Honey Sweets, Old Ladies, and Failed Consultations

Sabbath, October 23

Early Sabbath morning we packed our bags, loaded the car, and headed for the Atlantic. It was a four or five hour trip but, aside from the police check points, it was very enjoyable. Between sleeping and enjoying the scenery, I was able to pass the time very easily. Once in Kribe, we drove right along the coast where we could see locals fishing, mending their nets, and some young boys playing football. It seemed like a very enjoyable way of life. Almost immediately after we had turned inland we were swallowed up by the restaurants, shops, and bustling people. It seemed so far away from the peace of the lapping ocean, which lay just meters behind us.

Since we were basically the only guests at Hotel Residence des Fleurs, the manager showed us around and let us choose our rooms. That turned out to be a bit of a challenge since he spoke almost no English, and between the seven of us, we spoke almost that much French. Once we got our rooms, it didn’t take us too long to change and head to the beach. My first few steps in the Atlantic Ocean were tentative. The water was a muddy brown, and there were all sorts of things wrapping around my ankles, and poking my feet. However, once I got into the deeper water, I was leaping into the waves, floating in the salt, and having a wonderful time.  

                After a quick snack we decided to walk down the beach to Lobe Falls. We were able to get most of the way by just wading through knee deep water. However, once we were in sight of the falls, we had to swim across a narrow channel. Between the ocean tide, and the river current it was quite a challenge. On the other side, we saw several local boys doing flips, cartwheels, and handsprings into the water. I think they were pretty excited to have “white men” watching them. The falls were gorgeous and well worth the swim and the wading to get there. We all went out to a little sand bar near the bottom of the falls. Everyone else was just standing around talking, but since I couldn’t really reach the bottom, I kept floating away. Cherilyn had to hold me down, so I didn’t get washed out to sea.

                After our dinner of Spaghetti and butter at the Ilomba Resort, we went down to the bar and ordered pistachio ice cream. Bill and Nate played a game of chess, while the rest of us fell asleep on the beach.

Monday, October 25

                After breakfast and a little puttering around our apartment, Cherilyn, Bill and I went to pick up Pastor Rich. After we switched Pastor Rich’s things to Bill’s car, we headed to Limbe. On our trip down Pastor Rich caught us up on the news from Union and about some of the other SMs. For lunch we had some fantastic pizza with chocolate pancakes for desert, from Chella’s.

                Pastor Rich took Cherilyn and me through Limbe Wildlife Center. We had a great time laughing at the gorilla’s and monkey’s human-like antics.

                When we got back to our apartment, Pastor Rich gave us all the goodies he’d brought us from all our friends back home. It was like Christmas two months early! We had a great time reading notes, unpacking food, and finding a place for everything to go. Thanks to everyone who sent us stuff.

Sunday, October 31

                Heather, one of the Peace Corps Volunteers, invited us over for a Halloween party. It wasn’t much of a party, but it was really enjoyable. We had Chili, bread, popcorn with marshmallows, gold fish, brownies, and cookies with avocado frosting. Since it was mostly Peace Corps Volunteers there, they talked a lot about that, and the rest of us mostly listened to their stories.

                On our way back from Heather’s, the sky was so clear and we could actually see the stars. When we got back, Cherilyn and I slathered on the bug repellent and sat in the yard, doing some stargazing. It was so nice to see the night sky, it hadn’t been that clear since we’ve been here.

Friday, November 5

                Since neither Cherilyn nor I had to work during the day, we spent the morning getting the house ready for Sabbath. We kitty sat three of Milo’s kittens for the weekend, and they are not quite litter box broke yet. So with the smell prodding us to work quickly, we attacked the house with a vengeance. By lunch time, we had both our apartment and the house looking and smelling much better, and had worked up quite an appetite.

               

                When Matt first arrived, Cherilyn and I would go over every day about meal time and make food for all of us. We would sit in our room, meal planning, and then with recipes in our head, we’d march next door. I told Cherilyn that I felt like the little old ladies next door, who felt bad for the poor bachelor. So every day they bring him some of their “famous” home cooking, or just come over and fix him a meal and clean his house. Since then, it’s become better and we’ve figured out ways we can all contribute to keeping everyone fed and the house in order. I feel much less old lady these days. Although sometimes I feel like the elderly neighbor again, and I get a good laugh.

   

                Our patient, Sophie, was doing really good earlier in the day, but about six p.m. she started getting worse again. Her fever was back up to 39 C, and her whole body ached. Since she was pregnant and we really had no way of finding what was going on with her, we advised her family to take her to the General Hospital. While we were waiting for her to go, her brother came over and struck up a conversation with Cherilyn and me. After the usual questions of where we’re from, how long we’ll be here, and the like, the conversation went something like this. “Do you have a husband here?” He asked us. “No.” We almost shouted in unison. “We have guys back at home.” Cherilyn quickly added. “Do they call you every day?” He held his hand up to his ear like a phone. “No.” “Every week, then?”  He asked. “Um… yes. That’s more like it.” Cherilyn answered with a little giggle. “I would think you would be homesick. Don’t you miss everyone?” He prodded. “Um… no, we’re not too homesick.” Cherilyn answered. “Maybe when you get back you will make babies, since you have not seen your honey sweet for so long.”

