A 30-something, 6-month pregnant lady came to clinic the other day with a complaint of having a rash on her abdomen. When she lifted her shirt, I saw three medium sized papillomas in a curved line on the right side of her pregnant belly. They appeared to be in 3 different stages of development, 2 […]
Umbilical Hernias
In Africa, many of the young children are running around with umbilical hernias (small defects in the abdominal wall at the belly button – AKA a big “outie”). Some protrude only a centimeter while others are considerably larger. Last week in clinic, Dr. Fort called Jessica and me into his examination room to examine an […]
The Medicine Man
Yesterday when I was climbing the mountain I came into contact with some sort of toxic plant. Today my arm has broken out with a hideous, raised, red rash. It itches like mad and doesn’t look very attractive either. Being market day, I headed into town and went by the medicine man’s booth. I showed […]
Pray for Heidi and a newborn
Today was Heidi’s first day on call. With Dr. Faile being gone, Dr. Hewitt has been on call for almost 5 days straight. He needed a break and Heidi was the only one available. It was a really rough day for her too because four patients died. Please pray for her as she deals with […]
Surgery in Nalerigu
Emergency surgeries happen at any time during the week, but as I mentioned previously, Tuesdays and Thursdays are the main OR days for elective surgeries. My first day in the OR was quite interesting. When I went to the sinks to scrub, I looked all around for scrub brushes like I am used to. Then, […]
The Theater
At the BMC, the theater is the location of the 2 operating rooms and the 2 minor procedure rooms. Tuesdays and Thursdays are surgery days. On Tuesday I saw 5 hernia surgeries, scrubbed in for 3. To see so many hernias in one day is not uncommon on a general surgery rotation in the States. […]