A normal day.

Looking over SIM Hospital Galmi

What is a normal day in Galmi? Well for me it starts with a run at 0600. Then check the emails from the team leader to find out what is going on this week. Bible study is from 0700 to 0730, so if I had a short run, or slept in, I can go to that. Rounds start at 0800. We pray for the day and all the patients we are looking after and then we visit all the rooms. We start in USI “Unite Soins Intensive” basically the Maternity ICU. Check the vitals on all the patients, check the incisions on those that have had surgery, adjust their medications. Decide if any of them need internal medicine consults or surgical consults. Some of them have incisional infections and have to go back to the treatment area to have the incision opened and cleaned.

Then we go to the NICU and weigh the premature babies to make sure they are gaining weight. Usually we feed them with a nasogastric tube if they are too small to cup feed. Once they get to 1500g (about 3.3 lbs) they can go home with weekly assessments at the hospital. Once they get to 2kg they can be followed up in the out patient pediatric clinic.

Maria and Saadi

The rest of the wards are post op surgical wards and post partum care. We have 1 hysterectomy going home today and one going home tomorrow. The 2 ladies from yesterday are both doing well at the moment. There was one twin delivery yesterday, and there is 1 D+C planned for today.

Then it is off to the outpatient ward to do lots of ultrasounds. Are they pregnant? How far along is the pregnancy? How is the baby doing? Do they have high blood pressure? Do they have malaria? Those are the usual questions that need to be answered. Sometimes the questions are not so easy, and sometimes the answers are hard to come by.  The surgeries fit in wherever they fall.

Countryside around Galmi

There is usually a break from 1 pm to 3 pm (the hottest part of the day), and then the clinic starts up again from 3-6 pm. On Tuesdays (today) and Thursdays, the clinic runs until 2 pm and then we finish early. That allows for some other meetings to occur in the afternoon before dinner.

I have been invited over often for Dinner, and have had a great chance to get to know some of the missionaries here. The food is amazing (I have had pistachio ice cream among other things!) an the conversation is even better.

Then it is usually off to bed. I find that the first call to prayers in the morning (0500) usually wakes me up, so getting to bed early is helpful.  Sometimes the white noise from the fans helps, but not always.  There you have it. A "normal" day in Galmi.

Supermoon

Psalm 113:3

From the rising of the sun to its setting. The name of the Lord is to be praised!.