All in a Day's Work

After a great trip to the coast with my hubby, parents, and baby sister I'm back to work. And let me tell you, work is in FULL swing! I'm on call for seven nights straight. The bummer about being on call here is that you still put in a full days work regardless of what happens during the night.

I'm hoping and praying for a restful night because today (besides being our second wedding anniversary) was a pretty full day at the clinic. Here are just a few of the MANY cases that I treated today:

• A retained placenta from a woman who delivered at home. She arrived on the back of a motorcycle and was half carried to the maternity ward. The blood dripping down her legs clued me in that it might be a complicated case. The removal (by yours truly) actually went very well and she was able to head home just a few hours later.
  

• The family who came for a follow-up visit for a wound. It was a crazy hand wound. I could see that it had been stitched all over the place. Turns out there was a family fight and the ladies hand got pulverized as a result. Oh, by-the-way, these people happen to be some of my immediate neighbors.
  

• The mom who had her five-year-old stick out his tongue at me. She then explained "The witch did that to him." The tongue looked very normal to me so I asked her to explain. She told me that when he was bewitched he had stones and sand put in his stomach at the same time. She told me this had happened on Thursday. I asked her if she was sure there were stones and sand there; and if they were, how did the witch get them there? She told me that they aren't there anymore because the traditional healer removed them through the skin with his hands that same afternoon. So I verified, "you aren't actually here because of the tongue or the stones?" No, he has malaria. Go figure!

It certainly wasn't a boring day at the dispensary. Now let's hope for a nice, calm, and boring night!