Last Day

After over a full week of Pediatrics, with visits to Internal Medicine and ER ocassionally, I feel like I can spot AIDs wasting stage from a mile away...
It's sad that our time is already up here, but I know we'll all be ready to go home and continue learning...

Lauren and I went into the ER on Saturday night to see what it would be like at the end of the month on a weekend. While we only stayed a few hours, we saw a man that had been attacked my bush knives, along with several other violent attacks that I won't share. We left around 10:30, but we talked to the surgeon yesterday and he said he saw about 72 patients that night, most of them assaults with knives. Most everyone injured was also intoxicated. We simply helped to keep the paper work under control by monitoring some patients and taking some histories... and filling out lots of police reports...

Fires are burning throughout the country due to the drought and the big fire up in Pigg's Peak in the north. A few people have already died and many more have been left homeless. The king has already requested food aid for parts of the country.
We hiked up execution rock Sunday and the mountain next to us starting burning up on our descent. I'll be sure to post pictures once I'm home...

A child came into the ER today DOA. He'd been sick for five months and malnurished. The family didn't think to bring him in until it was way past too late. Perhaps there wasn't money for transport...
Children die here every day. While I was waiting to do rounds this morning I read through some of the "expired" folders on the children's ward. The majority of them are due to mirasmus and "Kwash" (various forms of severe malnutrition) along with opportunistic infections from some of the patients being HIV immunocompromised. It's so far past sad here there aren't words for it sometimes.
One of our favorite surgeons was sort of despairing on Saturday night, going off about how there is no hope for this country because of the HIV rate and drinking-related violence. I refuse to believe that.

I visited the ART clinic yesterday, which treats HIV infected patients and monitors their therapy. I sat in on a session in which an HIV infected mother was told that her child was HIV negative due to the preventative antiviral therapy. There were tears in all our eyes, I think, as we all smiled with relief...