Ruth Chen’s Blog

(07/03/2009 2130 GMT +10) My last post from Kapuna

I drafted this before my previous post, but
didn’t have time to upload it to send it off, so here it is!

So, I’m at the end of my stay at Kapuna. It’s
been an experience here, practicing medicine in
the bush, learning to survive in the bush. I’m
not sure what Kikori is going to be like, but I
hear it’s more modern, with concrete buildings
and floorings. Anyway, I will miss the way of
life here – my morning alarm clock (thanks to the
chicken), starting the fire for a hot meal,
sleeping under my mosquito net watching the
fireflies create some sort of spectacle under the
roof, listening to the flapping of flying foxes, and lizards chuckling.

This is probably gonna be my last post from
Kapuna. This past week has somewhat gone by in a
haze to me. I can’t really recall what has been
happening, apart from some handicraft work and a
few very sick patients in the hospital. I have
been doing the children ward round with Valerie
this week, and what started out as a quiet week
quickly morphed into a harrowing ward round this
morning. A couple of children have become unwell,
with ?TB Meningitis and typhoid on the list.
Children are really adorable, and its fun getting
the PNG kids here to laugh (PNG people laugh a
lot, at almost everything. Read previous posts).
Grace and I have almost assumed the role of being
the hospital clowns for the kids here, and
everyday as we make our way to and fro the
hospital, its such a joy to see kids (especially
those who have been very unwell previously)
playing in the fields. Some will be carrying
grass that had been cut, or playing with love
grass, or just kicking a ball around.

To deal with very sick children is another matter
altogether. I mean, just take today for example –
to get an IV into a patient, a 12-year old girl
was pricked just about 5 times, by various
people. 5 times! For a 12-year old girl! At my
age, I wouldn’t like that very much. Imagine a
12-year old girl! A fitting 7 month old child
with starry eyes and a desperate mother with sore
breasts from expressing breast milk crying
because of her child’s ill health are painfully
heartbreaking as well. Imagine performing an LP
(lumbar puncture) for such a baby! Seeing
children so ill is emotionally challenging – I
wonder how paediatricians handle such cases.

Today Valerie had to pick the new med student and
the Pettersons, from Baimuru, so she left the
hospital in our hands. Apart from those sick
children, the adult ward was quiet (enough)
(fortunately). I hope we did a satisfactory job.
It was tiring, nonetheless satisfying. I guess
with all things, when you have to bear
responsibility, its slightly different. You start
making active moves, and form decisions based on
common sense and whatever knowledge one
has.  Well, so much for being in-charge for the day!

I’m starting to feel sad about the end of our
stay at Kapuna, kinda abit reluctant to leave!
Some of the girls have started to tear at the
mention of us leaving, and the 2 girls who have
been helping us with the bilum bags are doing the
bilum bag quite religiously. We’re also trying to
do as many friendship bands as possible, teach
the kids as much music as possible, and tie up
loose ends like signing of paperwork for uni and
getting the necessities to bring along with us on
patrol. Well, as with everything, all good things must come to an end.

I don’t really know what to expect from patrol.
Many have said that you will never know how its
like until you’re on one. Nothing can prepare you
for it. Although it leaves us with just a week at
Kikori (where a lot of hospital action takes
place apparently), it will be an experience, to
go out into the community to see how PNG people
actually live, to follow up on patients, to make
more kids cry cos we’re giving them their
immunizations! We’ll probably arrive at Kikori on
Friday.