeks ago. I kept asking him if he knew that he was in Casualty, where people come for life-threatening emergencies. He kept saying that he did understand that. So I examined him... cured of the pneumonia. So I sent him home, and told him to go to outpatient clinic for any other medical complaints, and that Casualty was for life-threatening emergencies. If he had one of those, he was welcome to come back. Otherwise, go to clinic. Reminded me of Grady to some extent.
In other news, most of you know that I joined Weight Watchers this spring and lost about 10kg (20 pounds). I was somewhat nervous about coming to Kenya as it relates to my new lifestyle, given that there are no Boca Burgers or low-point ice cream bars around here. In fact, most of the items here are fried, or WHITE as can be (like everyone eats white bread, white English muffins, etc). I was nervous that I was going to lose some of the headway I had made in Atlanta this spring. So on Thursday while we were in clinic, I sneaked into the intake room and weighed myself. I had lost 2 pounds! So now I am down 22 pounds. Which is great.
OK, that is all for now. I have to run... just got paged.
Talk to you soon!
Jill
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Another late night adventure
Well, last night I had gone to bed early, so as to get as much sleep as possible, since I was complaining yesterday about being so tired. Well anyway, my phone rang at 10:15, and it was my attending, who was in the OR with a patient that, "I would never again see for the rest of my life." I was so intrigued that I changed clothes and was off to the OR to see what I could see. When I got there, I found a patient with Fournier's gangrene, which is a gangrenous infection of the perineum (genitals). This man had the largest scrotum I had ever seen, and when we opened him up, it was pure rot. I mean, rotten, necrotic flesh. You think the description is gross. This thing smelled worse than death. Some of you unfortunately know what death smells like, well, this was worse. We debrided the guy's perineum for 2.5 hours, and then quit only because his blood pressure was 60/30. I came home at 1:15, and I really thought the guy was going to die overnight.
Upon arriving home, I took a hot shower and scrubbed my skin until the hot water ran out, and then I got in bed. I was so pumped by the events of the night, I had a hard time falling asleep. I finally succumbed to rest at 3AM, only to be awoken at 6:15 by a combination of sunlight and chirping birds. So needless to say, I was tired today...
And on top of that, we were in clinic. It is nice to have clinic only one day a week, but man, I would so much rather be in an OR than in the clinic. I saw several patients, can't say I remember any of them, but we did get back to the OR to do round two of Fournier's debridement. More stink, more necrotic tissue. And we had to cut out the entire anus and give the man a permanent colostomy (pooping bag). But pooping in a bag is the least of this guy's worries. My attending now puts his chances of survival at 25%, and even if he survives the short term, his recovery will be months, if not a year. He will have to have his entire perineum reconstructed, with skin grafts, muscle flaps, etc. But that is all contingent on him surviving this infection. We'll see...
So now I am home, and by orders of my attending, I am "to rest my bones." Which is good, because my bones need a rest. I am on call again tomorrow night, so tonight is prime territory for investing in sleep.
Please pray for me. I have started to feel a rasp in the back of my throat, like I am working on a cold. I would really not like to get sick while I am here. Please pray that my immune system would clear this thing, and that I would feel instantly better. I don't think the late night last night or the horrid smells emanating from that nasty crotch helped the situation. Right now I am going to take a hot shower and put on my pajamas. And then I'll have some soup for dinner and head to bed early. I am also taking some natural immune boosters, which should help. But I know your prayers will help more than anything. Please pray for strength, health, and courage. And start praying now that Friday night is silent as the grave (while I am on call). I would really like to get some sleep then, too.
Thanks so much for checking in on me. I really appreciate your support. I'll let you know how tomorrow goes. We are in the OR again, with a full range of cases, from prostate removal to stent placement for esophageal cancer to skin grafts. It will be a busy day, though good. It is my attending's last day in the OR, which will be sad. He is leaving to go back to the USA for at least a year. I know we will all probably cry when we finish our last case tomorrow.
OK, that is all for now. Talk to you tomorrow.
Jill
Upon arriving home, I took a hot shower and scrubbed my skin until the hot water ran out, and then I got in bed. I was so pumped by the events of the night, I had a hard time falling asleep. I finally succumbed to rest at 3AM, only to be awoken at 6:15 by a combination of sunlight and chirping birds. So needless to say, I was tired today...
And on top of that, we were in clinic. It is nice to have clinic only one day a week, but man, I would so much rather be in an OR than in the clinic. I saw several patients, can't say I remember any of them, but we did get back to the OR to do round two of Fournier's debridement. More stink, more necrotic tissue. And we had to cut out the entire anus and give the man a permanent colostomy (pooping bag). But pooping in a bag is the least of this guy's worries. My attending now puts his chances of survival at 25%, and even if he survives the short term, his recovery will be months, if not a year. He will have to have his entire perineum reconstructed, with skin grafts, muscle flaps, etc. But that is all contingent on him surviving this infection. We'll see...
So now I am home, and by orders of my attending, I am "to rest my bones." Which is good, because my bones need a rest. I am on call again tomorrow night, so tonight is prime territory for investing in sleep.
Please pray for me. I have started to feel a rasp in the back of my throat, like I am working on a cold. I would really not like to get sick while I am here. Please pray that my immune system would clear this thing, and that I would feel instantly better. I don't think the late night last night or the horrid smells emanating from that nasty crotch helped the situation. Right now I am going to take a hot shower and put on my pajamas. And then I'll have some soup for dinner and head to bed early. I am also taking some natural immune boosters, which should help. But I know your prayers will help more than anything. Please pray for strength, health, and courage. And start praying now that Friday night is silent as the grave (while I am on call). I would really like to get some sleep then, too.
Thanks so much for checking in on me. I really appreciate your support. I'll let you know how tomorrow goes. We are in the OR again, with a full range of cases, from prostate removal to stent placement for esophageal cancer to skin grafts. It will be a busy day, though good. It is my attending's last day in the OR, which will be sad. He is leaving to go back to the USA for at least a year. I know we will all probably cry when we finish our last case tomorrow.
OK, that is all for now. Talk to you tomorrow.
Jill
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Another OR day
Today we spent the day in the OR, with another round of short and sweet cases, most of which went home on the same day, so no need to round on them in the morning. I love those cases. Cure and home on the same day... can't beat it.
I don't have much to report tonight that is new. I have been very tired recently, and I suspect it is my prolonged recovery from that marathon weekend call. I took a two hour nap this afternoon, and now I am thinking of my bed, even as I write. I am going to try to upload a photo tonight, to let you know what my operating room looks like. This isn't actually my OR per say, but it is basically what they all look like. I got a group of pictures from one of the visiting docs, so I will be posting his pics until I get the urge to take some myself.
I am hanging in there, working on my personal statement for residency. I also have work to do on my thesis, which will happen this weekend, most likely.
That is really all for now. Sorry I am so lame tonight. I am struggling to think of things to tell you. It was really a run-of-the-mill kind of day today, and I am looking forward to a long winter's nap. I am starting to regret not bringing warmer clothes here, especially for the night time. It would have been great to have a hoodie sweatshirt for the nights here. Since there is no heating and my house is made of cement block with no insulation, it gets pretty cold in here. But I do have my hot water bottle, which warms my bed at night.
OK, well, I suppose I will talk to you tomorrow. Hopefully I will have more stories to tell... Until then, thanks again for your prayers. I am held up by them.
Tonight I was thinking about some lyrics to an old song:
I hear the Savior say
Thy strength indeed is small
Child of weakness watch and pray
Find in me thy all in all.
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow.
I was thinking how weak I feel these days. Inadequate for the job they have me doing (taking first call on the entire hospital), physically weak (tired from the long weekend call). And then I thought about how the ultimate weight has already been lifted from my shoulders. No matter how tough my calls are, no matter how many attending questions I don't know, my sins are washed away! And no one can take that from me. I may get sick, I may not get the residency position I want. I may not achieve success in this life. But there is one thing I know for sure. My sins have been washed away by Jesus, my precious Savior. 2000 years ago, my fate was sealed, I am forgiven, beloved, and clean. Clean from all my mistakes, from all my short-comings, from all my secret sins. WOW, what a relief. Jesus did pay it all. There is nothing left for me to pay. I don't have to perform to achieve the smile of my Savior. He smiles because He loves me, not because I am smart enough, or pretty enough or successful enough. He smiles because I am his beloved. Plain and simple. What a promise, what a beautiful gift.
I hope you, too, find peace tonight in that truth. It is the only truth I know for sure, and the one I base all others upon.
Talk to you tomorrow night. Let's hope this picture loading thing works... Well, two attempts later, and the picture is not working tonight. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow morning when there are fewer people online.
Jill
I don't have much to report tonight that is new. I have been very tired recently, and I suspect it is my prolonged recovery from that marathon weekend call. I took a two hour nap this afternoon, and now I am thinking of my bed, even as I write. I am going to try to upload a photo tonight, to let you know what my operating room looks like. This isn't actually my OR per say, but it is basically what they all look like. I got a group of pictures from one of the visiting docs, so I will be posting his pics until I get the urge to take some myself.