  

Sabbath, November 6

                After a great church service, and great stir fry and rice for lunch, we headed out to look around Buea. Matt wanted to visit a former patient, so we set out in search of the General Hospital. We headed up towards the Campost, taking a few detours on our way. On our way to the hospital we passed a sign that caught our attention. It read, Destiny Ambulance Service-Coffins Available. While Matt went in and saw his patient, Cherilyn and I sat outside and people watched.

                On our way back to our hospital we took a little detour down Campaign Street. I was holding Jordan, and before long several kids had gathered around whispering about her. They all wanted to pet the dog, but were so shy and nervous. Finally I convinced them that she was nice and wouldn’t bite, and then, they all took turns, timidly coming over and stroking her back. After they had, they were so excited, and a few of the braver ones came back and pet her again.

                Cherilyn, Matt, and I had a Dutch Blitz tournament after dinner. We played for several hours, but finally had to call it a night before the champion was determined. Really, I was winning but Matt wouldn’t admit it.  

Monday, November 8

                I had been working nights for the past three days and Monday night was my last one before my four days off. The first three had been very quiet and I was hoping for a fourth. We had one patient on a quinine drip, but she would be pretty easy to take care of. I was reading the Clock Tower when a woman brought her daughter in for a consultation. I hoped, more than actually thought, that she was joking. I ushered them into a room, and went to gather everything I would need for the consultation. I did my assessment, and asked all the questions that I could remember, and still had no idea what was wrong with her. I took my precious few findings, and went to discuss them with Matt and Cherilyn. In the first five minutes Cherilyn came up with a lengthy list of questions that I should have asked, but didn’t remember. Finally, after much discussion, Matt decided to come up and take a look himself. After a few short minutes of examining the patient, Matt prescribed some medications and sent them on their way. After they were gone I sat down at the desk, very frustrated. I couldn’t believe how little I had known! I felt so useless and fake!

Big Needles, Bad Food, and Blocked IV Lines

Thursday, October 14

I carried my Bible and hymnal up to the hospital to see if we would be having our Thursday night study. The only two staff present were Cherilyn and Dr. Trixy, who were busy with a consult. Since I really had nowhere else to be, I busied myself with herding curious kids out of the exam room, and looking at pictures in an EMT book. While I was absentmindedly scanning the chapter on airways, I happened to glance up and see Cyril galumph through the double doors into the hospital. My stomach felt like someone had tied it in knots. After the initial pleasantries, I slipped into the nurse’s station, telling him that Cherilyn needed my help filling a syringe. He apparently thought we took too long because he came and poked his head in the room looking for me.  Cherilyn told him we were busy and helped him close the door. I ended up giving the injection, and taking the leftover medication to the fridge in hopes that he would see I was busy and go away. He didn’t. Instead, he joined us for Bible study. Since he didn’t bring his own hymnal or Bible, he just had to sit by me and share mine. Which, sharing would have been fine except both my hymnal and Bible have print so small that you have to get your face right in the book to read it. Even though I stretched my arm as far toward him as I could possibly reach, he still felt the need to lean over my char to see. So he had his arm on my arm rest, leaning over me, but facing the other way so he could actually see the hymnal that I held way over in front of him.

 After Bible study I was waiting for Cherilyn to walk back to our room. Cyril came and asked me if I’d received his notes, and what I thought. I told him that, while he was a good writer, I was not interested. “Oh, oh,” He laughed, “I am so sad!” A few seconds of awkward silence… “But you are so beautiful. You really aren’t interested?” “No, I’m really not interested, at all!” At that I picked up my books and marched back to my apartment.

Sabbath, October 16

  I had the day shift at the hospital this Sabbath. I spent most of the morning studying my Bible, and journaling. A little five year old boy came in carrying his little bag of medicine and syringes, so I could give him some shots. I was hoping that I could give him both of his medications in one IV site, so I wouldn’t have to stick him too many times. He watched me with the biggest, saddest eyes as I tied the tourniquet around his arm. As soon as he saw the IV needle, the sad eyes went away, and he started screaming and wiggling, and trying to get away. His brother had to hold him down while I pinned his arm down and stuck him. We still weren’t able to hold him still enough, and the IV blew. The next one I decided to just do IM, since he couldn’t really sit still enough for an IV. When he saw me whip out the IM needle, he just about died. He was screaming at his brother, “no, no! See how big?!?!” We finally got him pinned down so I could stick his thigh, but he let us know that he wasn’t very happy about it.

Sunday, October 17

 The little five year old came back for his second set of injections. This time there were two people accompanying him.  “Good.” I thought to myself, “reinforcements. We’re ready for him now!” But how wrong I was. This time I hardly had  time to tie the tourniquet before he started screaming and trying to get away. I told the brother that he would have to hold him down so I could give the injection. He did his best but still the arm was moving way too much for me to even hope to stick a vein. I went to our apartment and made Cherilyn cut her shower short so she could come and help us hold the patient down. Cherilyn and the brother managed to keep his body mostly still while I tried to hold his arm down. His sister was next to useless and just kept slapping the arm that I was trying to stick, so even if he would have been still enough for me, he hand was between me and him half the time. Finally, after much sweating, and grunting, and holding, and poking on our part, and screaming, and kicking on his part, we got all the medication inside him, and sent him on his way. In retrospect it was a really funny experience, but at the time it was awful! By the time I had finished I was shaking. The few minutes listening to him scream had totally drained me. I was praying that I wouldn’t have to do another injection for a good long time.

