Friday, November 24, 2017

Renovations







Some of the residences around here are getting a little worn around the edges, so they are making some new ones and renovating some old ones.  There is a lot of hand labour involved, but there are power tools as well.  It would be nice to see some of the finished results, but I won’t be around for that.  Talking to Graham Johnstone the orthopedic surgeon, there was a time when there was not air conditioning in the bedrooms.  Glad I missed that period in Galmi’s history.  As it is, I will have just acclimatized to 38 degree dry dusty days and I will be heading back to 6 degree wet rainy days.




If anyone was really worried, the lady that had the seizures and had to go to caesarean yesterday is Hepatitis C and HIV negative.  HIV testing is routine on admission for all patients to Galmi hospital.  The Hepatitis C testing is common but not universal.  I mentioned this in one of my previous posts, but between 2 and 12 percent of the blood donors could be hepatitis C positive.  The littlest of the premature infants that started life at 714 grams had some apneic (not breathing) spells last night.  That is not a particularly good sign.  Still, it’s amazing that he has got this far.  Statistically speaking, for whatever reason, premature girls are more likely to survive and do well than premature boys.  I am just going to leave that there, no speculation on my part.



Those pictures of me in the OR are courtesy of Susanne Baeuerle the OR trauma nurse from Switzerland  (She's the one on the left above - if it wasn't obvious).  She is actually originally from Germany but now lives in Davos.  It’s pretty hard to take a selfie when you’re working in a sterile field.  Especially when there aren’t any laparoscopes around.  She is just here short term as well and will be leaving a few days after me.  She has been to a number of other places in Africa, but has been to Galmi 3 times, and feels like she is starting to know people here better.  Anyways, photo credits to Susanne for some of yesterday’s pictures.



Psalm 29:11
May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace.

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