Audrey’s point of view:
Sooooo, I feel like I have escaped from working in the clinic in the US… to do clinic in Guinea. When God arranged for us to come here, we did not know that they would be short one doc. We arrived just as the Gen Med doc left, so it was fortunate that we came when we did. I have worked in the clinic each day and am finally getting the hang of it. I have had to translate the medications they have available into something I recognize in English so I can treat the patients as well as possible. Between the 4 of us docs (2 from Cote d’Ivoire – 1 a surgeon and 1 an OB/GYN) we are seeing 50-90 pts a day.
When I was originally asked what type of doc I am, I told them that I work in an Urgent Care. They translated this into calling me an Emergency Room Specialist (Urgence means ER in Africa). Therefore, I am called for all ER visits in between the clinic patients. I have seen patients with everything from Malaria to Traumatic Brain Injury.
Right after we arrived, a young gal around 12 years old fell out of a mango tree onto her head. She was brought in unconscious. When she arrived, her pupils were reactive but she had a lateral gaze (bad sign) and didn’t move arms or legs even to painful stimuli. It was heartbreaking to think that this young girl would probably not make it. Over the next several days and through the weekend she started to move, then open her eyes. She still wasn’t talking or eating. At each improvement we all (the entire staff) breathed a sign of relief. As of this morning she is walking, talking, answering questions and smiling. And to top it off, her name is Sarah (like my kiddo:-)) I give God all the glory, because by all counts, here in Africa, she really should not have made it.
Last week I had two young adults come in right after each other with hemiplegia. Neither had high blood pressure. I have not idea what could cause that here but guessed the both may have had a stroke. As the hospital right now has no anticoagulants, I ran home to grab some of my own aspirin. It was a gamble giving them aspirin without a CT scan, but I suspected they were more likely to have a clot in the brain than a bleed. When I came to check on them the following day, I found out that their families had taken both of them to Conakry (the capitol 5 hours away) where there is a CT scanner and a good Neurologist. I breathed a huge sign of relief. This is something I have not had available in Chad or Cameroon.
Overall this trip has been a wonderful experience. The people here are very nice. We have several wonderful families that have taken very good care of us. One beautiful lady (Deborah) has been feeding us great W. African food every night and taking care of all of our needs.
We are indeed very blessed. Please pray for the people who work here and the patients who come here for care. Although we are at the crossroads of the country, the medical care here is still very limited.