Monday, October 18

By the time the little boy came in for his last injection we’d figured it out, and it went pretty smoothly. Fortunately I only had to give the IM. We stretched him out on the bed, then his brother laid across his chest and then put his leg over the little boy’s. He could still kick pretty good, so I caught his feet between my knees. By the time we had him so he couldn’t move, the only part of him that was showing was his thigh where I was going to stick him, and his little feet. He was very happy when I told him that was his last injection and, hopefully, he wouldn’t have to see me again.

Later that day we had two new patients come in, both needing quinine drips right away. About every two minutes, while I was gathering supplies for the IVs, someone would come in the room asking how long it would be, or if I was ready yet. I guess they never figured out that the more they interrupted me, the longer it would take for me to finish what I was doing. Cherilyn was kind enough to come up and help start one of the IVs for me.

Thursday, October 21

Wednesday night a little boy came to the hospital with pneumonia and malaria, so first thing Thursday, I needed to start his second quinine drip. I spiked and hung the new bag, opened the line, but nothing happened. The old bag had stopped running a while ago, so I thought it might have become clogged. I really didn’t want to have to start a new site on him, so I grabbed a syringe and 10 mLs of saline. I tried to flush the line through every port I could find, but still nothing was working. When I had exhausted every trick I could think of and none of them had worked, I decided the only thing left was to re-insert the IV. When I had taken all the tape off, I found the problem; the part of the catheter that stuck out of his arm had shifted and become kinked. I was so relieved that I didn’t have to stick him again! I straightened everything out, taped it back down, and started the drip.

Later that afternoon, one of my patients invited me to join them for lunch. I had politely declined the day before and they seemed a little offended, so I thought I should probably join them this time. She said it was vegetables and yams. Vegetables are always good, and even though I don’t really like yams, I figured I could handle them for one meal. At first the two giant pieces of yam weren’t too bad; they actually tasted like regular potatoes. But the more I ate, the drier they got and the more they tasted like yams. The vegetable was actually just greens, similar to kale, with chunks of fish in it. When it comes to their fish, Cameroonians closely adhere to the adage, “waste not, want not,” and so, eat the whole fish. A fact I had forgotten about, until I shoved a forkful of fins, scales, and bones into my mouth. For those of you who don’t know, I’m a born and raised vegetarian. I can barely choke down a bite of salmon that hardly even tastes like fish anymore; a whole pile of green slimy stuff that tastes like it was scraped off the bottom of the ocean, then mixed with charred fish carcasses is just more than I can take.  I couldn’t chew it up! I tried to swallow it, but I knew that if I swallowed that stuff whole, I’d probably choke to death, right there in the hospital, so I kept chewing. By the end of the meal, all I could do was pray that I didn’t throw up before I got out of the patients room, and try to gag down the last few bites. I think, aside from the sauerkraut when I was two, that was the worst meal I’ve ever had. However, I really appreciated the families generosity. 

Crazy Women, Boiled Peanuts, and Marriage Proposals

Thursday, September 23

            The little boy with malaria came for his last infusion of quinine. After the drip was finished, his mother brought him out to the nurse’s station and asked me if I could watch him while she ran home. I nervously nodded my head in agreement. As soon as she stepped out of the hospital, he began bawling. I picked him up in an effort to comfort him, and discovered that his whole backside was soaked! I tried to shift him around so I wouldn’t get too wet, only to discover that aside from his shoes, there really wasn’t a dry place to hang onto. I set him down to walk around, hoping that would distract him, but nothing worked. Not even eating his cookies. When I tried to pick him up again, there was a giant string of saliva trailing from his mouth to his finger. I quickly set him down and whipped out my “in case of emergency only” toilet paper.  This definitely qualified as an emergency. I wiped him down, and then drug him with me to dispose of the well used paper. When his mother finally returned, I deposited the still screaming boy in her arms. She asked me if he’d been crying long. I let her know that, yes, he had been crying the whole time she’d be gone.

                On Monday a little boy came in with a fractured wrist. He was quite a handful! He didn’t want anything to do with the clinic at all. Outside he was just as happy as can be, but as soon as his dad brought him inside, he would start screaming and fighting. I couldn’t even keep his arm still long enough to get his pulse. However, when he came back on Thursday to get the cast put on, he was a totally different little boy. He munched silently on his biscuits the whole time we were putting on the plaster. Dr. Trixy was showing me how to do a cast, so the little boy had to sit there longer than usual, I’m sure. After I was done with the plaster part, Dr. Trixy told me to trim up the cotton sticking out on the ends. The scissors were well past their prime, and years of use had dulled their abilities. That coupled with my being left handed and unable to operate right handed equipment made it impossible for me to complete the job. Fortunately Helen was there, so she took over and lovingly coaxed a few more cuts out of the old scissors.

