Reflections on Kenya

Sunset back home

     I've been home for two weeks now, which hardly seems possible. In one sense, it seems like I was just in Kenya yesterday, but in another sense, it feels like my trip was ages ago, or even just a dream that didn't really happen. Of course, the 1,047 pictures and videos help deny that last idea, but they don't change the feeling of surreality. It probably doesn't help that I sort of hit the ground running. I definitely had a day or so of adjustment, but since then it's been a lot of unpacking, application finishing, arranging to shadow PAs, and going to weddings (the last bit was certainly the most fun).

     Now that I've been back for a bit I'd thought I'd write up just a few last reflections on Kenya, mostly ones I thought up on the long drive (7.5 hours) from Migori to the Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi. 

     First, some random tidbits:

La b and pharmacy waiting area

1. I never mentioned it before, but people were a bit obsessed with Obama over  there. It probably didn't help that Migori is not that far from the area Obama's family comes from. In fact, many random people in Migori claimed to Obama's brother, father, cousin, or other assorted family member. 
2. The patients in the hospital formed their own community. Often you'd enter a room and all the patients and their family members would just be chatting up a storm, or they wouldn't even be in room. Instead they would be outside relaxing in the sun, or washing their laundry or children.
3. I sort of fell in love with Kenyan soap operas. They were so, so bad. Everything about them, from the acting to the writing to the cinematography, was just atrocious. The thing is though, they were so bad, they were good. They were also constantly playing on the hospital tv by the lab so I could just sit at reception and listen to them. You didn't even have to see them to die of laughter.
4. I started to judge people based on their blood. This may seem absurd, and it is, but after a while you start to be able to tell some things about a patient just by looking at their blood. Most of the lab techs could just look at a tube and tell that the hemoglobin was low, and once the tubes were centrifuged, you could tell even more.

That's a chunk of fat and/or cholesterol

Fatty blood -probably drawn after a meal

Normal blood

Low hemoglobin... and everything else

Hemolysis

      Secondly, here are a few cases from the hospital, good and bad:

Two girls on the hospital swing set

1. The mother whose first two children had developed fevers shortly after birth and had died within 24 hours, but whose third baby survived and did well.
2. The 5-year-old girl who was hit by a pikipiki and responded to pain, but never actually woke up. Her family was finally able to come up with enough money to send her to Kisii for a CT scan, but by then she'd already been unconscious for over a week and we feared any damage detected would be irreparable.
3. The hemophiliac boy who had to come to the hospital after a tooth extraction. He ended up being just fine, but the dental students were pretty concerned.
4. Multiple cases of machete attacks. One man almost lost his nose, and a 20-year-old boy who had been stabbed in the back was the first person I ever gave an injection to. 
5. The three triplets who were born far too soon. Two died right away but we had so much hope for the third one, despite the defective incubator. He died on the second day. 
6. So many AIDS deaths. It seemed like the majority of the deaths in the hospital were attributed to AIDS, and those were always hard to see. It's incredibly frustrating to know that, no matter what you do, you will probably lose the battle for a patient's life, even to a simple illness, because their immune system is basically gone. 
7. Two cases of bee stings. We discovered that swarms of bees would occasionally appear and if you didn't get out of the way fast enough, there was a good chance you'd end up in the hospital. Luckily I never encountered such a swarm, and the two cases I saw did just fine.

     Third, I noticed three things on the trip to Nairobi that told me I'd been in rural Kenya for a while:

1. I was surprised to have a seat belt.
2. I was delighted to discover toilet paper in the bathroom of the restaurant where we stopped for lunch.
3. I was shocked to see so many Mzungus in the airport.

     There are definitely things I appreciate more being home. My family had Umpqua ice cream (quite possibly the best in the world) waiting for me when I arrived, and that is certainly a point in America's favor. I also appreciate having privacy again, since that can be kind of difficult when there's fifteen people in the house and the windows to every room are always open. There are also things I missed. The other day I went grocery shopping and was so excited to see so much variety but I was bitterly disappointed when I saw the mangoes. Now I remember why I never liked mangoes in the U.S. They're just not ripe or good-looking, and they will never be as good as the ones from the street vendors in Migori.    

This is a real mango

These just can never measure up.

 

     Now that I'm back from Kenya it feels like the real work for preparing for PA school is beginning. My first applications are due Sep. 1, so right now I'm running around trying to finish those, since it was quite tricky to take care of some things while I was abroad. This means getting in some last minute shadowing, polishing essays, updating my resume, making sure all my information is accurate, as well as preparing for the possibility that I won't be accepted this cycle. To prepare for that possibility, as well as help me get a job, I'll be taking an accelerated EMT course this fall, as well as a genetics course. Trying to organize those classes while in Kenya was ridiculously difficult and thankfully my wonderful parents were willing to call the school for me and help sort everything out because email was just not cutting it. 

     For anyone who is interested, I am going to keep this blog going to chronicle my entire journey to PA school, providing tips on what works, when to do what, things to avoid, and the like. I can't guarantee pictures of babies or wild animals, but hopefully it will be an interesting journey and will be helpful to anyone thinking about PA programs themselves.