I am hanging in there, working on my personal statement for residency. I also have work to do on my thesis, which will happen this weekend, most likely.
That is really all for now. Sorry I am so lame tonight. I am struggling to think of things to tell you. It was really a run-of-the-mill kind of day today, and I am looking forward to a long winter's nap. I am starting to regret not bringing warmer clothes here, especially for the night time. It would have been great to have a hoodie sweatshirt for the nights here. Since there is no heating and my house is made of cement block with no insulation, it gets pretty cold in here. But I do have my hot water bottle, which warms my bed at night.
OK, well, I suppose I will talk to you tomorrow. Hopefully I will have more stories to tell... Until then, thanks again for your prayers. I am held up by them.
Tonight I was thinking about some lyrics to an old song:
I hear the Savior say
Thy strength indeed is small
Child of weakness watch and pray
Find in me thy all in all.
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow.
I was thinking how weak I feel these days. Inadequate for the job they have me doing (taking first call on the entire hospital), physically weak (tired from the long weekend call). And then I thought about how the ultimate weight has already been lifted from my shoulders. No matter how tough my calls are, no matter how many attending questions I don't know, my sins are washed away! And no one can take that from me. I may get sick, I may not get the residency position I want. I may not achieve success in this life. But there is one thing I know for sure. My sins have been washed away by Jesus, my precious Savior. 2000 years ago, my fate was sealed, I am forgiven, beloved, and clean. Clean from all my mistakes, from all my short-comings, from all my secret sins. WOW, what a relief. Jesus did pay it all. There is nothing left for me to pay. I don't have to perform to achieve the smile of my Savior. He smiles because He loves me, not because I am smart enough, or pretty enough or successful enough. He smiles because I am his beloved. Plain and simple. What a promise, what a beautiful gift.
I hope you, too, find peace tonight in that truth. It is the only truth I know for sure, and the one I base all others upon.
Talk to you tomorrow night. Let's hope this picture loading thing works... Well, two attempts later, and the picture is not working tonight. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow morning when there are fewer people online.
Jill
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Tuesday
Well, today was another great day. I got a wonderful night's sleep last night. You know how sometimes you fall asleep and then wake up, check the clock, and realize that it is only 12:30 and you have 2 more hours to sleep? Well, it happened last night. What a glorious feeling!
I got up this morning and joined my team for rounds. Afterwards we went to the OR where we had several short cases. This is my forte. Short cases with quick turnover. We did several anal cases, a few biopsies, etc. There was one case of a man with a scrotal mass that turned out to be an epidermal cyst. So my attending let me do most of the case. He assisted me, but I was the one with the scalpel. Let me tell you what that felt like. Power, and fear. It was awesome. I got to take out the cyst, suture the fascia and then the skin. I was really nervous performing in front of my attending, but it turned out OK. My surgical skills aren't the greatest, but I haven't been doing this for years and years.
Anyway, we finished all the cases by about 3:30, which meant I had time to come home and take care of business here. I was able to get some internet work done (as opposed to paperwork, which I think is becoming a thing of the past with the advent of the internet). Anyway, I even got in a nap before heading out to dinner. I was invited to dinner by a visiting doctor and his family. His wife made spaghetti and garlic English muffins. It was delicious. They also had this fruit salad, which was amazing. It was so nice to sit with a family and converse about the day. There is one other med student here doing a visiting rotation, and he came to dinner as well. It was so nice to hang out with other people.
I was also informed tonight that next week I will be getting a roommate for at least 2 days, but possibly longer, if we want it. Her name is Laura. Don't know much more about her. But we'll find out. I don't know how I feel about having a roommate long-term, but it won't hurt for a few days. And, if she isn't my roommate, she will be my next door neighbor, as she is moving into the other part of the duplex. So either way I will have a friend coming soon. That will be nice. Turns out I am a bit of a slob, not so good at doing my own dishes and such. So I roommate would force me to do all of those things, but it would also mean not being alone here anymore, which you know is a struggle for me. So maybe it is time for me to grow up in the area of cleanliness, and take a roommate for the companionship. But if she is freaky, I might not. We'll just have to see.
OK, well, I guess that is all for now. I have some more reading to do tonight before I go to sleep, for a meeting tomorrow morning at 7AM. I have to read about anesthesia, a topic that tends to put me to sleep, all puns intended. I meet each week with one of the attendings and all the surgical residents. They are preparing to take their boards, and I was invited to come along. So I do the reading and show up to be a part. It is a great way to stay up to speed on surgical topics, though I can't say anesthesia is much of a surgical topic. May be why I left the reading until the night before. What do today that you can do tomorrow? My life's motto...
Naenda kulala in a bit, I suppose. Talk to you again tomorrow. Thanks for checking in on me.
-Jill
I got up this morning and joined my team for rounds. Afterwards we went to the OR where we had several short cases. This is my forte. Short cases with quick turnover. We did several anal cases, a few biopsies, etc. There was one case of a man with a scrotal mass that turned out to be an epidermal cyst. So my attending let me do most of the case. He assisted me, but I was the one with the scalpel. Let me tell you what that felt like. Power, and fear. It was awesome. I got to take out the cyst, suture the fascia and then the skin. I was really nervous performing in front of my attending, but it turned out OK. My surgical skills aren't the greatest, but I haven't been doing this for years and years.
Anyway, we finished all the cases by about 3:30, which meant I had time to come home and take care of business here. I was able to get some internet work done (as opposed to paperwork, which I think is becoming a thing of the past with the advent of the internet). Anyway, I even got in a nap before heading out to dinner. I was invited to dinner by a visiting doctor and his family. His wife made spaghetti and garlic English muffins. It was delicious. They also had this fruit salad, which was amazing. It was so nice to sit with a family and converse about the day. There is one other med student here doing a visiting rotation, and he came to dinner as well. It was so nice to hang out with other people.
I was also informed tonight that next week I will be getting a roommate for at least 2 days, but possibly longer, if we want it. Her name is Laura. Don't know much more about her. But we'll find out. I don't know how I feel about having a roommate long-term, but it won't hurt for a few days. And, if she isn't my roommate, she will be my next door neighbor, as she is moving into the other part of the duplex. So either way I will have a friend coming soon. That will be nice. Turns out I am a bit of a slob, not so good at doing my own dishes and such. So I roommate would force me to do all of those things, but it would also mean not being alone here anymore, which you know is a struggle for me. So maybe it is time for me to grow up in the area of cleanliness, and take a roommate for the companionship. But if she is freaky, I might not. We'll just have to see.
OK, well, I guess that is all for now. I have some more reading to do tonight before I go to sleep, for a meeting tomorrow morning at 7AM. I have to read about anesthesia, a topic that tends to put me to sleep, all puns intended. I meet each week with one of the attendings and all the surgical residents. They are preparing to take their boards, and I was invited to come along. So I do the reading and show up to be a part. It is a great way to stay up to speed on surgical topics, though I can't say anesthesia is much of a surgical topic. May be why I left the reading until the night before. What do today that you can do tomorrow? My life's motto...
Naenda kulala in a bit, I suppose. Talk to you again tomorrow. Thanks for checking in on me.
-Jill
Monday, June 23, 2008
Post-Call Monday
Well, last night ended up being very busy, with me getting called to the hospital throughout the night, including a sickle cell pain crisis at 2AM and a gunshot wound at 5:30AM. By the time rounds happened, I was spent. I followed my team around like a puppy, scribing the notes as they saw the patients. It was the only thing that I could do, though I felt like it was in slow motion. I added it up, and I think I got 8 hours of sleep in the past 48. That is pretty rough, worse than Grady OB call. I was so relieved when rounds were over, because our team doesn't work on Mondays. Each surgeon has an "administrative day," where they can complete whatever loose ends they have. Our day is Monday, thank God. After rounds, I came home, ate some breakfast, took a shower and went to bed. I slept for 3 hours, which was a good amount of time to sleep during the day. I woke up and became very productive, cleaning my house, doing laundry, and starting to work on my personal statement for my residency application. I took a break to eat a very American dinner - hamburger, macaroni and cheese, and baked beans. And for dessert? One double stuffed oreo. I bought them in Nairobi for an embarrassingly expensive price, so the deal is one per day, no more, and often, none at all. It was a great dinner, one I thought I deserved because of the weekend I had. Then my productivity trailed off, as post-prandial sleepiness set in. I decided to watch one of the two DVD's that I brought myself, and one of my favorite movies of all time: National Treasure. I have seen it so many times I could probably quote parts of it, so it wasn't hard to doze off for parts of the film. The night was punctuated by a phone call from my parents, one that I treasure every second of. It is so good to hear the voices from home, to know that all is well.
So here is your Swahili lesson of the day. You know how we sometimes say, "going to la-la land," meaning going to sleep? Well, that actually comes from Swahili. The word is kulala and it means to sleep. So when I say, "Naenda kulala," it means, "I am going to sleep," which is something I am actually going to do quite soon. Naenda means "I am going," so you can say "Naenda America" or "Naenda Nairobi" or whatever else you can think of. So, you just won the super bowl, where are you going?... "Naenda Disney World!" You get the point.
