So today started off good. I made my daily morning rounds in the ER and on the Orthopaedic patients upstairs. Everyone seemed to be doing ok overnight. One of the ladies who I saw in the ER last night (I don't think I mentioned her in my blog yesterday) was still there and had been there all night...will tell you about that later. I asked the nurses why she was still there and if she had gotten the xrays that I had asked for last night and no one seemed to know the answer. I was told that she would get it this morning...
Clinic was ok today. I'm not sure if I told you guys my weekly schedule: MWF I am operating and on TTh I'm in the clinic all day. I'm getting more efficient seeing patients and am moving along well. This guy came in today with a ring avulsion injury to his finger-he was wearing a ring when his finger got caught on a rail or something on the top of a truck and the ring got caught as he fell and snatched all of the tissue off his bone 2 days ago. I ended up giving the guy an injection to numb his hand and amputated the finger right there in the clinic-it would've cost him too much money to take him to the OR so I just did it there. He was so grateful! His companion who was with him pulled me aside and asked me how much it would cost to perform the procedure. When I told her not to worry about it she was so happy. I can't front though-that was the first time I amputated someone's finger in the clinic under local anesthesia!!! You should've seen the look on his face while he just sat there wide awake watching his finger being cut off...
After clinic was over I went back over to the trauma ER to check on the lady. They told me she had just died. I asked if she ever got her xrays and abdominal ultrasound-they told me that her family never came to pay the money for the tests! Now everyone who reads this blog and knows a little about me knows that I rarely get upset or short tempered with people, but today I was about to let loose in that ER!!! The patients, who always are calling me when I come into the ER, even were quiet and just had this look on their faces when they saw my response after being told what had happened to the lady (there is no privacy-everything is just out in the open). This young middle-aged woman died b/c she didn't have money to pay for an xray!!! She probably had some internal bleeding; And it likely could have been picked up if she had gotten a pelvic xray and abdominal ultrasound early on!! Granted she may have had some other process going on and maybe even if she did get the studies, who knows if there was something that we could've done, but the point is her treatment and diagnosis was delayed b/c she didn't have the money!! Man I was sooooooo hot!!!!! And then one of the nurses tells me "well doc if you really want someone to get an xray done you can just go back there and tell them to do it b/c it's an emergency." I'm just like are you serious?!! Isn't this an "emergency" room?!!!! I was polite about it, but everyone in there-everyone-knew that I was not pleased! This system is flawed. So flawed. If these patients can't pay the money then just have them do some community service around the hospital or something! Clean up some old musty room or warehouse around here until their bill is met! There are ways around this! This is supposed to be the tertiary referral center for all of Liberia and people are dying like this?!! Come on man! I'm keeping a list of suggestions for the general administrator. Ok, enough venting. On to the better part of the day.
So my clippers don't work here so I can't cut my hair. I went to barbershop and got my first Liberian haircut!! It was in a little box room with a fan-basically outside. The guy jacked me up though!! I can't front-I was even laughing at myself when I saw it!! I wish I could post it so you guys could get a good laugh! This dude got my hairline lookin' like George Jefferson!!!! I'm going to another place next time!! I'm glad Justin is not here anymore, cuz I know he'd be clownin'!! And it was him who even told me about the guy!! Jive turkey!! I'm sure he got bus'up like that too when he first got here so he was probably playing a joke on me!! Good one!!
It's been brought to my attention that many of you don't know who Justin is as I've referred to him alot in my recent blogs. Justin was my chief resident back at Sinai and is currently doing his fellowship in Texas. He was 3 years ahead of me in our residency program and was someone that took me under his wing during our time together when I was a junior resident. He's a real good brother and we've been friends ever since. We have many similar interests and have much in common. He spent almost 1 whole year here in Liberia between the time he finished his residency and started his fellowship.
Anyways, I'm continuing to stay positive and I know that I am helping and touching lives even if in a small way. Even those little touches makes everything else worthwhile...
Night everyone
Greetings Brother Doctor,
ReplyDeleteThanks for keeping us apprised of your experiences. I've been reading your posts with much delight. Each of them bring me back to my time in Africa. A couple of questions:
1.) What are most patients you see coming in for? From your reports, it seems like car accidents are cause for a huge proportion of injuries.
2.) Comparatively speaking: How does this trip contrast (so far) to your experience in South Africa? Reason I ask is because this time you're not with a cohort, are more mature in career and life, etc.
Much love bro!
Marc