                The clinic’s final patient of the day was a woman who had an abscess on her right breast. Since she was going to have to be put under for the procedure, Trixy sent her over to the hospital so we could keep an eye on her after the fact. Lea and Trixy had both gone to the clinic to get supplies so I was alone when she came wailing up the ramp. As soon as I saw her I headed in to get a bed ready for her. When I came out she had plopped herself in a chair, and was holding her breast, sobbing. I kept trying to ask her if she wanted to go and lay down, but she was so loud she couldn’t hear me. She was making such a commotion that two guys from the clinic came up to see what was going on. Between the three of us we still couldn’t communicate to her that she should come inside.

When Lea came back, she ushered the woman inside. After Lea gave her a dose of Ketamine, she started getting very worried about the procedure. We waited for quite a while but she didn’t go to sleep. Trixy and Lea finally figured out that the dose they gave wasn’t enough, so Lea gave her a second dose. That was when things got interesting. She was still very worried and began talking very loudly, “You kill me!” She kept saying it over and over again, occasionally punctuated by snapping her fingers and clapping. We tried to reassure her that this was a simple procedure and she would be just fine in a few hours, but it didn’t really make a difference. She was getting more animated and sat up on the edge of the bed. “YOU KILL ME,” she screamed and slapped her hands on her chest. Suddenly, she stood on shaky legs and started running at Lea. As she ran her skirt started falling off, so with one hand she was holding her skirt and the other was held over her head in a threatening fist. Lea was ready for her and caught her wrists before she could do anything. Soon the patient seemed to forget what she was doing, and turned to back to her bed. She sat down on the edge and just stared at the floor. As soon as she flopped back onto the bed, we snapped into action. Lea and Trixy started draining the wound while I took her blood pressure. It seemed like the abscess was an endless fountain of puss- it just kept draining and draining and draining. When it finally quit draining Trixy flushed it with copious amounts of water, then packed and bandaged it.

Trixy had us read up on post- Ketamine care, so we would know what to expect when our patient woke up. Basically, it said that she would be just as bad coming out of it as she was going into it. The book was absolutely right. Cherilyn and I were visiting out on the breezeway when I heard her yelling. We tiptoed up to her door and timidly cracked it open. I opened the door just wide enough to peek around it and see what she was doing. She was sitting up, yelling and clapping again. Cherilyn and I looked at each other, wondering what to do. We walked up to her bed in the hopes that we could convince her that trying to get up would be a bad idea. It was no use; she was ready to get up. When she tried her legs, they wouldn’t hold her and she collapsed between the beds. I went and asked Lea what she thought we should do. She came, but there was really nothing we could do ‘til she woke up more. She would lie on the floor ‘til she mustered enough strength to sit up, then she would sit, clap a few times, yell at us, which would take all her strength and she would just flop back onto the floor. She repeated this several times, and every time I was braced for her to just crack her head on the floor. I was thinking to myself, “If she cracks her head open, we’re going to have to put her back under to sew her head up, and then it’s just going to be this same thing over again.” Thankfully she didn’t split her head open, and we weren’t stuck in a chronic loop of putting her under and patching her up. When she was finally able to stand, she teetered over to the corner where Cherilyn, Lea, and I were huddled. She was shouting at Lea, and asking her questions. Then when she got right up to us, she was totally silent. She just stared at us, one at a time. It was so creepy! Then without warning she took a handful of Cherilyn’s shirt and started pulling. To an onlooker, we would have been quite a humorous sight: Cherilyn trying to keep what was left of her shirt, our patient trying to gather more into her hands, Lea trying to pry the patient’s fingers off the shirt, and me holding onto the patient so she wouldn’t go toppling over. She eventually got tired of us and went back to sleep.

Sabbath, September 26

                I worked the day shift on Sabbath. We didn’t have any inpatients, so I was hoping for a quiet day.  When Christiane brought me the hospital keys, she also brought me the news that I had a patient waiting for me. My heart plummeted to my toes. I really had no idea how to consult a patient for anything besides an irritated eye. I took the keys from Christiane and began dragging my led feet up the ramp to the hospital. To my relieved surprise Christiane was right behind me. She took the girl into a room to do the consultation, while Cherilyn and I tackled the other three patients who had appeared out of nowhere. Cherilyn consulted two men with finger troubles.

A portly man elbowed his way up to the nurse’s station and informed us that he needed his bandages changed. Pronto! Cherilyn asked me if I could do that. “Sure.” I answered confidently. I took his bad of supplies into the nurse’s room and told him to go into the next room and wait for me. “A basic dressing change,” I thought to myself, “How hard could it be?” I was about to find out. I gathered everything I would need and headed to his room. I removed the old dressings, and discarded them.  “You’re going to get cotton, right? You’re using WAY too much iodine!” Unfortunately, I wasn’t taking care of your average Joe patient; I had drawn the one with chronic wounds, who had seen the bandage changed hundreds of times. “I’m going to a specialist. You know, I’m a sickle cell patient.” Finally he became so exasperated with teaching me how to change his dressing that he decided I was a hopeless case. “Go get the black sista, she know how to do this.” By this time, I too was getting frustrated. “No, she’s busy.” I told him. When I finally finished with his bandages, Cherilyn told him what he needed to pay for the service. He wouldn’t pay it. “Let me talk to the black sista. You charge too much!”  When Christiane finished with her patient, she came to help our little friend. He immediately began complaining to her about the bad job we’d done with his dressings and how much we were trying to overcharge him. Christiane inspected the bandages, and was satisfied with my job. She informed him that he would pay what we asked, and then asked him, “If you are so good at changing bandages, why do you still come to the hospital? Why don’t you just do it yourself?”

