As I used to say to my kids, "You can also learn from other people's mistakes." So, let this be a lesson to you, do NOT have anything liquid in the vicinity of your computer. Really.
The Board of Directors for the hospital is meeting today, so there are many people here from around the region and the world for this. I was invited by the CEO, Dr. Daniel Salpou to join some of the medical staff and board members for dinner last night. Dr. Salpou's wife is also a chef and certified caterer and she prepared a feast that was fabulous; grilled fish and chicken, several fresh salads (the avocados here are to die for), fried plantains and potatoes, rice, couscous, sauteed spinach, and a caramel flan for dessert. It was fun to meet people, and socialize. We walked back to our house, admiring the brilliant full moon, and picking out constellations. Star gazing here is stellar!
Update on Saliou: he looks better everyday, in large part to the care and attention he is getting now, and has he has even started physical therapy with Madam Danke, the new physiotherapist here. She is married to Dr. Danke, a surgeon from Cameroon who just returned here to practice after completing his surgical fellowship in Germany. (her pic is below). Per report, his wound is filling in. I hope he can stay for a while here, just to give him a better chance for a better recovery. My fear is that he will return home and his condition will deteriorate, just due to the conditions he lives in.
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| The patient we finally found yesterday. Very end stage cervical cancer. Very little support at home, being cared for primarily by her elderly, frail sister and her son. |
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| L: the guy who heads up the pharmacy (I think), the patient is someone Remi and William see at home who has a paraplegia from TB, and on the right is Nicole Danki, the physiotherapist. It is huge that she is here. There is a great need for her expertise. |
Hi again Kerstin,
ReplyDeleteSorry to have been "away" for almost a week. I've been so busy at work and with my second interim job running the state hospice and palliative care organization that I drag myself home about 9, have dinner, a glass or wine, and go to bed. I still love your blog. I am so sorry you lost Sali. I was looking forward to seeing a photo of him (or her -- probably impossible to tell). I am glad you honored my old friend with the name. What a global world we live in. Today I got an email from Ethiopia sent by a retired MD friend who is there to implement a palliative care service. She wrote to give me permission to use in the spring appeal letter I am writing a glowing tribute about our care that she emailed me a couple of weeks ago. Her friend only lived two hours at our residence, but she said we helped her friend and her friends kids tremendously (and her too) and that the post-death care was simply stunning. Isn't it amazing that I should know two people at the same time doing palliative care in Africa? In addition, yesterday I got an email from a high school classmate in Argentina, thanking me from a Christmas greeting I sent out belatedly (a You Tube video of children in a remote Alaskan village performing with signs the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah). The world has become so small.
I love your recent stories. Please tell Saliou he has a friend in Michigan too who wishes him nothing but the best. This week I was at my dentist's getting preparation for a crown, and I told his assistant all about your trip. She was so impressed and admires your courage and compassion. The pictures are so touching. You look very moved by the woman with cervical CA. Wonderful that you have a physiotherapist too!
I have an acquaintance here who is a filmmaker. She has produced and narrated a film about malaria in Malawi that is now playing on PBS, about a Michigan State U doctor, who is going there year after year to improve malaria care. Would you mind if I share some of your blog with her? Your story is so powerful that it should be a book or even a documentary. What a good writer you are!
It's terrific that you have been having some excellent meals there. The time has flown by, hasn't it? One week to go? I see you going back again and again. Thanks for sharing it so beautifully with your friends, Kerstin. It is a marvelous adventure.
Hugs,
Lars
I am so glad for you that your computer survived. I know that lesson about liquids and computers well, having had it drummed into my head by a teacher years ago.