OK, I guess that is all for now. I ended up having a great day, and I can tell as I write to you that I am going to have a GREAT night of sleep. Thanks again for checking in on me, and for your comments. They mean the world to me, you'll never know. And thanks more for your prayers. I know that while my weekend was rough, God did give me the grace I needed to get through it. And I know His provision of grace is related to your prayers. So thank you. It is humbling to know that so many are supporting me while I am a world away. It is a different world out here, but I am so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of it, even if the dues are a 48 hour marathon call.
Talk to you again tomorrow. We have a full schedule of operations, including several exploratory laparotomies, which is where you cut the person wide open and check out what is going on. It is a poor man's CT scan, only with much more color, and it does leave a scar. :) So I'm sure I will have more stories to tell come tomorrow. Until then, thank you. Talk to you soon!
-Jill
So here is your Swahili lesson of the day. You know how we sometimes say, "going to la-la land," meaning going to sleep? Well, that actually comes from Swahili. The word is kulala and it means to sleep. So when I say, "Naenda kulala," it means, "I am going to sleep," which is something I am actually going to do quite soon. Naenda means "I am going," so you can say "Naenda America" or "Naenda Nairobi" or whatever else you can think of. So, you just won the super bowl, where are you going?... "Naenda Disney World!" You get the point.
OK, I guess that is all for now. I ended up having a great day, and I can tell as I write to you that I am going to have a GREAT night of sleep. Thanks again for checking in on me, and for your comments. They mean the world to me, you'll never know. And thanks more for your prayers. I know that while my weekend was rough, God did give me the grace I needed to get through it. And I know His provision of grace is related to your prayers. So thank you. It is humbling to know that so many are supporting me while I am a world away. It is a different world out here, but I am so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of it, even if the dues are a 48 hour marathon call.
Talk to you again tomorrow. We have a full schedule of operations, including several exploratory laparotomies, which is where you cut the person wide open and check out what is going on. It is a poor man's CT scan, only with much more color, and it does leave a scar. :) So I'm sure I will have more stories to tell come tomorrow. Until then, thank you. Talk to you soon!
-Jill
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sunday
Well, today started out with a burst. I got home from what would be the last call of the night at around 1AM, and I slept until I woke up on my own at 6:30. The sun was coming up, and I can't sleep when the sun is rising. (I was going to say that I can't sleep when the sun is up, but most of you know that is a lie, as I nap sometimes more hours than I sleep at night). Anyway, I jumped out of bed when my home phone rang at 6:45AM, and it was a nurse from the pediatric ward informing me that I never responded to her page, and that there was a baby in respiratory distress. I was already dressed in my scrubs, so I popped in a piece of gum, grabbed my white coat and ran out the door. Thing is, I never got a page from anyone this morning. I felt horrible about the woman calling me in, but I never got the page... Anyway, I think the baby has pneumonia, so I bagged her (meaning I pushed air into her lungs with a mask over her tiny face) until the attending arrived and decided to transfer her to the ICU.
The rest of the daytime hours were spent in Casualty, admitting some patients and sending others home. I did get a short nap in, from about 12:30 to 1:30 this afternoon. Then I got called in to take care of some outpatients. Turns out Kijabe sees patients 7 days a week. The strange thing is that when it turns 5PM, the clinical officers leave, no matter what patients haven't been seen. They work based on hours, not the line of patients waiting to see them... something foreign to medicine in the USA. So I had to see several patients that the clinical officers didn't get to. One was a girl who I had seen last night, who had a panic attack and was given valium and got better. She was back today with another panicky episode, and I got to talk with her again. Turns out her sister died of an aneurysm earlier in the week, and she is freaking out that she is going to die of the same thing. I offered her some more valium, but she didn't want it. I also offered to pray with her, something she accepted. So I prayed with her, that God would grant her peace and comfort this week as she faces the funeral and all. When I sent her home, I gave her my name and told her that if she needed to come back here this week, I would be willing to talk to her and even treat her is the situation became too much to bear. I felt good after that, like my place here is more than just medical. There is a spiritual aspect to being here, and not just about praying that I won't get called in during the middle of the night.
Anyway, I didn't get home until about 8:30, so I am just now sitting down to eat dinner. That is the rough thing about medicine, you can't predict your meals. But, let's hope I am home for a while now, and that I don't get called in again for a few hours. That would be really nice.
The weather today was absolutely perfect. Like a beautiful, cloudless fall day in Atlanta. THe wind was blowing and the sun was shining. It was like God was smiling down on Kijabe hospital. It was awesome.
OK, well, I guess that is all for now. I am happy to be home for the moment, but being on call is strange. It is like that little black box owns you for the time you have it on, and you are totally at its beckon call. When I showered this morning, I had to bring it to the bathroom with me, just in case it went off while I was bathing. I place it right next to my bed when I lie down, because if it goes off, I have to jump up and return the page. Not sound rest you get when you constantly wonder if it is going to beep. And then if it doesn't beep for several hours, you wake up and check it anyway, to make sure it isn't broken. That little box is a king, let me tell you...
Let's hope the king is silent for the night. Keep praying for me. I know it is making a difference. Oh, my guy that I got to suture up on Friday - he died this morning. He was pretty old anyway, and his tumor was unresectable. Our operation was only to palliate him until he died. But it sucks anyway. I had to pronounce another woman dead today as well. That only makes two for the whole weekend so far, which is pretty low. But sad nevertheless. It is a reminder that medicine is a game of life and death, and each one of us has an appointment with death that we can't escape. Someday I am going to be that body that someone comes and pronounces as dead. I better make the most of each of the days that I have, because tomorrow is not promised.
Talk to you again soon, I hope. Thanks for checking in on me. And please continue to write back to me. When you reply to the blog, I have the choice to publish it or not. So if you don't see your reply, it isn't because I haven't read it. I probably chose not to publish it. Please keep writing me. It is my main way of keeping up with life. And I love hearing from you.
-Jill
The rest of the daytime hours were spent in Casualty, admitting some patients and sending others home. I did get a short nap in, from about 12:30 to 1:30 this afternoon. Then I got called in to take care of some outpatients. Turns out Kijabe sees patients 7 days a week. The strange thing is that when it turns 5PM, the clinical officers leave, no matter what patients haven't been seen. They work based on hours, not the line of patients waiting to see them... something foreign to medicine in the USA. So I had to see several patients that the clinical officers didn't get to. One was a girl who I had seen last night, who had a panic attack and was given valium and got better. She was back today with another panicky episode, and I got to talk with her again. Turns out her sister died of an aneurysm earlier in the week, and she is freaking out that she is going to die of the same thing. I offered her some more valium, but she didn't want it. I also offered to pray with her, something she accepted. So I prayed with her, that God would grant her peace and comfort this week as she faces the funeral and all. When I sent her home, I gave her my name and told her that if she needed to come back here this week, I would be willing to talk to her and even treat her is the situation became too much to bear. I felt good after that, like my place here is more than just medical. There is a spiritual aspect to being here, and not just about praying that I won't get called in during the middle of the night.
Anyway, I didn't get home until about 8:30, so I am just now sitting down to eat dinner. That is the rough thing about medicine, you can't predict your meals. But, let's hope I am home for a while now, and that I don't get called in again for a few hours. That would be really nice.
The weather today was absolutely perfect. Like a beautiful, cloudless fall day in Atlanta. THe wind was blowing and the sun was shining. It was like God was smiling down on Kijabe hospital. It was awesome.
OK, well, I guess that is all for now. I am happy to be home for the moment, but being on call is strange. It is like that little black box owns you for the time you have it on, and you are totally at its beckon call. When I showered this morning, I had to bring it to the bathroom with me, just in case it went off while I was bathing. I place it right next to my bed when I lie down, because if it goes off, I have to jump up and return the page. Not sound rest you get when you constantly wonder if it is going to beep. And then if it doesn't beep for several hours, you wake up and check it anyway, to make sure it isn't broken. That little box is a king, let me tell you...
Let's hope the king is silent for the night. Keep praying for me. I know it is making a difference. Oh, my guy that I got to suture up on Friday - he died this morning. He was pretty old anyway, and his tumor was unresectable. Our operation was only to palliate him until he died. But it sucks anyway. I had to pronounce another woman dead today as well. That only makes two for the whole weekend so far, which is pretty low. But sad nevertheless. It is a reminder that medicine is a game of life and death, and each one of us has an appointment with death that we can't escape. Someday I am going to be that body that someone comes and pronounces as dead. I better make the most of each of the days that I have, because tomorrow is not promised.
Talk to you again soon, I hope. Thanks for checking in on me. And please continue to write back to me. When you reply to the blog, I have the choice to publish it or not. So if you don't see your reply, it isn't because I haven't read it. I probably chose not to publish it. Please keep writing me. It is my main way of keeping up with life. And I love hearing from you.
