Christmas Gift

While at the OPD this afternoon, there was a faint knock on the exam room door.  We opened it to find an old familiar face smiling at us.  It was Emmanuella who literally was our first patient when we arrived in 2010.  35 year old Emmanuella was in the hospital with HIV and Tuberculosis.  Her hospital course was complicated first by a blood clot in her leg and then a pulmonary embolus.  She nearly died only to recover and then sustain a worse insult.  She had a terrible stroke leaving her with complete paralysis of the right arm and leg and unable to speak.  Despite all these terrible things Emmanuella never lost her beautiful smile.  2 years ago at Christmas, we able to secure a wheelchair for her and she was able to go home for Christmas.

She eventually recovered enough to walk with the aid of a cane and can speak a few words.

Spending a few minutes with Emmanuella today was a wonderful Christmas gift for us.  Emmanuella’s determination and positive outlook is inspirational!

Merry Christmas!

Gertrude

Earlier this year Sister Xaveria made one of those good hires.  Gertrude joined the Pharmacy Staff after finishing a 3 year Pharmacy Technician course.  She always has a big smile on her face and is always helpful when called on.  The Dispensary is running better now with Gertrude and her assistant Agnes than when there were 3 people staffing it.

Gertrude grew up in Buea, the capital of the South West Province.  After attending Catholic primary and secondary schools she attended University and got her degree in Business Management.    Gertrude used her education and became a successful business woman working for several companies.  She traveled to a number of West African Countries representing the different companies she worked for.  I am sure Gertrude’s people skills enabled her to be a success in a field where not many women have traveled.

Gertrude always had an interest in Health care which prompted her to leave the business world and obtain her Pharmacy Technician Degree.  Njinikom is a much smaller community than she is used to living in but she is enjoying it here.  Gertrude main hobby is reading, particularly spiritual genre.  She is active in the hospital choir.  She is very proud of her 19 year old son who is following his mothers pursuit of education.  He is currently at University in Yaoundé working on his Masters Degree in Food Processing Engineering.

Gertrude will always be one of those valued people in any organization she is in a friend to all.

Bridget

32 year old Bridget arrived at the hospital last week complaining of fever, cough, diarrhea and weight loss.  She was extremely thin and weighed 99 pounds.  It was no surprise to us that her HIV test was positive as Bridget could have been this year’s poster child for Slim’s Disease.  She fortunately is getting better with antibiotics and her initial TB tests were negative.  It continues to amaze Terry and I how people endure their illnesses at home for such a long time before seeking medical care.

Shelma

In September 2011,  3 month old Shelma was admitted to the hospital with fever, cough and failure to thrive.  She was unfortunately diagnosed with HIV.  She showed no improvement despite a couple of antibiotic courses.  Without concrete evidence of Tuberculosis we began treatment for that and HIV.  I saw last saw her last December and while she had had still not gained any weight she no longer had fevers and was socially interactive.  Last week I was summoned to the HIV Treatment Unit.  One of the counselors asked me to look behind the door.  There sat Shelma on her mothers lap playing with her bottle of HIV medication.  She was talking and her mother proudly showed me how she was walking.  Our prayers to St Jude were surely answered in Shelma’s recovery.

Beltha

25 year old Beltha was diagnosed with HIV 2 months ago and was started on HIV medications.  She was doing well until she started developing severe headaches and fever last week.  She was admitted and a spinal tap revealed that she had Cryptococcal Meningitis.  Fortunately when Dr Laura was here last month she gave us nearly 3000 fluconazole tablets for our HIV patients.  This will literally save lives as most of our Crypto patients could not afford the medication once they left the hospital.

2 days later Beltha’s headache was no better and her vision was not clear.  This is caused from the pressure in her head affecting the vision area of the brain.  I did a spinal tap and released nearly 2 ounces of fluid which greatly helped her headache and completely restored her vision to normal.  She was even able to read the screen on her cell phone.  This morning Terry and I could tell her headache was back to full strength.  She tried to minimize it as I am sure she preferred not having another spinal tap.  It took little to convince her that another spinal tap was necessary and we took off another 2 ounces of spinal fluid after rounds.  She was still rather miserable when we finished at the hospital this afternoon but I am sure she will be better by tomorrow morning.

Sylvester

I was called last evening to evaluate a man who had been electrocuted.  39 year old Sylvester was working on a 240 volt electrical line that he thought was inactivated.  He wrapped his hand with a very thin plastic bag to protect himself from the current in case he was wrong about the circuit being live.  Unfortunately the circuit was very alive and the thin plastic did nothing to protect him.  He was thrown into the air and landed face down.  He was further unlucky that the wire remained in his hand and the current continued to travel thru his body until a passerby used a stick to dislodge the wire from his hand.

Sylvester had second and third degree burns the entire length of his right arm and then on his lower legs and feet where the current exited to the ground.  He was quite uncomfortable with his pain but was able to communicate well.  I was extremely concerned about Sylvester’s overnight prognosis.  To my pleasant surprise Sylvester was doing much better than expected today.  He was able to get up to go to the bathroom on his own.  His burns were cleansed and debrided today.  There was no sign of compartment syndrome in his arms or legs and his kidneys were working well.  Sylvester still has a long recovery road ahead of him but he is very lucky just to be on that road today.

Whittier Rerun

Dr. Laura and Germar rounding

Dr. Paula on ward

Last year Dr Laura Dooley from Whittier, California spent a month here in Njinikom.  Laura supervises the Tropical Medicine component of the Family Practice Residency Program at Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital.  The experience was good for the 2 residents who accompanied her so Dr Laura is back, this time with Dr Paula.  They are managing all the inpatients on the medical wards.  This has freed Terry and I up to spend more time in the OPD.  It is always nice to have American colleague available to discuss the more difficult cases that we manage.

Dr Laura’s husband Mike has been busy helping with the never ending maintenance problems.  I am am especially happy that Mike was able to devise and install a snake guard for the front door of our house.