Hi all! I'm settling in to life on the ship! I had two training shifts this past week, then my first two shifts this weekend. Because we only have one surgeon on board, the hospital is still pretty calm. It's been a nice way to ease into working on the ship!
This week we mostly took care of patients who needed thyroid surgery. Due to malnutrition, especially a lack of iodine, goiters (or an enlargement of your thyroid) are more common here. Most of the patients have had part or all of their thyroid removed and stay in the hospital for a day or two after to make sure everything looks ok. Some of the patients I took care of had been living with a large lump in their neck for over 10 years. I commented to one patient that I was impressed with his ability to sleep in the noisy wards (there aren't any private rooms- 6+ people are sleeping in the same room). He said that he was able to sleep so much better without the lump on his throat that the noise didn't matter!
I got to be a pediatric nurse this weekend as I was assigned a 2 month old baby! She has a cleft lip and is hoping to have surgery, but is only 2.5kg (5.5lbs). On ship, all the patients have to be at least 3kg to receive surgery, in order to decrease the chance of complications. So this little baby came in to get help with feeds to fatten her up! For the first time I was glad that I had been floated down to work in the NICU at Children's (something I always hated!) so this wasn't the first time taking care of a kiddo that small. I think all the adult nurses on our shift were also glad!
Other than work, I've been getting off the ship and exploring Dakar a little bit. Tonight I'm starting Wolof classes- that's most common language spoken here. We'll see how that goes!
PS -if you want a postcard- send me your address!
You look great!
ReplyDeleteIs the ice cream as good as Crescent Ridge? Glad it is going well. Keep up the writing
ReplyDeletenot as good but it hit the spot!
DeleteThe blog is great. Keep sending new posts please!
ReplyDeleteHi Kat, thanks for update snd that your going well. The ship looks like a comfortable place. Those Starbucks prices are hard to beat. I’d be there often. Looks like fun adventure! Take care. P
ReplyDeleteAre those floating docks? What kind of tree is that? These pics are so cool! Fun times in Dakar!
ReplyDeleteI think the docks are secured to the ground, not floating, they are pretty large and all the goods from the neighboring ships are stored on them until the are relocated, so they hold lots of weight. not sure about the tree, but I'm trying to find out! it's impressive!
DeleteKatherine I was laughing so much at the Starbucks prices! Keep the blog going!
ReplyDelete