May 28th
Hello again!
Today most of the team went back to Bugando hospital while the rest of the team went to the orphanage to do their teaching projects. The day stated out with report of all the new patients admitted to the orthopedic unit. After report we followed the doctors around the hospital to assess each patient and develop a plan of care. It is hard to explain the conditions of the hospital and the injuries we saw today. Each hospital room has around eight beds, some beds are shared by 2 or 3 patients while other rooms even have patients staying on the floor. Many cases that we saw today were very unique compared to anything we have ever seen before. These cases challenge the doctors since many patients do not come to the hospital until their conditions are in very late stages. Due to this, we saw many severe infections and old fractures that have not healed properly. There were a few patients that stood out to me today.
One patient was a boy around 12 years old with a severe femur fracture. While the story was somewhat unclear it appears that he had been assaulted by other children who live in the streets. Unfortunately, the boy did not know Swahili and no one knew what language he was speaking or what country he came from. At one point he got into a wheelchair and went up and down the hallway speaking to everyone he passed. To me, he seemed to be searching for someone who he could communicate with, yet there was still no one who knew his language. It was sad to think about what this boy was thinking and feeling. He is in a huge hospital filled with hundreds of people, but not one person could talk to him. I could not imagine being in his position, especially after suffering an injury. As scary as it was for him, when he wheeled around the unit he had the biggest smile on his face. I hope that they are able to determine his native language and figure out more about his story.
Another interesting case we saw that we would probably not see in the states was a crocodile attack. This man had finished working in the field and was washing off in the water when he was attack by a crocodile. The man knew to fight off the crocodile by jabbing it in the eyes with his fingers. Fortunately, he was able to escape but suffered an injury to his femur. For us students it is amazing to learn how to handle these types of cases.
After a long day of rounds at the hospital we headed back to our hotel on the shore of Lake Victoria. We had a few hours to relax and enjoy the beauty of the lake before we headed out to dinner. We decided to eat dinner at a local restaurant that is a few blocks away from the hotel. We walked along the edge of the lake and passed by many shops and small markets. Most of us had barbecue chicken for dinner and it was amazing! We just got back to the hotel and wrapped up our day by talking about what we saw today. Tomorrow we will have another busy day of surgeries!
Logan