-Jill
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Saturday night fever
Gosh kids, I feel like this is one of those Grady Saturday nights that we all dreaded. We saw four patients who had no physiologic abnormalities - one had a panic attack, got diazepam and was cured. One had a headache and thought he had high blood pressure, with a BP of 108/68. Wish my BP was that low... another lady had a fracture of her nose from a car accident, had it repaired two weeks ago and came complaining that she couldn't breathe through her nose, and that she was cold. WE'RE ALL COLD, LADY, IT IS THE MIDDLE OF WINTER! Oye! I wanted to pull my hair out. Why am I not going into medicine??? Man, just give me something sharp and tell me where to cut! Oh, and IT ISN'T EVEN A FULL MOON!!!
Anyway, despite a frustrating evening of managing "supra-tentioral" complaints, I had a good day. You know, you can call me sick or twisted or whatever you want, but I enjoy working on Saturdays. It gives me something to do around here, instead of watching movies or trying to waste a day away. It was nice to be occupied with something on the weekend. I am bummed because I can't go to church tomorrow, because you are not allowed to go if you are on call, which stinks. But I do have some Andy Stanley pod casts that I can listen to, as well as all of my music. I can have a church service here by myself.
On other fronts, I did some cooking this morning, making a hearty vegetarian vegetable soup (with carrots, bell peppers, peas, onions, and potatoes), as well as a delicious lentil bean soup (with tomatoes, onion, and garlic, along with the lentils). I ate the lentil soup for lunch and the veggie soup for dinner, and there is enough of both to last for at least the upcoming week. I also managed to find whole wheat bread at the Super Duka (grocery store) this week, which is a bit of a rarity around here. People here LOVE their white bread... not very weight watchers friendly. Although thanks to God only knows what is growing in my gut, I seem to be losing weight here. My scrubs are getting progressively bigger as time passes.
Last night I was invited to a friends house to watch a movie. Her name is Dita, and she has really taken me under her wing. She is a wonderfully kind woman, and her husband was away for the weekend at a conference, so she invited me over to hang out "just us girls." We talked a lot about the personality of a woman missionary, and how I feel like I really fit in with these women. Women missionaries tend to be a little tom-boy-ish, not super interested in the blow drying of hair, the make-up, and the finger nail painting. They also tend to be brave, something I am learning to become as I am here. We take call from home, which means when you are paged, you have to go from your house to the hospital, in the dark, walking. I am learning to be safe and to feel secure - what true bravery is about. (although I do literally run from my house to the hospital - I've seen too many Law and Order episodes for my own good!). Anyway, after watching a movie, Dita offered me a loaf of wheat bread, like a baguette, and some HOME MADE cinnamon buns. I ate one for breakfast, and I have to admit, they are DELICIOUS! Holy cow they are awesome. It felt more like dessert than breakfast. I hope my parasites enjoyed them as well!
OK, probably enough about food. I am thoroughly enjoying my time here, even my weekend call. There was a mass casualty this afternoon that I was there for, which involved four people. I got to suture this one guy's head lacerations. It was cool (sharp instruments + patient bleeding + Jill = happy).
Now I am going to lie down and hopefully catch some sleep. I am really hoping that no one calls me again until the morning. Like 7AM morning. You can be praying that, too. It would be midnight Eastern time.
Talk to you again tomorrow.
-Jill
Anyway, despite a frustrating evening of managing "supra-tentioral" complaints, I had a good day. You know, you can call me sick or twisted or whatever you want, but I enjoy working on Saturdays. It gives me something to do around here, instead of watching movies or trying to waste a day away. It was nice to be occupied with something on the weekend. I am bummed because I can't go to church tomorrow, because you are not allowed to go if you are on call, which stinks. But I do have some Andy Stanley pod casts that I can listen to, as well as all of my music. I can have a church service here by myself.
On other fronts, I did some cooking this morning, making a hearty vegetarian vegetable soup (with carrots, bell peppers, peas, onions, and potatoes), as well as a delicious lentil bean soup (with tomatoes, onion, and garlic, along with the lentils). I ate the lentil soup for lunch and the veggie soup for dinner, and there is enough of both to last for at least the upcoming week. I also managed to find whole wheat bread at the Super Duka (grocery store) this week, which is a bit of a rarity around here. People here LOVE their white bread... not very weight watchers friendly. Although thanks to God only knows what is growing in my gut, I seem to be losing weight here. My scrubs are getting progressively bigger as time passes.
Last night I was invited to a friends house to watch a movie. Her name is Dita, and she has really taken me under her wing. She is a wonderfully kind woman, and her husband was away for the weekend at a conference, so she invited me over to hang out "just us girls." We talked a lot about the personality of a woman missionary, and how I feel like I really fit in with these women. Women missionaries tend to be a little tom-boy-ish, not super interested in the blow drying of hair, the make-up, and the finger nail painting. They also tend to be brave, something I am learning to become as I am here. We take call from home, which means when you are paged, you have to go from your house to the hospital, in the dark, walking. I am learning to be safe and to feel secure - what true bravery is about. (although I do literally run from my house to the hospital - I've seen too many Law and Order episodes for my own good!). Anyway, after watching a movie, Dita offered me a loaf of wheat bread, like a baguette, and some HOME MADE cinnamon buns. I ate one for breakfast, and I have to admit, they are DELICIOUS! Holy cow they are awesome. It felt more like dessert than breakfast. I hope my parasites enjoyed them as well!
OK, probably enough about food. I am thoroughly enjoying my time here, even my weekend call. There was a mass casualty this afternoon that I was there for, which involved four people. I got to suture this one guy's head lacerations. It was cool (sharp instruments + patient bleeding + Jill = happy).
Now I am going to lie down and hopefully catch some sleep. I am really hoping that no one calls me again until the morning. Like 7AM morning. You can be praying that, too. It would be midnight Eastern time.
Talk to you again tomorrow.
-Jill
Friday, June 20, 2008
Glorious Friday
Well, this might have been the best 24 hours of my time here in Kijabe. Let me start last night...
I got a call at about 10:15PM from my surgery attending, telling me that there was a guy who had come in after being attacked by a buffalo (which turn out to be very dangerous creatures). The guy had been treated at "outside hospital" where they apparently treated his injuries. He came to us with a HUGE tense abdomen, which we operated on. The guy had a hole the size of a dime in his large intestine, and there was poop ALL OVER his peritoneum. That stuff smelled so bad! Anyway we cleaned him out and fixed the hole, and I got home just before midnight. I was so pumped about having been a part of the operation, I didn't fall asleep until well after 1AM. It made this morning kind of hard to wake up to.
But this morning we were back in the OR, and this time my attending let me do FAR MORE than I have ever done in the OR before, and WAY MORE than our surgery rotation allows. It was an abdominal case, and they guy had a tumor in the head of his pancreas. The tumor had already invaded the portal vein, so we were unable to do a complete Whipple. Instead, we took out his gall bladder, and then I GOT TO attach his bowel back together. For the medical people, I did the jeju-jejunostomy portion of the operation. I was in heaven, seriously. I was suturing bowel! Can you believe that??? It was great. I felt like a rock star for sure.
After that, a visiting OB-GYN asked me to first assist in a hysterectomy. It was great, but it was a definite reminder that I am not cut out to be an OB-GYN. I want to be a surgeon, plain and simple. I love the elegance, the artfulness, the beauty of general surgery. It is like a meticulous dance, and I want to be a dancer.
OK, well, I guess that is all. I start call tomorrow morning at 8AM. Until then, I will be resting. probably watch a movie tonight, and relax. I don't know what this call will hold, but I hope it is light. Please pray for me as I go into this weekend, that God will give me the grace I need to make it though whatever He has in store for me. I am being reminded that God promised us grace and mercy when we approach His throne, and that is what I need. Grace and mercy.
Guess I'll talk to you again when I have the chance. Until then, take care!
Jill
I got a call at about 10:15PM from my surgery attending, telling me that there was a guy who had come in after being attacked by a buffalo (which turn out to be very dangerous creatures). The guy had been treated at "outside hospital" where they apparently treated his injuries. He came to us with a HUGE tense abdomen, which we operated on. The guy had a hole the size of a dime in his large intestine, and there was poop ALL OVER his peritoneum. That stuff smelled so bad! Anyway we cleaned him out and fixed the hole, and I got home just before midnight. I was so pumped about having been a part of the operation, I didn't fall asleep until well after 1AM. It made this morning kind of hard to wake up to.
But this morning we were back in the OR, and this time my attending let me do FAR MORE than I have ever done in the OR before, and WAY MORE than our surgery rotation allows. It was an abdominal case, and they guy had a tumor in the head of his pancreas. The tumor had already invaded the portal vein, so we were unable to do a complete Whipple. Instead, we took out his gall bladder, and then I GOT TO attach his bowel back together. For the medical people, I did the jeju-jejunostomy portion of the operation. I was in heaven, seriously. I was suturing bowel! Can you believe that??? It was great. I felt like a rock star for sure.
