Before I get into a description of this long, long and unique day, I want to let you all know that I have finally solved my WIFI problems. The computer was hooked up with the hotel's WIFI and therefore my mobile WIFI wouldn't connect. I took everything to the hospital today, and in a free minute (HA!) I connected the WIFI and it went through. When I opened things up back here at the hotel, the connection had stuck and I was able to delete the hotel WIFI. So, barring further tech events, I should be able to blog and put up photos.
So, a few words about the photos: I have posted a new batch but without labels as I'm trying to catch up. If you click the link I sent you, you come to the page on OneDrive. Just wait and the album will come up. If you click on photos or something else, you may just get one photo, not the whole album.
There are photos there from the hotel in Accra. I had a huge suite. There was a big festival for the first lady of Ghana who was there all day doing various programs on empowerment of girls. There are a couple of photos of drummers and dancers - fast moving and blurry. There's a photo of a wayside "women's toilet" on the drive to Ho. Most of decided we could wait. I saw a baby with very low oxygen and there's a picture of his fingers showing clubbing, a sign of chronic pulmonary disease. The pre and post op wards are shown with mattresses on the floor and a stack of extra mattresses by the wall. At least the babies won't be falling out of bed. Most of the food in the restaurant is very western - spaghetti, pizza, rice, french fries. However, one night there was a dish made of cassava and fine cornmeal made into a kind of paste and served with a really hot pepper sauce. There's a photo of patient washcloths hanging out to dry and one of "the walk of death." This is a pathway on the edge of the lawn where we screened patients and had the announcement day today. It has small rocks and a border of big rocks that get kicked in among the small ones. It's almost impossible to walk down the whole path without tripping, hence the team's name for it. Finally, there are some photos of Ghanaian women and their babies and a mother daughter pair, each with a baby on her back.
So, announcement day here is orchestrated to make the disappointment of not being chosen for surgery a little easier to take. Each of these patients meets with the surgeon who explains why they won't have surgery and answers all questions. If they want to meet with the pediatrician, they do that as well. Then the coordinators meet with them and arrange their next mission visit. it took until 3:30 in the afternoon to get through them all, and then we had to see all the ones who are having surgery, get their special wristbands on and admit the ones who will have surgery tomorrow. In addition, I'm still the team doctor and several team members needed minor but time-consuming attention. There were also seven sick kids who needed prescriptions written, labs ordered, etc. The other pediatricians had been sent back to the hotel by one of the (misinformed) coordinators who thought we were done, so it became a very long day. The last sick child was very sick and ended up having to be admitted to the hospital. We arrived back at the hotel at 7:45 and had our pre-surgical meeting at 8:00. Tomorrow morning the team will leave the hotel at 6:30 but one of the nurses and I will leave at 5:50 so we can get the first two rows of kids ready for the six tables. There are 167 kids and adults scheduled for the week - ambitious.
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So, a few words about the photos: I have posted a new batch but without labels as I'm trying to catch up. If you click the link I sent you, you come to the page on OneDrive. Just wait and the album will come up. If you click on photos or something else, you may just get one photo, not the whole album.
There are photos there from the hotel in Accra. I had a huge suite. There was a big festival for the first lady of Ghana who was there all day doing various programs on empowerment of girls. There are a couple of photos of drummers and dancers - fast moving and blurry. There's a photo of a wayside "women's toilet" on the drive to Ho. Most of decided we could wait. I saw a baby with very low oxygen and there's a picture of his fingers showing clubbing, a sign of chronic pulmonary disease. The pre and post op wards are shown with mattresses on the floor and a stack of extra mattresses by the wall. At least the babies won't be falling out of bed. Most of the food in the restaurant is very western - spaghetti, pizza, rice, french fries. However, one night there was a dish made of cassava and fine cornmeal made into a kind of paste and served with a really hot pepper sauce. There's a photo of patient washcloths hanging out to dry and one of "the walk of death." This is a pathway on the edge of the lawn where we screened patients and had the announcement day today. It has small rocks and a border of big rocks that get kicked in among the small ones. It's almost impossible to walk down the whole path without tripping, hence the team's name for it. Finally, there are some photos of Ghanaian women and their babies and a mother daughter pair, each with a baby on her back.
So, announcement day here is orchestrated to make the disappointment of not being chosen for surgery a little easier to take. Each of these patients meets with the surgeon who explains why they won't have surgery and answers all questions. If they want to meet with the pediatrician, they do that as well. Then the coordinators meet with them and arrange their next mission visit. it took until 3:30 in the afternoon to get through them all, and then we had to see all the ones who are having surgery, get their special wristbands on and admit the ones who will have surgery tomorrow. In addition, I'm still the team doctor and several team members needed minor but time-consuming attention. There were also seven sick kids who needed prescriptions written, labs ordered, etc. The other pediatricians had been sent back to the hotel by one of the (misinformed) coordinators who thought we were done, so it became a very long day. The last sick child was very sick and ended up having to be admitted to the hospital. We arrived back at the hotel at 7:45 and had our pre-surgical meeting at 8:00. Tomorrow morning the team will leave the hotel at 6:30 but one of the nurses and I will leave at 5:50 so we can get the first two rows of kids ready for the six tables. There are 167 kids and adults scheduled for the week - ambitious.
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Amazing as always.... 167 is a big number!! Hope the wifi picks up again soon :) - Dave
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