               

By the time all of our patients had left, I was frustrated, and close to tears. I felt like I had failed. When the patients came, Christiane and Cherilyn snapped into action- giving advice, taking temperatures, and doing assessments. While I, on the other hand, could hardly fudge my way through a bandage change, even with the help of the patient and another nurse giving suggestions. When I got back to my apartment, I had a good long talk with God. After pouring my heart out, I felt tired and fragile, but better.

Monday, September 28

Lea, one of the other nurses invited me over to see where she lived. She led me though a muddied car repair lot, up steep muddy roads, down slippery driveways, and across several courtyards before we arrived on her doorstep. It was a beautiful home, snuggled next to several other matching homes. While there, she showed me pictures from her ascent of Mount Cameroon. When I was getting ready to go she asked if I could find my way back to the clinic. The trip up there had seemed pretty easy, so I told her I would be fine. I slipped and slid out to the road and headed down the hill. At the first road that branched off, I realized that I hadn’t seen anything we walked by, instead I had been watching my feet so I wouldn’t slip and fall. I picked the road that seemed most likely to go to the main road, but after about 200 feet I decided that it was the wrong choice. I found the right road and headed down with a spring in my step and a smile on my face.

Tuesday, September 29

            I went out and bought honey as a special treat for us. It tastes more like molasses than like the honey we have in the states. But even if you don’t like molasses the label makes up for the taste.

The best choice, best quality

Highly Medicinal extra pure

Yadikwa Honey Helps For The Following

Example:

1.       Stomach Ulcers

2.       Weakness or General Fatigue

3.       Poison

4.       Fire or Boil water

5.       Weak Sexual Power

6.       Gastric

7.       Cough

8.       Malaria

Yadikwa Honey is the best!

Basically, anything that ails you, Yadikwa Honey will cure!

The highlight of our day was when Bill brought our fist packages from Union. Thank you everyone!

Friday, October 1

A little girl came in Thursday night with malaria. About midnight, Lea and I got up to start her second

Quinine drip. At about 2:30 A.M., Lea called me to come and help with baby Tressy again. Her fever was terribly high, so we gave her some PCM, to try to bring it down. About 3 A.M. Tressy’s mother laid down on the other bed and began shivering, she had malaria too. I went and got her a sheet to cover up with, and some coartem to battle the malaria. We stayed with them, checking temperatures, and giving meds until about 4:30. When we all got up at 6:30, Tressy’s mother was feeling much better, but Tressy was still feeling quite nasty.

Sabbath, October 2

        Thankfully, I was able to go to Church this Sabbath. I started out on my mile long trek shortly after nine, so market was in full swing when I passed through it. Maneuvering through all the taxis, ditches, people, and food is much easier on Tuesdays when I am not wearing heels and a long skirt.

               

                The singing at church is amazing! During song service everyone sings at the top of their lungs, and it is a beautiful sound. They are so loud that I know, no matter how loud I sing, no one will ever hear me, so I sing my heart out. After church we go around and shake everyone’s hand and then visit a bit before heading back down the hill. Two girls introduced themselves to me, and the pastor volunteered them to cook some real Cameroonian food for Cherilyn and me. I hope they do!

               

                After lunch we got a new patient. Her veins were extremely difficult to find, so after a few unsuccessful tries, Cherilyn asked me to come and try. I told her I’d try, but no promises. To myself I was thinking, “This poor patient, we’re going to poke her to death and still not have an IV in. If Cherilyn can’t get it, I’m probably not going to be able to either.” Trixy found a needle with a catheter for me to use. When she handed it to me, I had to play with it for a minute to even remember how to use it. I got a huge flashback on my first stick. YAY!

Sunday, October 3

            After restarting our patient’s IV twice, I went outside and visited with her sister, Seraphine. She tried to teach me some French, but after a few minutes of my horrible pronunciation, she gave up. She loves to eat boiled peanuts, so every time someone walked by selling them, she would buy them. She told Cherilyn and me that we are too skinny! She is going to fatten us up while we’re here, so our parents won’t even recognize us when we get home. So all day she fed me boiled peanuts. At first, they didn’t taste too bad, but the more I ate the worse they got. I was so relieved when we had finished our bag! A few hours later she waved down a little boy who was selling them. When I saw what she was buying I made myself scarce. I thought for sure I’d been gone long enough for them to have polished off the bag, but when I returned they handed me half a bag, telling me they’d saved them for me. Thank God for big scrub pockets, so I was able to sneak them away to Cherilyn, who loves them!

