off the wards

It's hard to believe my first week is almost over... time really does fly. Work up on the wards has taken on the familiar feel again, and what accompanies that is not always joyful. We've had a few deaths in the last two days, including both a beautiful full term baby whose mother had terrible chorioamniotis and a tiny preterm girl who had necrotizing enterocolitis. I'm continually amazed by the faith of some of the people I encounter here. The mother of the tiny baby returned to the nursery yesterday to say goodbye to some of the other mothers whom she'd befriended, and when I told her how sorry I was that her baby had died, she responded,"I loved her, but God loves her even more." What a powerful comfort...

I've been relishing my free evenings this week outside the hospital. On Tuesday, I went to dinner with some of the Bemms at John and Krista Fitzwater's house; John is on leave from his surgical residency program for an MPH and has been doing research (and working!) here since March. For all who know, they're living at the Chupps' house. That homes are often occupied by different families each time I come is one of the more interesting things about visiting here repeatedly. At any rate, we had a delicious regular old American meal: cheeseburgers, potato salad, baked beans, chips, salsa, and strawberry shortcake. I was stuffed silly by the time I followed Amy back home, where I (re?)learned to play Dutch Blitz before we watched a movie. (nb: I no longer fall victim to the common misconception that one will lose weight at Tenwek simply because one is in Africa.)

On Wednesday, I finally found Agneta at home and spent some time catching up with her before Bible study. Agneta, for those of you who don't know her, has been at Tenwek now since 2005, when she did her internship here. She subsequently spent two years as a medical officer here, working primarily in pediatrics, before starting a surgical residency in January. She is absolutely one of the smartest and most gifted people I know, and really has an unbelievable heart for the patients here. She's come to be a dear friend here as well as an example of selflessness and being totally committed to God's call. This is an old (Jan '08) picture of her with one of our favorite surgical patients...

I've been trying to do a little better with sleep the last few nights in order to gear up for the weekend. I'm on call three nights in a row, which has the potential to be tiring, but in some ways the weekend can be relaxing, too... it's often just me seeing the patients, and it allows me to take the time that I want without interruptions. And there's something about being in the nursery early in the morning that's very soothing... unless, of course, there's a baby not doing well. :) But I look forward to telling you about it.

It's time for me to head up to morning report - Debby Mutai, a former CO intern here, who has been serving as a missionary to Sudan, is going to be giving an update on her work there, and I don't want to miss it. Morning report, which is usually a lecture from one of the specialties or grand rounds by one of the interns, is a good educational start to each morning. Yesterday, Rose gave her grand rounds on otitis media, and at the end, we were entertained - and educated - by a live demonstration of the best way to position a fussy child for the ear exam (see below).

More to come later...