These past two weeks have been extremely busy at the hospital. For a few days we had over 35 patients on our service which is just insane. Two doctors a day, split 12 hours each trying to care for all of those people and all of the emergencies that come in is, well, a lot. Things were probably not done as effectively as they should have been and some things probably got missed or overlooked.
It was a rough few days and it took its toll on me. But then this week the census was much more manageable and it was like the Lord was saying, see….sometimes really good things happen….
Almost every conversation here with a patient or family member goes through a translator. Because even though I speak French, many of the families here do not. They speak one of about 15 tribal languages. So normally, it goes French through a translator to the patient and/or family. Because this is how it works, I will typically go and examine kids and then go back with a translator to explain the plan for the day, what we are doing, etc.
Almost every bed here is located in an open ward with beds beside each other. That can vary from 3 beds in a room to some big wards that hold 9-10 beds. So when you are talking with a family everyone hears what you are saying.
It is malaria season and I have written often of the tragedy that comes with malaria. But I do think it’s worth sharing some of the successes we have too. It is true that we see a lot of kids succumb to malaria but there are even more that get to leave, recovering or cured and do well.
I do these “are they ready to go?” rounds every morning and every afternoon. Sitting up, awake, eating, these are things I look for to see if they can go home. Sometimes I walk through and kids have a plate of traditional pate and sauce and they are shoveling it in. Well, that’s an easy one….discharge home. More often though it becomes this almost a game. I see a kid with his eyes open and tell the family, “ok if he can eat something and sit up maybe he can go home later.” That’s all it takes and next thing you know they have propped up the kid and are giving him bouille, which is like a porridge. Sometimes the family will call me over and show me kind of like, “see…see he is doing it.” It becomes funny at times because parents seem to be like, “ok there she is, this is our shot to go….”
This past weekend I walked through the ward and told one family their child would be discharged and the Dad of the kid in the next bed tapped me on the arm and pointed at his child. So I sat him up, awake but pretty weak and the Dad kept calling his name. The kid would just cut his eyes over to look at his dad every time and then look forward again. Almost like, really dad, I hear you, why do keep calling my name. It was so funny. Needless to say, that child also got to go home that day.
It can be rough here, not going to lie, but there are times when it is very sweet as well. Please pray for the hospital, the nurses, the aids, the doctors as we continue to walk through very difficult days of malaria. However, rejoice with us as well as we see many kids go back home with their families, recovered.
If you would ever feel like contributing to the work here at the Hospital of Hope, you can do so at this link: www.abwe.org/give
click give now, then search for HOH Togo pediatric care. This fund allows us to help families pay for their bills when they are not able to do so.