 Monday, October 4

            It was a little chilly when I was sitting out on the breezeway at the hospital. Tressy’s mom came out to talk with me for a few minutes. She shivered and asked how I was able to stay out in the cold so long. I told her that while it was a bit chilly here, it can get really cold where I live. She then asked, “You come from China, because you look very Chinese?”

Thursday, October 7

            I admitted a patient to the hospital with malaria. When she first came in there wasn’t a bed ready so I asked her to sit in the waiting area while I made one up. When I got back to her she was sprawled, face down on the floor. I tapped her on the shoulder and told her that her bed was ready and she could go lie down. I went to the nurse’s room to gather my supplies for her IV, and when I returned she was still in the same place, on the floor. I helped her up and to her room. Seeing her lying there reminded me of years ago, when one of my friends had a hypochondria attack out in the hall, and had to be carried back to her room.

                I was so excited when I got her IV started and all of her meds running. It was my first completely solo IV!

Tuesday, October 12

            Monday evening while we were eating our dinner, Trixy poked her head in the window to let me know that Cyril was planning to write me a love song. Cherilyn and I had a good laugh about it, but didn’t really give it anymore thought.

               

Since this was my week off I slept in too late to go to worship. When Cherilyn came back to our apartment she was laughing almost uncontrollably. “I have something for you!” She said. This is what she gave me:

From Cyril

Moriah I love you. Moriah the first time that I saw you, my heart was filled with joy and that small, lovely, gentle voice from our Father in Heaven said that this should be my life’s partner. This should be the person I can put my trust in. We can live together as a family, acquire wealth, have children and live happily. Moriah will you marry me? Will we live together and see our children’s children? Please accept. Let me fulfill God’s in our life. Moriah when will we get married? Moriah you are the most beautiful lady in the world. Moriah I am in love with you. Are you also in love with me?  

                If you were wondering, my name is underlined on purpose. He wrote the song, but didn’t know how to spell my name, so left blanks where it should go. Today when he came to deliver the note, he asked Cherilyn how to spell it, and then inserted it into the blanks.

               

After I knew Cyril was gone, I went to the market for our weekly shopping spree.  It’s getting to be more enjoyable now that I know the vendors that I buy from. One woman, when I walked by her shop, called me by name, came out and visited for a few minutes then gave me a hug before going back to work.

Wednesday, October 13

                I was just finishing my breakfast when Cherilyn came in and handed me my second love song from Cyril. I thought she was joking, but no, it was real. He was actually planning on singing this one to me, so I’m very glad that I didn’t make it to worship.

               

Cherilyn asked me to come up to the hospital and help her look for veins on our newest patient. It took us about 15 minutes, and two tries to find a vein that we could get an IV in, but Cherilyn got it.

Bloggable Moments

Monday, September 20

            After a week of nights in the hospital, switching to days in the clinic was a nice change. Since not every patient needs to see a nurse, I spent most of my day at the front desk. We are their first stop when they arrive at the clinic. They give us their hospital book, and in it we record their blood pressure, temperature, pulse, weight, what they need to talk to the doctor about, their address, age, and occupation. Then, we also have a giant black book that we write their name, address, age, and occupation. We then charge them for the consultation, send them to the waiting room, put their book on the doctor’s desk, and start all over with the next patient. After the patient has seen the doctor, we record in the black book what the diagnosis is, and what the treatment will be. I know everyone in the waiting room had a few good laughs at my expense while I was talking to the patients. When Helen would ask questions I could hardly hear her, but obviously, it was loud enough because the patient heard her. When I would ask questions, I felt like I was shouting at them but they still didn’t get what I was saying. When they finally understood and replied, I had no clue what they had said. Several times I could hear the others in the room snickering at our communication problems.

Tuesday, September 21

            We had a little patient with malaria that came up to the hospital for a quinine drip. The poor little chap had such fragile veins that we ended up having to put his IV in three different times. The first two one of the other nurses started, but when the third one came around she told me that it was my turn. Thankfully, he had cried himself to sleep after the first IV, so I wouldn’t have to worry about him screaming and moving around while I was trying to stick a needle in his arm. I tied the tourniquet around his arm, cleaned the area with spirit, and picked up my needle. I placed it above the only thing that looked remotely like a vein, and looked at Lea for confirmation. She nudged it back a few centimeters to where I couldn’t see anything that even kind of looked like a vein, “here,” she told me. “Here?” I thought, “Shouldn’t I go where there is a vein?” I sent up a quick prayer for guidance, and gently pushed through the delicate skin. Almost immediately I got the flashback, I couldn’t believe it! Lea helped me tape it down, and we opened up the line to let the rest of his fluids infuse.

               

                Later, I gave another IV injection. It started out a little rough, but when I finished the man told me that was the most painless injection he’s ever had, and that I am a great nurse. I’m not sure if he was telling the truth, or if he was just being nice, but either way, he made my day!

Wednesday, September 22

            I spent most of the day at the hospital making sure our second inpatient was doing ok. Two weeks earlier he had tested positive for HIV. His is a very sad and probably fairly common story. He has to have several blood tests before he can get the free HIV medications, but he can’t afford the tests. His mother doesn’t even know what is wrong with him, and he doesn’t want to get the rest of his family tested. I’m sure it’s a very tough place to be in.    