After that, a visiting OB-GYN asked me to first assist in a hysterectomy. It was great, but it was a definite reminder that I am not cut out to be an OB-GYN. I want to be a surgeon, plain and simple. I love the elegance, the artfulness, the beauty of general surgery. It is like a meticulous dance, and I want to be a dancer.
OK, well, I guess that is all. I start call tomorrow morning at 8AM. Until then, I will be resting. probably watch a movie tonight, and relax. I don't know what this call will hold, but I hope it is light. Please pray for me as I go into this weekend, that God will give me the grace I need to make it though whatever He has in store for me. I am being reminded that God promised us grace and mercy when we approach His throne, and that is what I need. Grace and mercy.
Guess I'll talk to you again when I have the chance. Until then, take care!
Jill
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Wedesday
So today was a good day all around. We did another esophagectomy today, which lasted about 5 hours when it was all said and done. I hope this guy lives, because our other lady who had an esophagectomy died two days post-op. That operation took up most of the day...
So tonight I got my first case of traveler's diarrhea, or at least that is what I hope it is... and I hope it travels right on out of here. The nice thing is, I really don't have much in the way of abdominal pain. Just the urge to go once in a while. Fortunately we are in clinic tomorrow, so if I have to run out and use the potty, it won't be like I am breaking scrub or anything like that. Not wasting precious resources on account of my bowel habits.
Anyway, that is probably more than you wanted to know, but I thought you should be invited into all aspects of my life, the good, the bad, and the stinky. That's all really. I am doing well, hoping to get some good sleep tonight, and ready for whatever comes around the next corner.
I suppose I will write again tomorrow, when maybe I'll have more to say, or perhaps I will have more time to spend writing.
Please continue to pray for me, both for this little GI bug, and for my upcoming weekend call. Thanks to all who are praying, you know, I can really tell the difference. I know that my time here is different because you are praying for me. Please continue to pray that I don't get discouraged by the suffering and death all around me. I really haven't touched very much on this, maybe tomorrow I can elaborate. But thus far, the Lord has really spared me from the agony of discouragement, and I have found myself ready to fight against the diseases of my patients, rather than throw my hands up and give up. Pray that I will keep that fighting attitude.
OK, I should probably go before I have to make a run for it! Talk to you again soon! - Jill
So tonight I got my first case of traveler's diarrhea, or at least that is what I hope it is... and I hope it travels right on out of here. The nice thing is, I really don't have much in the way of abdominal pain. Just the urge to go once in a while. Fortunately we are in clinic tomorrow, so if I have to run out and use the potty, it won't be like I am breaking scrub or anything like that. Not wasting precious resources on account of my bowel habits.
Anyway, that is probably more than you wanted to know, but I thought you should be invited into all aspects of my life, the good, the bad, and the stinky. That's all really. I am doing well, hoping to get some good sleep tonight, and ready for whatever comes around the next corner.
I suppose I will write again tomorrow, when maybe I'll have more to say, or perhaps I will have more time to spend writing.
Please continue to pray for me, both for this little GI bug, and for my upcoming weekend call. Thanks to all who are praying, you know, I can really tell the difference. I know that my time here is different because you are praying for me. Please continue to pray that I don't get discouraged by the suffering and death all around me. I really haven't touched very much on this, maybe tomorrow I can elaborate. But thus far, the Lord has really spared me from the agony of discouragement, and I have found myself ready to fight against the diseases of my patients, rather than throw my hands up and give up. Pray that I will keep that fighting attitude.
OK, I should probably go before I have to make a run for it! Talk to you again soon! - Jill
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Post-Call Tuesday
Well, I have to say, thank you to all who were praying about my call last night. I was called in a few times, but all quieted down at 2:30AM, and I didn't get called again until 6:45AM, which means I got an uninterrupted 4 hours of sleep - unheard of when you are on call. I can only pray that God continues to grace me with light calls. I am on call all weekend long upcoming, so you can start praying now that all is quiet then as well.
Today we had a lighter day of operating, which ran from about 8:30AM until about 3:00PM. It was a wonderful day. I realized today that I prefer shorter cases to long, drawn out, complication-filled cases. We had one of each - an epigastric hernia that took about 20 minutes from first cut to final stitch, and an exploratory laparotomy to determine the diagnosis of an abdominal mass (that's what you do when there is no CT scan around - ex-lap everyone with a symptomatic abdominal mass). Anyway, the woman with the gall bladder tumor bled like crazy when we were trying to peel the tumor away from her liver, and who knows if she will live from the surgery. Bro with the hernia went home this afternoon. Man, I love the cases where the kids go home that afternoon. No rounding to do, tiny risk of death. You may not be saving lives with the hernia repairs, but you also aren't playing poker with the patient's chips.
Anyway, that's all for my medical ranting for now. I think... You know one of the strange things about being here is Africa is the relative silence. Have I told you about this yet? Well, at home, I used to run the television for company way too much. And so I was never really used to dead silence. Even when I sleep I run a fan to drown out the noises of my apartment complex. Here, there is NOTHING. No fans, no tv. I do have my ipod with music, and I have my laptop that I use to listen to music. But music is different than television noise. Music is not noise. It is purposeful. For me, the TV is just noise, like a varying fan of sorts. I have gotten used to the creeks of my house, the blowing of air through the not-so-tightly sealed windows, the barking of the neighbor dog. But every once in a while I still get a startle from a creek, or the opening of my neighbor's door, thinking that it is my door. I do feel pretty safe here, though sometimes at night the silence gets stammering. Probablya consequence of way too many Law and Order episodes.
As a result of my crash course in silence, I don't think I will be getting cable television when I get home. I think I should continue my fast from TV, and rather use music to direct my time alone, or else become comfortable with the silence of life. Or rather, the creeks and taps and barks of life.
OK, well, I guess that is all for now. I am winding down for the night, though I have to admit I am not nearly as tired as the last time I was post-call. Could it be that this body of mine is getting used to the work??? Only a week back, and my body is ready for the challenge. I even spent 2 hours tonight reading about breast disease. I am back, kids. Back in the swing of medical school, back in the swing of surgery. Back, and this time, for a lifetime!
Talk to you again soon. Thanks for dropping in. I do hope you enjoy catching up with me as much as I enjoy writing to you about my life here. This is the closest place to heaven I've been in a while, and I am trying to enjoy everyday, because I know my time here is going to end sooner than I want, and I am going to have a very hard time saying good-bye to Kijabe. But I will be back, I can tell you that. This place has etched a spot deep in my soul already, and I know it will remain there for a lifetime. This trip came at just the right time for me, and I feel like I am already learning so many life lessons. Maybe I will end up spending a lifetime here in Kijabe to learn them all...
We'll see. For now, I need to get to bed.
-Jill
Today we had a lighter day of operating, which ran from about 8:30AM until about 3:00PM. It was a wonderful day. I realized today that I prefer shorter cases to long, drawn out, complication-filled cases. We had one of each - an epigastric hernia that took about 20 minutes from first cut to final stitch, and an exploratory laparotomy to determine the diagnosis of an abdominal mass (that's what you do when there is no CT scan around - ex-lap everyone with a symptomatic abdominal mass). Anyway, the woman with the gall bladder tumor bled like crazy when we were trying to peel the tumor away from her liver, and who knows if she will live from the surgery. Bro with the hernia went home this afternoon. Man, I love the cases where the kids go home that afternoon. No rounding to do, tiny risk of death. You may not be saving lives with the hernia repairs, but you also aren't playing poker with the patient's chips.
Anyway, that's all for my medical ranting for now. I think... You know one of the strange things about being here is Africa is the relative silence. Have I told you about this yet? Well, at home, I used to run the television for company way too much. And so I was never really used to dead silence. Even when I sleep I run a fan to drown out the noises of my apartment complex. Here, there is NOTHING. No fans, no tv. I do have my ipod with music, and I have my laptop that I use to listen to music. But music is different than television noise. Music is not noise. It is purposeful. For me, the TV is just noise, like a varying fan of sorts. I have gotten used to the creeks of my house, the blowing of air through the not-so-tightly sealed windows, the barking of the neighbor dog. But every once in a while I still get a startle from a creek, or the opening of my neighbor's door, thinking that it is my door. I do feel pretty safe here, though sometimes at night the silence gets stammering. Probablya consequence of way too many Law and Order episodes.
As a result of my crash course in silence, I don't think I will be getting cable television when I get home. I think I should continue my fast from TV, and rather use music to direct my time alone, or else become comfortable with the silence of life. Or rather, the creeks and taps and barks of life.
OK, well, I guess that is all for now. I am winding down for the night, though I have to admit I am not nearly as tired as the last time I was post-call. Could it be that this body of mine is getting used to the work??? Only a week back, and my body is ready for the challenge. I even spent 2 hours tonight reading about breast disease. I am back, kids. Back in the swing of medical school, back in the swing of surgery. Back, and this time, for a lifetime!
