Hilary Stovall Blog
Enjoying the Calm
Sorry there's no anything too terribly exciting to report today. It was a pretty chill day at the hospital, but it went by so much faster than the other crazy days. It was weird. But rounds in the maternity ward this morning were very informative. We were able to learn a lot from the intern who was taking us around, and we were able to check on the mothers we helped prepare for c-section yesterday. The mother we helped through labor yesterday made it through her c-section fine. The baby had to be admitted to the newborn unit for birth complications, but I'm confident that the baby will be out and healthy soon. This will be a nice change for the mother, who has had to go through two previous abortions. There was also a woman that came in by ambulance while we were doing rounds that had a breech presentation with her labor, meaning the baby was turned around the wrong way to deliver, but it wasn't but maybe 30 to 45 minutes until she had delivered. We saw a nurse come out with the baby, so we all went in to see the mother who we passed on our way in since she was walking out. We were all so impressed that she just gave birth, then right away got up to walk out into the ward, looking healthy and peppy as ever. She had also given birth to a nearly ten pound baby, which is a big baby anyway, but definitely a big baby around here. There was also a woman we met in doing rounds who had a c-section that resulted in a stillbirth. They think the stillbirth was probably caused by her visiting a midwife to massage her stomach which may have caused the placenta to detach from the uterine wall. This was the woman's first pregnancy and it was sad since she seemed like she was really trying to do the right thing in her thinking to have a healthy baby, and it just ended in a complete loss. Many of the midwives here lack proper training and are unable to properly care for pregnant women and even the babies after birth, so many babies die. It's sad. We were also able to see that the 15 year old girl that was going into heart failure yesterday was able to recieve a transfusion this afternoon. It was such a frustrating process with her because even after the doctors were finally doing something, the lab technicians were being frustrating. Her first blood sample clotted and couldn't be used, so they took another sample and the lab people lost it. So then a third blood sample was taken and we went to the lab to actually watch the lab tech test the blood so we could make sure it was taken care of. Luckily it all turned out ok so she could receive the transfusion. I'm hoping that she looks even better tomorrow after the transfusion from today.
Babies!
I finally got to see a delivery today! The woman giving birth was so small though. Her stomach looked in no way like it was holding a 9 month old baby and she was tiny herself. I was prepared for a very low birthweight baby, but the baby ended up being a normal size. Not sure where it was hiding in her little stomach. The baby had a bit of distress and came out slightly blue, but she finally starting crying and gettin air to her lungs and was a nice pink baby in a matter of minutes. Mama and baby were both doing well when I left this afternoon. The mom also has another 3 year old son that is soooo precious. He always has a huge smile on his face and it makes my day. I've seen him around because the mom was staying at the maternity shelter on site at the hospital during her pregnancy. I took lots of pictures of him on my phone so I'll try to get them up once I get back home. I thought I was going to see another delivery this afternoon before I left the hospital for the day, but the woman was making poor progress, so they had to take her in to an emergency C-section as we were leaving. I'm glad we got to stay and sort of help her through her labor, though. She was very uncomfortable and we just tried to help her know that someone was there for her. No one typically accompanies the mothers in deliveries in Kenya, like the husband or close friend or something. They typically just have to go through it all by themselves with no moral support. Today was also one of the first days that I truly felt like I was of assistance to someone. We were on rounds and there was 15 year old girl we noticed that was in visible distress. She was breathing very rapidly and wasn't very coherent. There was a whole group of doctors hovering around the patient they were focused on at the time, and no one would help this girl because they thought she wasn't their patient, even though she really was. Two other girls in my program group and I were struggling trying to check her vitals. We don't have much training, so it was kind of interesting, but we at least finally got the attention of some doctors to come help. She was going into heart failure and had fluid in her lungs. Her heart rate was up to 156 and respirations were at 80 res/minute if that gives you any idea of how she was struggling. She got some meds and needed a transfufion, although there was probably not any blood available. We went a checked on her at the end of the day and she was looking a million times better than earlier, so that was a really encouraging note to leave on at the end of the day. I also put in a catheter today, so there's another skill I now have under my belt. And for those who may not have seen my pictures yesterday, we went to the Gede ruins outside of Malindi and got to feed lots of monkeys! It was sooo much fun. The ruins were pretty cool too. It was an abandoned town from around 1500. They don't know why the town was abandoned. But the ruins make for a really gorgeous historical monument. We also went to Watamu afterwards to the Ocean Sports resort for dinner overlooking the ocean. It was such an amazing view and the dinner was soooo good. It was a great past two days and I'm looking forward to what the rest of this week will bring!