            When the little boy with malaria had finished his second infusion of quinine, I removed the IV and taped a piece of cotton over the small dot of blood that had appeared.  Almost as soon as I’d finished, he reached down and removed the tape and cotton, wadded them up in his tiny fist, and then handed it back to me. He didn’t want any reminders of his stint in the hospital.

                Our last outpatient of the day was a young girl whose eye was bothering her. When I told Lea that we had someone there, she nudged me forward and said, “You consult her.” I had no idea what to do. I hadn’t even eavesdropped on a consultation before. What little I did know to do, quickly escaped my mind. Lea began telling me things to do, until she finally just took over the consultation. I was thankful and I’m sure our patient was too.  I tried to pay close attention to everything Lea asked or did so next time, I will know better what I need to do.        

                After work, Bill and Trixy invited the Peace Corps Volunteers, along with Cherilyn and me, over for games and food. We didn’t actually get much playing done, but we got to eat some fantastic peanut butter cookies, and had some good conversation. All in all it was a good night. 

Second Week in Cameroon

Sabbath, September 11, 2010

Since it wasn’t pouring rain Sabbath morning, we walked to Church. It is about a mile, so we got to see that part of Buea from a new prospective. Aside from the hard wooden benches, I really enjoyed the Church service. I love listening to the Cameroonians sing; they make such a joyful noise! The sermon was given in English, and translated to French. Whenever the translator was stuck on a word, the speaker would turn to her and repeat what he had said, only several decibels louder.

The pastor said that it wasn’t good to have so many single young people in the church, so one Sabbath he is going to change that. He will line up all the single girls on one side, and all the guys on the other and make us choose a life partner. He said he would even officiate the ceremony right there. So I may not be coming home, it all depends on what my new husband will want to do.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Every Sunday morning, Colwell’s invite all the “white men” over for fresh coffee.  This week the only ones that showed up were Carolyn and I. But it was lovely just to have a cup of coffee.

Since it was a beautiful day, we decided it would be great weather for drying laundry. It took us about an hour, and lots of elbow grease, to get all of our clothes scrubbed, rinsed, and wrung out. Nine months of laundry and I will have arms like Jillian Michaels. Yay! We hung our clothes on the line out back, and by Wednesday, they were all dry and ready to fold.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

On Monday morning we opened the hospital for overnight observation. Cherilyn worked 8 am- 6 pm, and I worked from 6 pm to 8 am for the week. We didn’t really advertise the opening so it was a very quiet week. Our first patient, JL, came on Tuesday evening right before our shift change. When I first came in the hospital Cherilyn gave me a warning, “Be careful, you might end up married to this guy.” That was all she said. No explanation, no words of wisdom on how to avoid a wedding. Just, “you might marry him.” The first thing that came into my mind was, “wow! I’ve got to see this guy! He must be REALLY hot!” However, when his adorably plump mother breezed through the doors, I discovered the real reason for Cherilyn’s warning. His mother  wrapped me in a huge bear hug and with a mischievous grin, whispered in my ear, “that is your husband, you marry him,” then she spun me around and pointed at her son.  I smiled politely, not really sure how to respond to her proposal.

JL had malaria, so we hooked him up to an IV of Quinine, B complex, and electrolytes. The IVs here are very different from the way we do IVs in the US. They don’t have catheters on the needles. Instead, they push the needle all the way in the vein and leave it. Also, there is no such thing as saline locked. When they are done with one infusion, they take the needle out, even though they will have to start another infusion four hours later. I tried starting an IV on him, but the first try I blew the vein, and the second stick I just couldn’t find the vein. I was very discouraged.

Later that evening JL’s mother came back with a bowl of what looked like pudding and plopped it down on the nurse’s station desk. “….Hot…?” She asked me. I had no idea what she wanted, so I pointed her to the other nurse who spoke French. She left, but was back soon, “Can you hot?” Now I had an idea what she wanted but I wasn’t sure how to accomplish it. She left again and returned shortly with Lea in tow. Lea explained to me that she wanted me to take it back to my apartment and heat it up for her. When I returned it, she gave me a hug and thanked me profusely.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

This week we had Bible study on the hospital breeze way so that all the nurses could attend. It was a nice time of relaxing, singing, and talking about God. I really enjoyed it. There were five Americans there, so we tried to teach everyone else the song, “Sing Hallelujah”. It was probably one of the funniest renditions of the song I’ve ever heard. I don’t think the locals were terribly impressed with our singing abilities, either.

Shortly after Bible study, JL was ready to check out. His mom came to take him home. She came over to the desk where Cherilyn and I were, thanked us for all we had done, and blew us kisses on her way out. She was such a cute little lady!

