A new day

It’s as if yesterday was a dream. I have pushed the past events to the back of my mind and it is a constant battle to keep them there. But I must move on, I must overcome those voices that disturb my thoughts. I owe my patients a focused mind, not controlled by emotions. And that is what I did today.

My rotation shifted to the male ward, where I have many friends. Jeremiya and Odakis are two little boys who have been in traction since we arrived here in Chimala. Ezekiel is the little boy with burns who has been here for a little over a week. We have had time to build relationships and get to know these children.  Jeremiya and Odakis crack a smile everytime we wazungu (white people) walk into the room. They know that we will come over and give them attention and make them feel loved, whether it be cutting out snowflakes from paper and hanging them all over their corner of the ward, or playing ball and bouncing it back and forth, drawing, bubbles, balloons, wall crawlers, and today… pop rocks. I pulled them out of my pocket and they just stared at the package. I ripped open the top and put some in my mouth to show them. I think they understood, but I believe they had some once before with another person on the team. They reached out their hands and took some, placed it in their mouths and smiles lit up their faces. The little boy Ezekiel was next to Odakis and we have yet to get him to smile. I walked over to him and showed him what the candy (pepe) was, and he reached out his hand. He is the one with the worst burns I have ever seen, and he MOVED HIS ARM! That was a first. He could not angle his arm properly so I just placed some candy in his mouth. He did not smile but I know that he loved it, because he kept sticking his tongue out for more and after the package was empty we gave it to him and he was sucking on it.

The day was very busy. As soon as I arrived on shift, a man was dragged into the hospital by two other men. He was breathing heavily and unable to do anything. I got his IV started immediately and took his vital signs. His blood pressure was 260/130. I have NEVER heard a blood pressure so high. I retook it just to double check and sure enough it was accurate. The doctors came in and did an assessment, and I followed by giving the ordered medications, IV rocephin 1g and 500mg of azithromycin PO. I had to go to the pharmacy to get the meds, and then come back and reconstitute the rocephin. I love having the trust and responsibility to do nursing duties without supervision. I actually feel like a real nurse these days.

As the morning progressed and things slowed down, I got the opportunity to go to RCH and do venipuncture for prenatal checkups. The pregnant women sat in a line holding their labeled blood vials. I had all of my supplies on a little stand, and Kellum and I took turns with blood draws. There were only 8 patients, but all went well. After we collected all of the blood we took the samples behind the curtain and tested them for HIV and syphyllis. As I sat there staring at the tests waiting for the results, my mind was performing a blocking mechanism. I was staring at these strips, knowing that the results were not just strips, they were people. The odds of positive HIV testing was very likely, and I was preparing myself for the amount of positive results I was about to see. Typically, over half of the ward is normally HIV positive. But, after the allotted time, all of the tests were negative. NEGATIVE!! I was so excited! 100% of these women were free from HIV. What a blessing from God.

After lunch, we had another new admission. I had just missed the opportunity to drop an NG tube and place a foley, but the nurse said he still needed an IV, so I jumped right on top of that. Steven was finishing up his physical assessment and had me feel his abdomen. As soon as I pressed down, he tensed up, which is called guarding. Guarding is a natural defense mechanism. This man had an obstruction. We quickly wheeled  him to surgery, and I got the opportunity to scrub in. I stood right over the body as I observed the surgery. He was opened up, and his intestines started flowing out. There was one that jet black, and ten inches wide. Dr. Mahangy said, “Well that doesn’t look good.” I was thoroughly shocked at the site of this intestine. We discovered that it was his descending bowel, and Dr. Mahangy observed the site and made sure there were no perforations, and then Steven and him squeezed the bowel and dislodged the occlusion, which resulted in flatus from the patient… and lots of it. The smell in the operating room was horrible… worst smell I have ever had reached my nostrils. Even worse than having amniotic fluid fly in your nose. Erin said jamba (which means gas) and everyone laughed. After all the air and contents had passed, the doctors clamped off the intestine that was dead and cut it out. Dr Mahangy said, “Here girls, this is a gift for you to have as dinner tonight.” We just stared at him and were like, uh thanks but no. Lol. He was just kidding, but ew! That would be gross!! Lol. Then they connected to the two parts of the bowel together and began to close him up. Once they got to the last layer of skin Dr. Mahangy handed me the pickups and needle holder and said okay, you finish him up. I got to stitch this man’s abdomen back together. J I really do love being able to assist in surgery, because this is something that I would never be “qualified” to do in America. Who knows, maybe I will have the opportunity to go back to medical school someday. There is a desire burning within me to continue my education after nursing. Sometimes I wish I had enough time to get a handful of degrees because education is so interesting to me. I always want to learn more. After I stitched him up, we brought him back to male ward. His blood pressure was extremely low, so I started another IV on him to get double the amount of fluids flowing into his body. 

Everything slowed back down, and I visited the other wards before I headed home for the night. I went in to see my little girl, Nazifa, the one with the burns. As soon as I walked into the ward, she smiled. I kinda danced over to her bed, and then sat down. She was drawing and had a bunch of stickers next to her. I took some off and placed them on her dressings, then one on her nose. She giggled, and I put one on my nose. Then I shook my head and removed them and placed them back on her dressing. She’s such a little cutie, and has stolen my heart. I just want to bring her back to America with me and raise her as my own. She appears to be doing better, and I told her that I would see her tomorrow.

Today went well. Continue to keep the team in your prayers. Rehema passed away today, an 18 year old girl. Death is something that we see everyday. The morgue is right outside of the hospital and you can always here the wailing after a death. These are people that we know, people that we spend our time with everyday. We interact with their family and friends, we pray with the patients, and we try to bring a smile to their face while they are suffering. To hear the wailing…. I don’t even have words. I have never been surrounded by so much death.