The Joys in Life
Spending the day at the children's home today was probably one of the best days I've had in a long time. All the kids were so happy and in turn made me happy, so it was just a completely joy-filled day free of any worries or stress. The children's home we went to is called Mama Anakuja, and is sponsored by an Italian woman. The accomodations are really nice. I was very impressed. The children's home houses 118 children from ages ranging from 4 months to 20 years. We started out the day going to buy just a few things like candy, cookies, drinks, and diapers that the orphanage was needing. When we came back, it was lunch time. Some of us helped wash all 100+ dishes and I was really amazed at how efficient everything was in cleaning up. We had an assembly line going for the dishes and it didn't take long at all to wash everything. After lunch, I went out to play some soccer. The kids are SO good. And it was so fun. Later we went inside to find that everyone was gathered for a sort of dance party with music. The kids are all also really good dancers. I'll try to get some videos up on my page. I was drawn in to the dance floor by one of the women on staff. It ended up being really fun and we were able to get a lot of people up to dance. The kids sitting next to me loved my camera and the video recording function. All the kids in general were just so entertained by our cameras. For a while, I wasn't sure if I was going to get my camera back because one of the boys ran off with it to take all sorts of random pictures. One of the guys in my group brought a polaroid camera which was a huge hit. They all wanted an instant picture they could keep and wanted pictures with anyone and everyone. Later they discovered that they could be twirled around and lifted off the ground, so we were spinning kids around for a while. It definitely wore all of us out. But at the end of the day, the exhaustion was well worth what brought it on. I think I had a smile on my face the entire day just because the kids are so sweet and incredible. They loved to just come up and stand with me and hold my hand. It's the small joys like that that should be treasured. The little things help to show others that someone really cares about them. My prayer for them is that they never feel unloved or unwanted. I can't imagine what it would be like to not have parents in your life, but they seem to just live life to the fullest regardless of their circumstances. What I would give to have the joy of a child again...
A Bit of Sensory Overload...WARNING: This note may not be for those with sensitive stomachs
Today was a really long day...I was so glad it was Friday by the end of the day. It started off ok with a nice talk on international health with an army doctor from the U.S. He gave some really good insight on how a lot of times we hurt villages more with foreign aid than help them because we often don't aim to help them improve what they already have. We just shove our own ideas on them. What really helps them is when we help them to help themselves. Don't just give them food, give them seeds to grow their own food. Don't give water, build a well so they can sustain a healthy water supply. I thought this was all a very good perspective we need to have on things. In going through the rounds I got to draw blood from a patient that was super easy. But what started off as a pretty chill morning changed very quickly. The doctor we were following around took us to a post-mortum patient to watch an autopsy. I don't think I was anywhere near prepared for the experience at all. They think this man was a suspect in his town and beaten to death. He was middle aged and had probably been dead for around 3 or 4 days because he still had a bit of rigor mortis but it was definitely wearing off. His skin was deteriorating and his legs were green and orange where they were decomposing. The smell was completely overwhelming and without a face mask I don't know that I would have been able to remain in the room. I don't think there is a smell on earth worse than a decomposing body. And when they cut him open to look at the inside to rule out other causes of death, the smell intensified. I don't know how people can deal with that all the time. The doctor doing the autopsy only had a pair of gloves on and that was it. Luckily the autopsy didn't last long. I was very appreciative of the fresh air outside. Then right after we left that, Mary and I went back to the labor ward only to come upon a woman who had just given birth. They think she had a torn cervix and she was losing massive amounts of blood. When we walked in, she was sitting in a huge puddle of her blood on the bed, and there was still a lot coming out. What concerns me is that the hospital doesn't have access to much blood, so she may not be able to get a transfusion to replace all the blood she lost. And the baby ended up having respiration problems and was admitted to the neonatal unit. Once we made it out of the labor ward, we were pretty much done for the day from sensory overload. We went to go watch another guy in our group pull some teeth in the dental office because it seemed like a much less stimulating thing to watch. We got to relax after leaving the hospital with gelato from a great shop we found in town and in laying out by the pool. We are going out tonight and then we are supposed to go to an orphanage tomorrow to play with kids all day. This weekend will be nice to recover and be fresh to start back at the hospital Monday.
In the hospital.
Students in the theater.
Swimming lesson.