Phew!
Successfully performed my first Caesarian Section in South Africa yesterday - healthy mother and baby and a very relieved surgeon (...ie me!). I lost about 2kg in sweat during the op i was so nervous and the theatre lights didn't help, i wasn't a pretty sight by the end! That was with one of the other docs and they now say i'm good to go it alone.......whoooaa i said - this is a major operation and i will definately be insisting on some more help before i do it alone.
Then today i was in charge of the Emergency department and Out Patients as we were a little short staffed. That is basically the major problem here - a shortage of doctors, nurses, equipment (the ECG machine is out of the dark ages!!). Still, i'm loving the challenge and am aware of my limitations.
Outside of work i am having my car delivered on Monday (a 2nd hand Vauxhall (Opel) Corsa) which will bring back memories as i passed my test in this little beast 13 years ago.....first time for those of you wondering!! I then plan to scoot around KwaZuluNatal (KZN) at weekends and enjoy some safaris and scuba diving. Plus i'm off to the 20-20 Cricket World Cup in Durban in September....nice!
Its winter here but is still in the early 20s most days. Can get pretty chilly at night as we are up in the hills, and the sun goes down at 6pm so evenings are long and drawn out. Thanks again for the wireless radio as SA tv is abysmal....
Friday 31 August 2007
Wednesday 29 August 2007
Blue Stars
Sanibonani!
Kunjani? Right that's enough Zulu...i don't understand it during the day so i'm not going to pretend to you that i am fluent! Now that i'm getting used to the 'clicks' and 'tuts' and am learning some slang its not that hard.....yeah right!
Speaking and understanding some Zulu is pretty crucial as i am very very rural here at Nkandla in KwaZulu Natal. Imagine a ramshackle village, surrounded by mud huts, with a hospital, post office, bank and football stadium and that is Nkandla. I'll post some pictures when i have replaced the camera that some baggage-handler nicked out of my bag!! The scenery is stunning and the hills in Zululand are immense, yet everyone walks....and the poverty is mindboggling. It is already reminding me how lucky i have been to grow up in the UK!
Yet the people seem happy. I am constantly laughing with colleagues and even people who i don't know, i think it must be a survival strategy to try and remain positive when life contains so little. I am finding it hard already though to see so many patients with Tuberculosis and HIV, the numbers are staggering and we had a case of XDR-TB (extremely drug resistant-TB) here this week which basically kills you in 1 month!
Outside work - i have signed for the local football team called the 'Blue Stars'. On my debut i sustained a black eye from a loose elbow - a welcome from the locals! But i must have done alright as i was picked for the next round and then scored in a Penalty shoot-out in the SemiFinal. The wolfwhistling was pretty intimidating when you know you are such an outsider to this world and most of the crowd was drunk! Now i know what Cyrille Regis had to put up with!
Thanks for reading, i'll post again soon....
Kunjani? Right that's enough Zulu...i don't understand it during the day so i'm not going to pretend to you that i am fluent! Now that i'm getting used to the 'clicks' and 'tuts' and am learning some slang its not that hard.....yeah right!
Speaking and understanding some Zulu is pretty crucial as i am very very rural here at Nkandla in KwaZulu Natal. Imagine a ramshackle village, surrounded by mud huts, with a hospital, post office, bank and football stadium and that is Nkandla. I'll post some pictures when i have replaced the camera that some baggage-handler nicked out of my bag!! The scenery is stunning and the hills in Zululand are immense, yet everyone walks....and the poverty is mindboggling. It is already reminding me how lucky i have been to grow up in the UK!
Yet the people seem happy. I am constantly laughing with colleagues and even people who i don't know, i think it must be a survival strategy to try and remain positive when life contains so little. I am finding it hard already though to see so many patients with Tuberculosis and HIV, the numbers are staggering and we had a case of XDR-TB (extremely drug resistant-TB) here this week which basically kills you in 1 month!
Outside work - i have signed for the local football team called the 'Blue Stars'. On my debut i sustained a black eye from a loose elbow - a welcome from the locals! But i must have done alright as i was picked for the next round and then scored in a Penalty shoot-out in the SemiFinal. The wolfwhistling was pretty intimidating when you know you are such an outsider to this world and most of the crowd was drunk! Now i know what Cyrille Regis had to put up with!
Thanks for reading, i'll post again soon....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)