Talk to you again soon. Thanks for dropping in. I do hope you enjoy catching up with me as much as I enjoy writing to you about my life here. This is the closest place to heaven I've been in a while, and I am trying to enjoy everyday, because I know my time here is going to end sooner than I want, and I am going to have a very hard time saying good-bye to Kijabe. But I will be back, I can tell you that. This place has etched a spot deep in my soul already, and I know it will remain there for a lifetime. This trip came at just the right time for me, and I feel like I am already learning so many life lessons. Maybe I will end up spending a lifetime here in Kijabe to learn them all...
We'll see. For now, I need to get to bed.
-Jill
Monday, June 16, 2008
Monday Monday
Well, today was a much better day. Sorry if my post yesterday sounded a little down in the dumps. I think I had too much time on my hands, and when I've slept enough and read enough and watched enough movies, my mind gets to wandering and missing those I love.
Today brought back the familiarity of my schedule, although slightly different. I should say, it brought back the familiarity of being busy. This morning I went with my attending and another doctor to a Somali slum in Nairobi called Eastleigh. Kijabe has a remote clinic there, where we serve the Somali people, thousands of which have fled their homeland due to the ongoing civil war there. Anyway, we worked in the clinic for about half a day, seeing both surgical and medical patients.
After the clinic was over, we had to decide what to do for lunch. There was an authentic Somali restaurant just down the street from the clinic, so we decided to eat there. So for lunch, I ate camel meat, rice, and some kind of soup, who knows what was in it. Yeah, I ate Sally the Camel. I have to say, the meat (once separated from the fat) was pretty good. It tasted like roast beef, and was tender. The docs who had eaten camel before said that this batch was particularly tender, which is good because chewy meat is not so tasty to me. Anyway, they said that if I were going to get sick from the meal, I would have already gotten ill, and I am fine so far... maybe camel sits well with me???
We stopped at the Nakumat on the way home, which is the closest thing they have to a Super Wal-mart. There is food and also goods, like coffee makers and furniture. I bought quite a few packages of cookies, some pasta sauce, strawberry jelly, and a hot water bottle. The last is for the cold weather, which is creeping in more and more each day. I found out today that Kijabe is located at 7500 feet, which makes the weather colder than I had originally thought. I do wish that I had brought an outside thermometer, so I could give you all hard data on the weather. But suffice it to say things are getting colder. The hot water bottle will prevent me from needing a fire in my fireplace, and I enjoy being eco-friendly, even here where Al Gore would never find me.
We got home in time for me to take a little nap, and then I got the pager for being on call. I got called in at around 6:45PM, and I stayed there until about 11PM, triaging patients in the ER and writing admit orders on most of them.
Now I am home again, and the internet connection is faster, since all the kids at RVA should be sound asleep. I am praying that I won't get called in again tonight, so that I can get a little sleep.
I suppose that is all for now. Tomorrow holds another day of OR adventures, and I'm sure I will sleep well tomorrow night. If you don't hear from me tomorrow, you'll know I am catching up on sleep. But I will try to write...
Talk to you again soon! - Jill
Today brought back the familiarity of my schedule, although slightly different. I should say, it brought back the familiarity of being busy. This morning I went with my attending and another doctor to a Somali slum in Nairobi called Eastleigh. Kijabe has a remote clinic there, where we serve the Somali people, thousands of which have fled their homeland due to the ongoing civil war there. Anyway, we worked in the clinic for about half a day, seeing both surgical and medical patients.
After the clinic was over, we had to decide what to do for lunch. There was an authentic Somali restaurant just down the street from the clinic, so we decided to eat there. So for lunch, I ate camel meat, rice, and some kind of soup, who knows what was in it. Yeah, I ate Sally the Camel. I have to say, the meat (once separated from the fat) was pretty good. It tasted like roast beef, and was tender. The docs who had eaten camel before said that this batch was particularly tender, which is good because chewy meat is not so tasty to me. Anyway, they said that if I were going to get sick from the meal, I would have already gotten ill, and I am fine so far... maybe camel sits well with me???
We stopped at the Nakumat on the way home, which is the closest thing they have to a Super Wal-mart. There is food and also goods, like coffee makers and furniture. I bought quite a few packages of cookies, some pasta sauce, strawberry jelly, and a hot water bottle. The last is for the cold weather, which is creeping in more and more each day. I found out today that Kijabe is located at 7500 feet, which makes the weather colder than I had originally thought. I do wish that I had brought an outside thermometer, so I could give you all hard data on the weather. But suffice it to say things are getting colder. The hot water bottle will prevent me from needing a fire in my fireplace, and I enjoy being eco-friendly, even here where Al Gore would never find me.
We got home in time for me to take a little nap, and then I got the pager for being on call. I got called in at around 6:45PM, and I stayed there until about 11PM, triaging patients in the ER and writing admit orders on most of them.
Now I am home again, and the internet connection is faster, since all the kids at RVA should be sound asleep. I am praying that I won't get called in again tonight, so that I can get a little sleep.
I suppose that is all for now. Tomorrow holds another day of OR adventures, and I'm sure I will sleep well tomorrow night. If you don't hear from me tomorrow, you'll know I am catching up on sleep. But I will try to write...
Talk to you again soon! - Jill
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Rainy Sunday
Today the rain started early and continued throughout the day. Just like in the Southeast, they are desperate for rain here. They say the crops are terrible this year because of the lack of rain, and today put a drop in the bucket of the need. But like at home, every drop of rain counts for something, and the Kenyans I saw today were lavishing in the rain.
It turned out to be a lazy Sunday, due mostly to the rain. I did go to church this morning, which was refreshing. I go to the student service, along with about the entire town. It is great to hear the young voices as we worship together. Today there was a little girl standing next to me, she on the chair so she could see, and I, of course, on the ground. We started singing Amazing Grace, and hearing her little voice singing about how she "once was lost, but now ... found" I started crying. It was so sweet to hear the voices of children.
I took a long nap this afternoon, and now I am settling in for another quiet evening. I did make chicken vegetable soup yesterday, and I had some of it for lunch. I finally figured out how I am going to make it here culinarily speaking (is that even a word??). The soup was good, and warmed me up well.
Tomorrow I am going to Nairobi with my attending physician. He has a monthly outreach clinic, like all the docs here. His ministry is to a Somali slum in Nairobi. He invited me to come along, and I quickly accepted the invitation. As part of our trip, we will stop at the Nakumat, which is the Kenyan version of Super Walmart. I have a growing list of things to buy, including a hot water bottle to keep me warm at night. I am looking forward to seeing how people live in this area. Kijabe is fairly isolated. It is a mission hub, so I know it doesn't look like the rest of the country. I know tomorrow will be eye opening, to say the least.
Please continue to pray for me. Today it dawned on me that I will spend 5 more weeks here without my family, and without my friends. I am making some friends here, but you all know it isn't the same. I felt pangs of loneliness today, and my feet felt heavier than usual. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would be my comfort and my companion, and that I would not feel lonely. The thing is, during the week I am so busy and exhausted that I don't get the chance to feel alone. It is only during these weekends where I really get rested enough to feel the alone nature of it all. Please pray that I would be busy enough and/or tired enough not to feel this way, and that when I do, the Lord would be close. And also, pray that some of the families here would remember to invite me over. I don't want to invite myself, but I also don't want to be alone. Pray that someone would feel burdened for me, and would pursue having me over for meals.
OK, well, I guess that is all for now. I am going to head over to my kitchen and work on some creativity...
Drop in again soon-
Jill
It turned out to be a lazy Sunday, due mostly to the rain. I did go to church this morning, which was refreshing. I go to the student service, along with about the entire town. It is great to hear the young voices as we worship together. Today there was a little girl standing next to me, she on the chair so she could see, and I, of course, on the ground. We started singing Amazing Grace, and hearing her little voice singing about how she "once was lost, but now ... found" I started crying. It was so sweet to hear the voices of children.
I took a long nap this afternoon, and now I am settling in for another quiet evening. I did make chicken vegetable soup yesterday, and I had some of it for lunch. I finally figured out how I am going to make it here culinarily speaking (is that even a word??). The soup was good, and warmed me up well.
Tomorrow I am going to Nairobi with my attending physician. He has a monthly outreach clinic, like all the docs here. His ministry is to a Somali slum in Nairobi. He invited me to come along, and I quickly accepted the invitation. As part of our trip, we will stop at the Nakumat, which is the Kenyan version of Super Walmart. I have a growing list of things to buy, including a hot water bottle to keep me warm at night. I am looking forward to seeing how people live in this area. Kijabe is fairly isolated. It is a mission hub, so I know it doesn't look like the rest of the country. I know tomorrow will be eye opening, to say the least.
Please continue to pray for me. Today it dawned on me that I will spend 5 more weeks here without my family, and without my friends. I am making some friends here, but you all know it isn't the same. I felt pangs of loneliness today, and my feet felt heavier than usual. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would be my comfort and my companion, and that I would not feel lonely. The thing is, during the week I am so busy and exhausted that I don't get the chance to feel alone. It is only during these weekends where I really get rested enough to feel the alone nature of it all. Please pray that I would be busy enough and/or tired enough not to feel this way, and that when I do, the Lord would be close. And also, pray that some of the families here would remember to invite me over. I don't want to invite myself, but I also don't want to be alone. Pray that someone would feel burdened for me, and would pursue having me over for meals.
