Poor Internet Connection, Delayed Posting

Hello everyone,
Sorry we haven’t had a blog post in a few days. It has been quite busy here, and for the past 48 hours, we have had some trouble with our internet connection, and unfortunately have not been able to post some of our recent stories.

Jeremy and I have now survived our first night on call. He had a lady who needed a c-section during his night-time rounds, but otherwise had an uneventful night. Last night, when I was on call, I had a patient with a snake bite admitted during night rounds, and then around 3AM the nursing staff came to get me to evaluate a woman who was in labor. Obviously, I am not the most qualified physician to evaluate obstetrics patients, but I knew enough to check her out and make the decision she too would need a repeat c-section, so return and called on the OB/Gyn here to handle the patient’s care from that point forward. Her c-section went well and she and the baby are doing fine.

Outpatient clinic has also been very busy. On Wednesday it was not as busy as usual which was credited to the rain on Tuesday night, as most people were likely out working on their crops. Friday, however was much busier, probably because there has been no rain since Tuesday, so the people did not have to tend to their crops. Jeremy and I together, with 1 translator, and sharing an office, saw just under 100 patients total for the day from 9:30AM to 4:30PM. We were very busy, but we are also getting better at understanding more of the local illnesses. We did have some complicated cases as well. Jeremy diagnosed an elderly lady with HIV, had a case of Leishmaniasis, and a young man with a tooth abscess so bad it had formed a tract and was draining pus from what looked like an enormous pimple on the outside of his cheek. I had a child with nephritic syndrome (puffy face, losing blood and protein in the urine) following a recent bout of malaria, a young man with severe abdominal pain, that was likely bad constipation, and a young girl with leg pain, who I think has osteomyelitis, so I started treatment, although I don’t have any means to further evaluate her here to confirm my diagnosis. Hopefully she will get better with the antibiotic treatment.
We also continue to do many procedures. Many patients receive paracentesis for drainage of extra fluid in the abdomen here. We do several per day. We have also performed spinal taps, attempted to remove foreign bodies from a child’s ear (unsuccessfully), set fractures and place casts, I &D many abscesses, debride various wounds, D & C, ultrasound, lipoma excision, and several more that I am forgetting as I type.

Outside of the hospital we have also had some great interactions with people here. Tonight, for example will be a special dinner for Dr. Hewitt and his family as they are about to leave for a year furlough. They have served here for about 20 years and will be going home to the US for a year off beginning next week. On Thursday night, we had station meeting, which is a time when all the missionary staff and volunteers meet for a time of worship and sharing. It was truly a blessing to meet some of the others and their families here and see some of the great work they are doing. Jeremy has gone into town with some of the other volunteers while I was on call yesterday. There is market every 3 days, which hopefully I will get to experience tomorrow. I am thinking I may find some African fabric and have one of the local seamstresses make a shirt for me. Many people here have them and they are very nice and appear to help keep you cool on the hot days as well. Interactions with the local people are also very good. The Ghanaians are all exceptionally friendly, welcoming, and thankful for our willingness to come here and help them. Greetings are a very important part of their culture. We are trying to learn some of their greetings in the local dialect here, but they all understand good morning, hello, etc easily, too, so it is relatively easy to engage them.

I feel like there is so much to write, but looking at how much I have already written thus far, I think I may stop here. Please keep Jeremy, the other volunteers, and me in your prayers as we continue our work here. Jeremy and I both have patients at the hospital tonight we are concerned for, who we are not sure the cause of their current illnesses, and who need many prayers to help with healing, because we are quickly running out of medical options in our limited setting here.

I hope everyone is doing well, and appreciate all your comments, emails, and prayers. We will post again soon.

Love,
Steve