Trey and I have been doing well so far while Daddy is away. For the first couple days we were both sick. Trey had a fever and a nasty sounding cough…and I had (of all things to get while in Africa) a nasty cold. I’m not complaining though. With a little extra rest and a little help from Tylenol, I’m feeling much better. For Trey, I finally decided to give him some amoxicillin syrup because the cough and fever kept lingering. After only a dose of the amoxicillin, he sounded better. I think it was just the syrup part and not the antibiotic, but oh well. He’s doing much better.
It seems as though the hospital remains in a constant state of flux when it comes to doctors and volunteers. Dr. Faile returned safely from the States on Wednesday, but on the same day Dr. Hewitt and his family took off for Burkina Faso for a much needed vacation. Another team from Texas arrived this week as well. One doctor who used to be a missionary in Thailand and three family medicine residents.
Today was a surgery & procedure day. With all the new residents here, I did not scrub in, but instead helped Dr. Faile with all the minor procedures. I removed a cyst from a woman’s leg and a giant lipoma (fatty tumor) from another woman’s shoulder (pictures to come later). I helped with a skin graft, an I&D (incision and drainage) of an abscess on a very swollen hand and 2 debridements of infected skin. One was a little girl with a Buruli ulcer (there is another post previously about her) and another 20 year old new mother who came in with the worst case of mastitis (infected breast) I have ever seen.
I continue to see very interesting cases and will post more details when I find the time to write it all out. Until then, enjoy my husband’s amazing photos.