I did get my first stomach gurgle today so I started popping Cipro- bleck. Luckily my stomach was well enough by lunch to enjoy more fantastic mango- seriously the BEST I have ever had. While the typical fare is chicken, fish, and rice the fruit here is amazing- the plantains, mango, papaya, and pineapple are all the best I have ever had- sweet and juicy and actually picked RIPE (unlike here in the US). If I could, that is all I’d eat here! Unfortunately, the culture dictates that you have to take what is offered to you… and seeing that they cook sooo many dishes for us (typically 3 meat dishes a meal in addition to the rice, bread, etc…) I’m going to come home weighing more!
Today we operated on a 7 year old girl who had a giant lipoma (a benign tumor composed of fatty tissue) on her side. It was HUGE; about the size of a tennis ball. This is remarkable as most lipomas seen in t
he US are smaller (usually under 1cm and seen in adults) but as we have seen with the majority of patients, the progression of disease is so much greater here as they are unable to afford or even get to a location where they can be treated. It is so sad to see some of these patients- many of whom may not make it, where in the US; they would have a 90%+ chance of recovery.
he US are smaller (usually under 1cm and seen in adults) but as we have seen with the majority of patients, the progression of disease is so much greater here as they are unable to afford or even get to a location where they can be treated. It is so sad to see some of these patients- many of whom may not make it, where in the US; they would have a 90%+ chance of recovery. 
One such example is of a little girl whom we evaluated and sent on to Korle Bu. Her entire right left was swollen and she had lesions popping to the surface which typically indicates metastatic status. We suspected bone cancer and IF it is not metastatic, and they amputate her entire leg, she might have a chance of 
survival. We did not do this case as it was too advanced for the facilities at Daboase. We also operated on the child who had the cleft lip- which we were relieved to see that it was indeed only the lip so we were able to proceed with the surgery. We actually were so efficient that we ran out of sheets- like Korle Bu they air dry them and the ones they washed for us were still wet!! Well, at least that gave us a little break so we could grab a quick lunch (feast really) made by our wonderful hosts.
I was talking with Enusu, a 16 year old boy who worked at the hospital as well as some other locals and found out that my African name is Efiah (pronounced ih-FEE-ah) which means I was born on a Friday. The male version of the word is Kofi- which is why Kofi Annan was given that name- he too was born on a Friday- pretty cool. I like my African name, it is really pretty and the fact that they want to call me that is a sign of endearment and makes me smile.
survival. We did not do this case as it was too advanced for the facilities at Daboase. We also operated on the child who had the cleft lip- which we were relieved to see that it was indeed only the lip so we were able to proceed with the surgery. We actually were so efficient that we ran out of sheets- like Korle Bu they air dry them and the ones they washed for us were still wet!! Well, at least that gave us a little break so we could grab a quick lunch (feast really) made by our wonderful hosts.I was talking with Enusu, a 16 year old boy who worked at the hospital as well as some other locals and found out that my African name is Efiah (pronounced ih-FEE-ah) which means I was born on a Friday. The male version of the word is Kofi- which is why Kofi Annan was given that name- he too was born on a Friday- pretty cool. I like my African name, it is really pretty and the fact that they want to call me that is a sign of endearment and makes me smile.
Today was an exciting day all around- scrubbing in on so many interesting cases and making a real connection with some of the locals.
No comments:
Post a Comment