OK, well, I guess that is all for now. I am going to head over to my kitchen and work on some creativity...
Drop in again soon-
Jill
Saturday, June 14, 2008
A great Saturday
Today was another great day. There were athletic tournaments going on at RVA, which is located in the same area as Kijabe. RVA is Rift Valley Academy, a world-famous boarding school for missionary kids. Today there was a rugby tournament, as well as a volleyball tournament. I went up there around noon and stayed until about 6PM. It was so much fun. There were kids all around, and all the families were there, too. I got to spend some time with some of the different families (parents, mostly), which was great.
The weather is cooling down a bit more, to the point that I have thought of starting a fire in my fire place here in my little house. I've never set one before, so I am a bit afraid of trying. But if it gets cold enough, my bravery might just increase.
Anyway, I am thawing chicken to make a big pot of chicken soup, to eat throughout the week and to warm up my house. Maybe I'll learn to bake some things too. I've heard using an oven helps warm up the house. Hard to believe I am scheming ways to warm up my house, given how COLD it is in the USA right now.
As I go, I just wanted to mention that I got wind of the death of Tim Russert, and I just wanted you all to know that I, too, will miss him dearly. Meet the Press has become one of my favorite television shows, because Tim was not afraid to ask the hard questions. It wasn't a cushy show, and I liked that. I am sad at his passing.
OK, I think that is all for now. Thanks for checking in on me!
Jill
The weather is cooling down a bit more, to the point that I have thought of starting a fire in my fire place here in my little house. I've never set one before, so I am a bit afraid of trying. But if it gets cold enough, my bravery might just increase.
Anyway, I am thawing chicken to make a big pot of chicken soup, to eat throughout the week and to warm up my house. Maybe I'll learn to bake some things too. I've heard using an oven helps warm up the house. Hard to believe I am scheming ways to warm up my house, given how COLD it is in the USA right now.
As I go, I just wanted to mention that I got wind of the death of Tim Russert, and I just wanted you all to know that I, too, will miss him dearly. Meet the Press has become one of my favorite television shows, because Tim was not afraid to ask the hard questions. It wasn't a cushy show, and I liked that. I am sad at his passing.
OK, I think that is all for now. Thanks for checking in on me!
Jill
Friday, June 13, 2008
Friday!!!
Well, today was another great day. We operated on several patients, including several OGD's, which is the British way of saying EGD. It is an endoscope that looks at your esophagus, stomach, and the first part of your small intestine. We looked into several guts today, most of which had inoperable esophageal cancer. The surgeon I work with inserts stents into these patients, in order to help them swallow until they die of the cancer. It is a very nice work he does, making these people able to enjoy the end of their lives. Though sadly, one we did was on a 47 year old woman...
After work this afternoon, I marched up to the stores, where I bought some fresh veggies and some staple foods from the super-duka, which is their version of a supermarket. It is more like a glorified convenience store, but it works well for what I need.
I decided to do some cooking tonight, since I have the night off. I am making fried rice, a hamburger, and a huge pot of chicken soup, full of veggies. The fried rice is cooking right now, which is filling my little house with a great smell.
Oh, one thing I forgot to tell you, I have a mysterious cleaning lady who has come by just about every day to clean my house. If I leave dishes from breakfast, they are cleaned and put away by the time I get home. Today, she did my laundry. Dunno who she is, but I am so grateful for her!!!
Anyway, I suppose that is all for now. I am planning on eating dinner and watching one of the two movies I brought from the USA. Tomorrow there are events at Rift Valley Academy, which I will likely attend, to avoid sitting home alone. There is a rugby tournament, which I can watch with some families from Kijabe.
Have a great Friday! Drop in again soon-
Jill
After work this afternoon, I marched up to the stores, where I bought some fresh veggies and some staple foods from the super-duka, which is their version of a supermarket. It is more like a glorified convenience store, but it works well for what I need.
I decided to do some cooking tonight, since I have the night off. I am making fried rice, a hamburger, and a huge pot of chicken soup, full of veggies. The fried rice is cooking right now, which is filling my little house with a great smell.
Oh, one thing I forgot to tell you, I have a mysterious cleaning lady who has come by just about every day to clean my house. If I leave dishes from breakfast, they are cleaned and put away by the time I get home. Today, she did my laundry. Dunno who she is, but I am so grateful for her!!!
Anyway, I suppose that is all for now. I am planning on eating dinner and watching one of the two movies I brought from the USA. Tomorrow there are events at Rift Valley Academy, which I will likely attend, to avoid sitting home alone. There is a rugby tournament, which I can watch with some families from Kijabe.
Have a great Friday! Drop in again soon-
Jill
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Another great day
Well, today was a GREAT day. As you prayed, I slept like a rock last night for 11 hours straight, which is a minor miracle in itself. I woke up this morning with no back pain, no leg pain, no foot pain. No pain at all. Something about this mountain air is wonderful for me.
We were in clinic today, and I got to see some pretty amazing stuff. The pathology reminds me a lot of Grady, where people come in after years of neglected disease. Diabetes is all over the place here, so we see our share of those kinds of complications. And lots of prostates. I felt like a urologist today by all the prostate disease I saw.
I am home early enough tonight, which is nice. I am making pasta for dinner tonight. I still haven't quite figured out the cooking thing, though I do have some ideas. Unfortunately, there are fewer cans of food here than in Atlanta, so I am going to be forced to learn how to cook fresh foods into something edible. Which will be a great life skill to learn...
Well, I suppose that is all for now. I am so happy to be here. I am enjoying keeping up with you all from this blog. If there is something you want to share with me personally, you can e-mail me at the.jill.bray@gmail.com. I check that daily as well, so if you want to write, I check both daily.
OK, well off to check on those noodles. I have gas to cook with here, which is much faster than electric cooking.
Thanks again for checking in...
Jill
We were in clinic today, and I got to see some pretty amazing stuff. The pathology reminds me a lot of Grady, where people come in after years of neglected disease. Diabetes is all over the place here, so we see our share of those kinds of complications. And lots of prostates. I felt like a urologist today by all the prostate disease I saw.
I am home early enough tonight, which is nice. I am making pasta for dinner tonight. I still haven't quite figured out the cooking thing, though I do have some ideas. Unfortunately, there are fewer cans of food here than in Atlanta, so I am going to be forced to learn how to cook fresh foods into something edible. Which will be a great life skill to learn...
Well, I suppose that is all for now. I am so happy to be here. I am enjoying keeping up with you all from this blog. If there is something you want to share with me personally, you can e-mail me at the.jill.bray@gmail.com. I check that daily as well, so if you want to write, I check both daily.
OK, well off to check on those noodles. I have gas to cook with here, which is much faster than electric cooking.
Thanks again for checking in...
Jill
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Short update
Sorry kids, but tonight's update is going to be very short and abbreviated. I was on call last night for the first time in a year, and my body is exhausted. I only slept 1 1/2 hours last night, interrupted by being called to the hospital for various things. Normally post-call you have to leave by 1PM, but Kenya knows no such 80 hours work principles. So I worked until 6:30PM tonight, again in the theater for the whole day. I have to tell you, I am beat.
We did see some cool cases today, including a Whipple (for those who know and/or care). Yeah, even in Kijabe we can do Whipple's. Pretty amazing. And then I saw something that I have never seen before and never care to see again. I'll spare you the details, but for those who know, it was an abdominal necrotizing fasciitis that we had to debride. I must have said it five times during the operation - I can't believe this guy is still alive. Those images are etched in my mind forever.
Anyway, despite my negative (but honest) tone tonight, I am still thrilled to be here, still ecstatic about being back in an OR, and words can't describe what it sounded like to hear my attending tell us that rounds would start at 8AM tomorrow morning! Do you know what that means??? SLEEP... endless hours of SLEEP. Do you know what surgery residents would do for 8AM rounds???
OK, I am done for the night. Please pray for me, that I would find the rest my body needs, and that I would quickly re-adapt to the rigors of general surgery. I think I got mighty out of shape during my MPH year. Now's the time to work out all those standing and retracting muscles again...
Thanks for checking in... Maybe tomorrow I will have more gusto to write.
-Jill
We did see some cool cases today, including a Whipple (for those who know and/or care). Yeah, even in Kijabe we can do Whipple's. Pretty amazing. And then I saw something that I have never seen before and never care to see again. I'll spare you the details, but for those who know, it was an abdominal necrotizing fasciitis that we had to debride. I must have said it five times during the operation - I can't believe this guy is still alive. Those images are etched in my mind forever.
Anyway, despite my negative (but honest) tone tonight, I am still thrilled to be here, still ecstatic about being back in an OR, and words can't describe what it sounded like to hear my attending tell us that rounds would start at 8AM tomorrow morning! Do you know what that means??? SLEEP... endless hours of SLEEP. Do you know what surgery residents would do for 8AM rounds???
