Thursday, April 26, 2012

Leaving Douala

Consulting in the clinic, Gladys, our interpreter and a patient
It is hard to believe but our time here in Douala is almost up. Sister told us yesterday that we will be leaving on Saturday to head up to Njinikom.  The time has passed very quickly here and we are both very grateful for the opportunity to have served here. The hospital here provides a service for the people of Douala that cannot be measured. The sisters provide quality, low cost care to all in a spirit of charity and compassion. They labor under very difficult and at times trying conditions. We have even seen them donate blood for a hemorrhaging cesarean section patient when no other blood was available. The patients, with very rare understandable exceptions, are very patient and grateful as they wait sometimes for hours in the heat and humidity to be seen. For example, on Tuesday, the entire hospital courtyard was full of pregnant women waiting well into the afternoon to be seen in the prenatal clinic. It must have easily been 200 to 300. They usually begin lining up as early as 7:00am.  The labor room consists of a single small room with 2 beds and chairs along a very narrow hallway. This for 10 deliveries a day. We have seen as many as 30 people (laboring patients and “guardians” crowded into this small space at one time.

The sisters and the cardiologist from Shisong are here to conduct a cardiac screening clinic yesterday and today. There is a very sophisticated cardiac center in Shisong which provides state of the art care. There is currently a US cardiologist there Steve Peck, who we met when he arrived here in Douala on his way there. He is also a Mission Doctors Association doctor and is going to be there for 4 weeks.

The good news is that the eclamptic patient from the other day seems to be recovering very nicely. She seems to be ok and will be going home soon along with her baby.

As of today, we have seen over 400 patients in the clinic and performed 30 cesarean sections as well as 5 ectopic surgeries. Our next blog will most likely be from Njinikom next week.
Morning rounds with Sister Christa and Gladys
Eclamptic patient (in red), her baby and mother


Monday, April 23, 2012

Busy

It has been a very interesting and educational last couple of weeks here in Douala. We continue to average 10 deliveries a day. As expected the C/S rate is very low, although I have done as many as 8 C/S in a single 24-hour period. Most however, were scheduled repeats. The sisters do everything possible to get patients as close to term as absolutely possible because of the high infant mortality if even a bit preterm.  Preeclampsia and eclampsia seem fairly common. Unfortunately there is no Magnesium sulfate available and very little in terms of acute antihypertensives. The only drug for seizures is valium. 

Again, I can’t tell how hard the sisters and staff work here. The work is never ending for the sisters since they live here and they never get away from it.  Even when they are not on duty they are always aware of what is going on. The convent is right above the maternity unit and so they hear things all night long (as do we sometimes).

That being said we had an exceptionally nice weekend this past weekend. First, we attended the wedding of one of the surgical techs, Julius here that we work with. We attended their wedding mass on Saturday morning and then went to their reception on Saturday night. We got another lesson in “Africa time” just in case we had forgotten from last year. The mass was scheduled to start at 10:00 am and actually started at 11:40 am. It was very nice and a mixture of African as well as some traditional Latin mass (e.g., Agnes Dei was beautifully sung).

Sr Christa and Sr Lidwina with the happy couple
The reception Saturday night was held at a very nice venue and very well attended. It was scheduled to start at 8:00 pm and actually started at 11:20 pm. It was very much like an American reception, at least as much of it that we were able to stay for. Unfortunately, we had to leave early around 12:40 am at which time it had hardly started. Apparently it is not uncommon for these things to literally go on all night and finish about 6:00 am. We will find out today what time it actually was done.

Sr Odelia at Kribe Beach
We had to leave early because the sisters treated us to a day at the beach on Sunday.  We left around 7:30 am and drove to Kribe which is about 2 hours south of Douala right on the Atlantic ocean. It is a very beautiful area known for its beaches and hotels. It is usually very busy on the weekends with people getting away from Douala. CY, our driver and Sister Odelia, the Mother Superior went us and we all had a great time including a great lunch of grilled fish at a hotel restaurant right off the beach. It was the first time there for Sister Odelia and she loved it. On the way back we stopped at the hospital and convent in Edea where the sisters provided us with another meal, especially fufu. Sister Odelia was having such a good time we also had to stop along the roadside and pick up some freshly killed and prepared “bush meat”. Sister loved it and ate it in the car on the way home. 

Today, Monday , we are paying of course for our day off. The clinic was very busy, one C/S so far, and a eclamptic who has seized twice so far today. We hope she will recover.


Thursday, April 12, 2012

We arrived



We arrived safely in Douala the evening before Palm Sunday and everything is going well except for the internet here at St. Padre Pio hospital which is very hit or miss. That is why we have not “blogged” until now.

Last week was Holy Week and so we were able to go to Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Saturday night Easter Vigil and Easter Mass . The services were each in their own way very beautiful and for us very unique. At each of them, except the Easter Mass, there was a strong African element. It was very beautiful, although most of the services were quite long – 4 – 5 hours. We both enjoyed the Easter Mass at the Cathedral here the most. The Celebrant was the Cardinal here in Douala and he presented a very meaningful homily on Faith.  

The work here is really as expected. Everyday is very busy with lots of patients. Much of it is routine, with some unique and sometimes intense emergencies like cesarean sections, difficult deliveries, and surgeries for tubal ectopic pregnancies. There is no blood immediately available for transfusion which certainly adds an element of excitement.

The sisters here treat us very well. They have put Rose to good use in the operating room and she is really enjoying that again. She also has a very compassionate touch with the patients and is wonderful at comforting them. The sisters love her.

The Sisters and staff here work very, very hard.  Many patients come here not only because of the quality of the medical care, but also because they will be treated with kindness and dignity by everyone.

Please continue to pray for us and our mission here.