This is Your Patient

     Thursdays seem to be the crazy days for me here in Kenya. Yesterday morning on rounds in the maternity/gynecology ward. Dr. Agullo examined a patient, described her condition (C-section turned septic), then turned to me and said, "this is your patient." I'm fairly certain my mouth must having been hanging wide open as he explained how I would need to dress her wound each day and give him a report. So, while Agullo rushed off to do an emergency C-section (which was successful and resulted in one of the cutest newborns I've ever seen), I followed a nurse named Jane and learned how to dress the wound. This morning was my first go at doing it by myself. Agullo had said that he thought a person learns a lot from one-on-one care with a patient, and that was certainly true. I managed to clean the wound alright, but it wasn't easy. The patient, Elizabeth, doesn't speak any English and I don't know enough Swahili to say "this is going to hurt, but I need to get your wound cleaned out or you will not get better" so it was a bit rough trying to do everything I had to without seeming sadistic. Hopefully tomorrow will go a bit better now that the nurses have taught me a few more words.


Swahili Words of the Post:
uchungu -pain
pole -I'm sorry