New experiences

I did rounds today on maternity, and it was an eye opener. It seems like every second patient has gestational hypertension (pre-eclampsia) and every fourth patient has had seizures (eclampsia). Saw a 26 week baby in her mother's arms being fed by an NG tube. Lots of them have malaria, almost all of them are anemic. There were 3 sets of twins. One set delivered vaginally at 34 weeks, a second they had to deliver the the second baby by cesarean, and the third set is in labour right now. Also There are 2 patients with cancer of the placenta on the ward right now. It is a truly amazing amount of pathology! The Sage Femmes (Midwives) are very helpful, and the rust is starting to come off my french.

The first surgery quickly turned in to a cancer case, and I was fortunate to have a general surgeon scrubbed with me. With a significant amount of effort we were able to do a good job of dealing with her cancer, but she will need close watching post operatively and then chemotherapy. They have a residency training program here, and the resident that trained with us is originally from Burundi. Apart from his native tongue, he also speaks Hausa (the language here in Niger), French, English, and Swahili. And I think he is in his 20's.

I am being treated really well here, all the staff and patients are very friendly. I have been hosted a few times to lunch and dinner, but I think I will have to start cooking for myself soon. Yes, I know how to cook, just not blue ribbon meals. I am on call to night, so I will not be blogging to long. Perhaps some more tomorrow.

Oh, did I mention the geckos? They are everywhere, and some of them are tiny, but some of them are probably more than a foot long! They all run away when you get close, but I will try to get a picture in the next few days.