OK, I am done for the night. Please pray for me, that I would find the rest my body needs, and that I would quickly re-adapt to the rigors of general surgery. I think I got mighty out of shape during my MPH year. Now's the time to work out all those standing and retracting muscles again...
Thanks for checking in... Maybe tomorrow I will have more gusto to write.
-Jill
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Day one back in the OR
So today was my first day back in the OR - it was like being back around an old friend. A little awkwardness as I remembered all the ceremony of scrubbing and donning the gown and gloves. But after a little while the retractor and I were like best buds, no time lost.
Anyway, my team (and I, I suppose) did an esophagectomy (which is where we take out a cancerous esophagus and replace it with stomach. 5 1/2 hours. And I'll admit it, I had to scrub out for about half an hour of it. The thing was, there was a heater right behind me, and I am hot-blooded to begin with, and this heater just tipped me over the edge. I was sweating and getting nauseous, etc. But then they turned the heater off, and I was fine again.
The second operation was a stent placement for a different kind of esophageal cancer. It was quick and then I got my granola bar lunch break.
After that we settled into our final operation - a young man had been stabbed during a "social disagreement," and the knife had punctured his right kidney. That happened a month ago, and the guy was not so slowly bleeding to death. Today we operated to remove his kidney and the biggest hematoma that I ever saw!
Anyway, tonight I am on call, so if you are the praying type, please pray that NO ONE comes into Casualty (the ER), and that NO ONE dies or codes. Pray that it is the slowest night Kijabe has seen in ages. I really need the rest!
And if you can't tell, I am having an AMAZING time. Today I realized that I do love the OR, and that I am happy about my decision to be a surgeon. It is like I was born to do this task. And maybe I will end up in Kijabe. But I do have to learn Swahili if that is in my future. It is so frustrating waiting for interpreters! Grady-graduates know what I'm talking about!!!
OK, I suppose that is all for now. I am going to take a shower and then settle in with a book for a while, as I continue to pray for the health and silence of Kijabe tonight.
Thanks for checking in and for praying for me. I know that your prayers are being heard, and God's grace is holding me together.
Drop in again soon for another installment of Jill's wild life...
Anyway, my team (and I, I suppose) did an esophagectomy (which is where we take out a cancerous esophagus and replace it with stomach. 5 1/2 hours. And I'll admit it, I had to scrub out for about half an hour of it. The thing was, there was a heater right behind me, and I am hot-blooded to begin with, and this heater just tipped me over the edge. I was sweating and getting nauseous, etc. But then they turned the heater off, and I was fine again.
The second operation was a stent placement for a different kind of esophageal cancer. It was quick and then I got my granola bar lunch break.
After that we settled into our final operation - a young man had been stabbed during a "social disagreement," and the knife had punctured his right kidney. That happened a month ago, and the guy was not so slowly bleeding to death. Today we operated to remove his kidney and the biggest hematoma that I ever saw!
Anyway, tonight I am on call, so if you are the praying type, please pray that NO ONE comes into Casualty (the ER), and that NO ONE dies or codes. Pray that it is the slowest night Kijabe has seen in ages. I really need the rest!
And if you can't tell, I am having an AMAZING time. Today I realized that I do love the OR, and that I am happy about my decision to be a surgeon. It is like I was born to do this task. And maybe I will end up in Kijabe. But I do have to learn Swahili if that is in my future. It is so frustrating waiting for interpreters! Grady-graduates know what I'm talking about!!!
OK, I suppose that is all for now. I am going to take a shower and then settle in with a book for a while, as I continue to pray for the health and silence of Kijabe tonight.
Thanks for checking in and for praying for me. I know that your prayers are being heard, and God's grace is holding me together.
Drop in again soon for another installment of Jill's wild life...
Monday, June 9, 2008
Finally!!!
Well, sorry for the delay, but it took a few days to get an internet connection. Glad to be back in the land of those online...
Kijabe is WONDERFUL! I am thrilled to be here. Today was my first day working at the hospital, and I was in clinic all day. For those who know me in the medical capacity, I think it might have been God giggling as I was confronted with one of my least favorite things - clinic. Anyway, tomorrow I will be in the theatre (in USA - the OR). We have a full schedule of operations, which will thrill me! Oh, and I am on call tomorrow night, which will surely be an adventure.
My living accomodations are great. I have a little house all to myself, which is wonderful, since I am used to being alone, after living alone for so long. The only strange thing is how QUIET it is here at night. One of my faucets leaks, and the drip echoes through the entire place.
My neighbors are all awesome, and I am happy to be here. I live less than a stone's throw from the hospital, near all the rest of the medical staff (and their families).
The weather is great, cool and even a little cold at night. My house stays at 68 degrees, which is more than I can say for my Atlanta apartment.
Well, I guess that is all for now. Thanks for checking in on me, and now that I have a reliable internet connection, you will probably be hearing from me more regularly.
Drop in again soon!
Jill
Kijabe is WONDERFUL! I am thrilled to be here. Today was my first day working at the hospital, and I was in clinic all day. For those who know me in the medical capacity, I think it might have been God giggling as I was confronted with one of my least favorite things - clinic. Anyway, tomorrow I will be in the theatre (in USA - the OR). We have a full schedule of operations, which will thrill me! Oh, and I am on call tomorrow night, which will surely be an adventure.
My living accomodations are great. I have a little house all to myself, which is wonderful, since I am used to being alone, after living alone for so long. The only strange thing is how QUIET it is here at night. One of my faucets leaks, and the drip echoes through the entire place.
My neighbors are all awesome, and I am happy to be here. I live less than a stone's throw from the hospital, near all the rest of the medical staff (and their families).
The weather is great, cool and even a little cold at night. My house stays at 68 degrees, which is more than I can say for my Atlanta apartment.
Well, I guess that is all for now. Thanks for checking in on me, and now that I have a reliable internet connection, you will probably be hearing from me more regularly.
Drop in again soon!
Jill
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Here in Kenya
Well, I made it. The flights were long but not bad. I slept through most of the trip to London, and actually most of the way to Kenya. All of my luggage arrived just perfectly, and we all made it through customs without a hitch. As soon as I said I was going to Kijabe, the customs lady got a huge smile on her face and said she was from right near there. Then she told me to have a nice time.
I am here now in the lodge where I will stay for the night, and then I am leaving tomorrow afternoon for Kijabe. I am very excited, though tired enough that I think I will sleep very well tonight.
The weather here in Nairobi is perfect. Cool and breezy. Like West Palm in the winter.
OK, that's all for now. All I want is a shower, but they are off limits until the morning. Oh well, at least I'm only staying here one night.
Thanks for checking in... Jill
I am here now in the lodge where I will stay for the night, and then I am leaving tomorrow afternoon for Kijabe. I am very excited, though tired enough that I think I will sleep very well tonight.
The weather here in Nairobi is perfect. Cool and breezy. Like West Palm in the winter.
OK, that's all for now. All I want is a shower, but they are off limits until the morning. Oh well, at least I'm only staying here one night.
Thanks for checking in... Jill
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Today is the day!
Well, today I leave the comforts of America for the adventure of Africa. It will be a long day of traveling. We start the morning in prayer, and then leave for the airport early in the afternoon. KIf all goes according to plan, my plane leaves at 6:30PM.
God has blessed me with two new friends who will be joining me on this flight into Nairobi. One is a girl from Johns Hopkins, who is also doing a med student rotation, though at a different hospital than me. The other is a guy who just graduated from Liberty and is a pilot. He'll be working with AIM AIR, which is AIM's own airline.
Anyway, if you are the praying type, please pray for me today. I am looking forward to touching down in Nairobi, but not so much the time between now and then. Pray that I will have patience and get lots of sleep in the plane.
Thanks for keeping up with me. Please know that you can leave a comment for me, and that I can check them and then publish them to the rest of the group. If you do leave a comment, please post your name, so I can know who writes!
Thanks again, and I will write when I get the chance. Maybe from London...
Jill
God has blessed me with two new friends who will be joining me on this flight into Nairobi. One is a girl from Johns Hopkins, who is also doing a med student rotation, though at a different hospital than me. The other is a guy who just graduated from Liberty and is a pilot. He'll be working with AIM AIR, which is AIM's own airline.
Anyway, if you are the praying type, please pray for me today. I am looking forward to touching down in Nairobi, but not so much the time between now and then. Pray that I will have patience and get lots of sleep in the plane.
Thanks for keeping up with me. Please know that you can leave a comment for me, and that I can check them and then publish them to the rest of the group. If you do leave a comment, please post your name, so I can know who writes!
Thanks again, and I will write when I get the chance. Maybe from London...
Jill
Monday, June 2, 2008
Here in Pearl River
I left West Palm this morning, and now I am in Pearl River for my orientation. This is going to last until Wednesday, and then I will be off to Kenya.
The facilities are nice here, I will stay in my own room and have internet access, which is nice.
Looks like it will be a fun time of orienting to AIM and expectations for my trip.
Thanks for checking in...
The facilities are nice here, I will stay in my own room and have internet access, which is nice.
Looks like it will be a fun time of orienting to AIM and expectations for my trip.
Thanks for checking in...
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