 Sabbath, September 18, 2010

Last night Cherilyn came up to the hospital and we had a sleepover! She read me some really funny books, while we listened to the church across the street make a joyful noise until well past midnight. Cherilyn, Dr. Trixy, and I stayed here today to watch the hospital, while everyone else went to the district get together in Dbantja (Not really sure on the spelling). We only had one patient come for an IV injection. I got the IV on the first try! I was so excited when I saw the flash back. Trixy came over for lunch and brought fresh pineapple and frozen bananas for dessert. Later we went out to the yard and picked some guava and sugarcane for our mid day snack. The sugarcane was absolutely delicious! Also, quite an adventure to eat. 

Welcome to Cameroon!

                I spent my summer telling people about the adventure to Africa that I was about to embark upon, but it didn’t really sink in that I was going to Africa. It finally hit me when Cherilyn and I climbed into the bus that would take us to Transfer T in the Brussels airport. While we were standing wedged between all the Cameroonian passengers about to board the same plane as me, it started becoming real. Cherilyn and I arrived safely in Buea, Cameroon on Monday evening. It was about 8 o’clock by the time we arrived at our apartment, and we could hardly keep our eyes open. Our room was a welcome sight after our hours of travel and sleepless nights.

                Tuesday was market day! For those of you who have had the pleasure of shopping at an outdoor market in Africa, you may be able to identify with my experience. We took two locals with us to help us find the best bargains. It had been raining all day, so the water was flowing freely through all the booths and across the paths. We must have been quite a sight: two locals strolling through the market like they owned the place, their umbrella’s held high, warding off the rain; and two totally lost, soaking wet, Americans sloshing through the mud, trying to keep up. We bargained, scrutinized merchandise, crossed streams, converted Francs to US currency, and avoided Cameroonians looking for an American wife for two hours. It was a very stressful afternoon, but well worth it when we got back to our room and took inventory of all we had purchased.

                Wednesday we talked to the Hospital staff and found out exactly what we are expected to do. It was a bit overwhelming, but also good to know what we need to accomplish. We hung out at the clinic, trying to help out wherever we could. I was able to assist Dr. Trixy while she removed a hemorrhoid. It was pretty cool. 

                Thursday Cherilyn was asked to help dress a little girl’s burns. The burns were about a month old so it was mostly scar tissue, and a small scab that needed to be cleaned up. I was asked to give an IM injection. It has been a while since I’ve given one, but it was ridiculous how ignorant I felt! It was like I’d never seen a needle or filled a syringe before. I drew blood later, and it wasn’t as bad, so hopefully I’m just a little rusty from the summer.

                We went to Colowell’s for Bible study last night. After everyone else left we did our best to make an American meal- Banana pancakes, and popcorn. I’m sure most of you have had the opportunity to watch popcorn popping on the stove, but I have never had that experience. I feel like I’ve really missed out, so last night I indulged and watched it. Twice. While we munched my freshly made popcorn, we watched a British detective show called, Foyle’s War. Towards the end of the show Trixy brought the kittens out, so we all got to cuddle one.

                Today, we only spent a few hours at the clinic. However, I was still able to get in on a little of the action that is constantly happening there. There was a four or five year old girl that needed a malaria test. The other nurse, Christiane, handed me the lancet, cleaned the finger with spirit (what they use for alcohol), and gestured for me to poke the finger she held up to me. I did. The little girl ripped her finger from Christiane’s grasp, and started bawling. Christiane immediately went after the bloody finger, the little girl fought bravely, but she was no match for our blood drawing team. Between the lab tech, Christiane, Cherilyn and the girl’s mother, they got the drop of blood needed for the test. While I stood by, traumatized by the tizzy I had thrown the little girl into, simply holding my lancet. When we said goodbye to the little girl, she wouldn’t even look at us. I don’t think she was too happy.

                Bill took Cherilyn and me to Limbe today. It is a coastal city, about 20 miles from Buea. We were on a mission to find a gas bottle for our new stove in our apartment. We scoured the city, top to bottom, front to back, and every other way, but couldn’t find one that the owners were willing to part with. However, it wasn’t a totally wasted trip because we got to eat at Chella’s. Bill says it is the best “empty” (vegetarian) food in Cameroon. I must say, it was very tasty! Cherilyn and I also got to take a little tour through Limbe Wildlife Center. We got to see how we compare in size to a gorilla 

                When we got back from Limbe, we went up and helped Bill wipe mold off the walls in the hospital. Many hands make light labor, so it didn’t take too long. On her evening walk, Trixy found a gas bottle for our stove, and Bill went to the carpenter’s house and picked up the stand for it. They helped us get it all set up, so tomorrow we will be able to make our own food, and won’t be living off the snacks our moms sent us.   


If you want to hear more about what we are doing, check out Cherilyn's blog: simplechacolife.blogspot.com 

Last Days of Summer

You know that time at the end of the summer when you realize that summer is really over? When you think back to all the plans that you had for the summer, and then realize how few you've actually accomplished?  Then you console yourself with everything you've done, that wasn't on your to-do list, and that makes you feel better somehow. Then you decide you can still get some of that list done! So you prioritize everything you didn't do, and decide that you can get at least the top ten in, before you are off to your next adventure -three days from now. The last few days of summer when you feel like you can do more in three days than you have all summer, and still have time to pack, and say your goodbyes. When you feel like you could take on the world - and win! That is where I find myself right now, and I am soaking up every minute of the last few days of summer.