Jessica’s Blog

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

We rounded on the inpatients this morning as usual.  The child with chronic lung disease was still there with a persistent cough and my infant with abscesses had another small abscess.  I discharged the rest.  We met at the procedure room to see what minor procedures needed to be done.  I removed a lipoma from a man’s back and sutured it.  I’m on call again today, so I walked through the wards before heading home for lunch.

We ate together as a group and I started packing.  My purchases just barely fit in my suitcase and I plan to leave most of my clothing here.  I rounded again at 2:30.  There were a few admissions, but nothing crazy.  I asked Dr. Dickens to cover for me for an hour and I joined the group of volunteers on a trip to meet the king of Nalerigu.

We drove in the back of the pickup to the entrance to the market where the king’s palace is located.  We waited outside for a while, playing with the group of children who gathered.  An official met us and Terry gave him the bag of nuts that they had bought at the market today for a gift at Dr. Hewitt’s recommendation.  He took us into the palace and many of the children followed us, likely the king’s grandchildren.  He asked us to remove our shoes and we entered a large, square room made of brick, not dirt.  There were large leather seats around the edges of the room and a platform in the front of the room.  An older man in a solid light blue jacket sat in the middle.  It took me a while to realize that he was the king.  A younger man spoke for him, asked us to sit, and told us to clap.  We did as he asked.  He asked Terry what was our mission for coming.  Terry told them that we wanted to greet him, bring him a gift, and learn more about Nalerigu.  The man said that we should have read books about Nalerigu before coming.  He asked if we take the beans/nuts that we brought as a gift.  (They are coco or cola beans and have some sort of effect on the body.)  Terry said he had never tried them and the man told him that we will keep it that way.  He went on to say that eating the nuts together is a sign of agreement, then changed the subject.  The king began to talk and his spokesman translated for us.  He said that the BMC has been very helpful for his people, that people who die do not die because a doctor is not there but because it is their turn to die, and that we should speak highly of Nalerigu when we return home so that others will come to work at the hospital.  He also wanted us to aid in the education the Ghanaian nurses and medical assistants who want to become doctors so they will be able to return and serve their own people.  Terry was the only one to speak at this point, and the spokesman told us that we could not take pictures until others had had a chance to share their ideas.  It sounded as if the king wanted advice, but none of us were ready to offer him any after being in town only one month.  We assured him that we would speak well of Nalerigu and he seemed pleased.  He allowed us to each come up on his stage one at a time and have our picture taken with him, then we all stood together for a group shot.  We were about to say good bye and leave when the spokes man told us to all sit back down for a while.  We did as we were told and he returned with two guinea hens.  He told us that it was not a good time (meaning supper was not ready) so he sent the hens home with us instead.  The children swarmed us again and we took pictures and gave high fives, which they seemed to love.  One of the men who might be an elder returned to our house with us in the truck, carrying the hens.  Chinny met him and squatted and clapped, which we found out was the proper way of greeting royalty.  He was wearing his usual scrubs and surgical eye protection as if they were sun glasses.  Chinny knew the man from church and was very excited about the hens.  He took them immediately to the backyard and Bowa, the cook, brought him a large knife.  He butchered them on the spot while we had sweet tea with the elder.  Two of the guys drove the elder home and we talked about the crazy experience for the rest of the evening.  Bowa had already prepared supper, so the hens will wait for tomorrow.  The elder told Terry that he would like to come to our house again tomorrow.

We met at the Wichita house after supper to exchange photos.  Caleb showed up on the door step with his guitar.  We gathered the volunteers and had another jam session.  My drum was packed already, but someone else brought one and Caleb played some fabulous rhythms along with songs he had never heard before.  Dr. Dickens and Greg joined us and Rachel and Lisa made brownies with ice cream.  It was another lovely evening.

Suzanna and Zion joined me on evening rounds.  We saw a newborn with asphyxia who had seizures earlier in the evening.  The man with tetanus had died.  A man with sickle cell crisis was still in pain, so we gave him more Demerol.  Labs were back on others and about a third of the BFs for malaria were positive.  A child with malaria and anemia was now having wheezing and chest pain, a NEB treatment did not help, so we gave Lasix and started Amoxicillin.

We made it to the school house by midnight to blog.  Tomorrow will be a clinic day and our last day at the BMC.  I will probably not have time to blog tomorrow, but will put something up when we arrive back in the States.  I am already looking forward to returning to the BMC.