SENSORY OVERLOAD!

July 4th: Firstly, happy independence day! I love that I can picture what everybody is up to back home; it almost feels like I'm there... boat rides, flags, watermelon and arrowwood fireworks! I miss you all! The Kenyan's didn't really blast "I'm proud to be an American" today. How odd right? ;)

One of the Irish gents (who's names are Mark, Andrew and Simon) asked me during one of our many culture comparisons, "What is it about that American pride? It just seems as though Americans are always loving their country and making it vocal!" Its true. And I didn't really know how to explain it other than its just a part of the culture, a part of the way we were raised? I tried to say that it is our way of bonding together despite our differences, especially in tough times. It's a tough idea to sum up, but it is a great part of the US in my opinion! It's heartwarming. :)

Now to the nitty gritty of my first day in the hospitals:

Today was our first day without Betty (our program coordinator -she went to lead to Malindi program for a couple of weeks) and we miss her already. She was EXCELLENT. I haven't a single negative thought or word to say about her! But we got to the hospital and had to pay our hospital fees (10000 shillings) and fill out some paperwork. It took about an hour just due to inorganization, a part of the Kenyan culture I've just begun to accept. Timeliness is not a priority and rushing is never necessary. People here just... live. No hustle and bustle like is the norm in the US; its refreshing at times but a little aggravating at times like these.

We got to pick 4 wards, I chose:

Surgery
Pediatrics
Maternity
Casualties (which is ER)

Following, an administrator shuttled me right on over to the surgery ward -ward 8 here at Coast General Hospital and lined me up with Mohammed, a intern physician (like a resident in the US, but does everything on their own).

Let me just set the scene here: Ward 8 is the orthopedics ward. It is basically just a long hallway with beds side by side by side by side. No curtains in between patients. No sanitary precautions. No air conditioning. It is the worst smelling place I have ever entered in my entire life. Many flys were buzzing about, floors were unswept. Looking around at the various patients (all with serious casts, external fixators, or gaping wounds) it became clear to me that today might be an interesting day. Toto, were not in Kansas anymore!

Mohammed was going to do surgery here today which was initially a little confusing to me, since it was basically just a warehouse of battered up patients -I didn't know where he would get his surgery supplies. All of a sudden a nurse rolls in a tray of scalpels, tweezers, gauze strips and the works. I was very excited to see how he was going to be resourceful in such horribly unsanitary conditions! The doctor unwrapped a patient's current gauze strips and began to examine this HUGE open wound on the calf of this man.

He also had two broken legs (one of which I would later see the bone). The man on the bed next to him (literally, side by side) had a similar situation. This neighbor had an open wound on his thigh and he also had a broken hip. All of these injuries seemed to be infected, unkept and painful! What was interesting is that nobody was groaning in pain or anything. I asked the doctor "do they give these patients a lot of pain medication?" only to find out all they seem to use is Ibuprofen! A high pain tolerance for these folks, holy kazoa!

Additionally, I came to learn that about 99% of the patients in this ward were here from car accidents. -a detail that does not surprise me in the slightest!

The doctor takes out the scalpel and begins to cut off a giant infected scab on the calf of this man. The man is squirming in pain. The layer of puss and blood is emerging underneath and I'm beginning to feel the heat of this room. I've realized lately that I am a bit squeemish at the sight of gory things like this, but had hoped it would improve (especially considering my medical aspirations!! :/...).

As i began to get nauseated by the sight, I tried telling myself: it's not that bad. it's not gross. this is a normal thing to see... but suddenly my vision began to get splotchy. I knew I didn't want to push it (for more reasons than one) but mainly because I would be eternally disgusted with myself if I were to faint and fall over onto the horribly unsanitary ground. I had been careful not to touch ANYTHING and the thought of my body touching the floor made my state of mind worse. The ward was open to the outside and I quickly stepped away towards the opening for a breeze. Tough luck finding anything other than humidity and stuffy conditions around here, but the wide open sky helped quite a bit.

I was so frustrated with myself at this point. My brain is thinking: this is so cool to see, what an experience! But my body decides to react to this intense 'sensory overload' (as Whitney called it later). So after I'm feeling about 50% better (vision returned) I walked back to the patients bed to watch. I instantly felt nauseous again but tried to tough it out a little bit longer. This time my forehead was sweating a Nile river and my vision was going faster. Poor choice to push it, miss Ann Bergstrand! As the last of my vision was fading to blackness (nooo exaggeration), I was lucky that I had just stepped out because my feet knew where to take me despite my lack of vision. I had to lean on the railing once I got outside to maintain my balance. I was very shaky and hot and thirsty and my stomach was knotted. It was horrible. (also notable that there were patient beds situated outside under the awning of the roof, on the sidewalk)

I regained my composure and told the doctor I just wasn't feeling well and that I needed to go get a bottle of water. He smiled and chuckled at me and said, "I felt uneasy about this stuff at first too, I'll see you later."

Whitney showed me on our way in where I could buy a bottle of water and I went to pick one up. She had texted me because she was getting a tour from an elective africa employee at the hospital. I told her where I was and she came and joined me for some water. She has been experiencing the same effects that I had (this was her second day) and so we could completely relate to each other. It is frightening, really, when you are hoping to go into this field. I love every second of the opportunity to see it in action, but my body wants to reject what I am seeing! I am praying that one of two things happens: 1. this goes away really fast, or 2. I find a new calling! haha I guess we'll see!

At this point I had pushed it, and my body continued to feel a bit 'off', just not quite right. Very queazy. I was debating going back to the compound to give myself a break from all of this sensory madness but instead...

I decided to go explore the main theater with Whitney, where MAJOR surgeries take place. Wise choice? maybe not, but I just didn't want to pass up the opportunity to see something amazing! I knew some tonsil surgeries were planned for the day so I figured I'd give them a go! (I scrubed up into scrubs that were probably less sanitary than my own!)

Instead, I stumbled into some other invasive surgery. A woman had a six inch DEEP incision made above her belly button. I'm still not sure what they had been doing because I walked in towards the end, but it did not effect me! I saw layers of adipose tissue, organs, the whole bit and it didn't make me queazy! I was ecstatic! it was really neat... and really different than I expect it would be like in the states: there were probably 15 people in the operating room (one reading the newspaper!). I watched for about 30 minutes and only began to feel a little sick towards the end when they were suturing her back together. The doctors all talk in Swahili so you don't really learn what is going on unless you ask and I was still a frightened little new-bee so I just watched!

I don't really understand why the superficial injury made me so much more uncomfortable than the deep incisions made in the main theater. The main theater was air conditioned, which may have helped, but it still doesn't make much sense. I'm hoping that each day I make some progress and leave here being able to stomach it all!

We had planned (with our new coordinator, Jevis) to leave the hospital around 1 pm on this first day and I was more ready than I thought I would be when that time rolled around! We waited for our tuktuk and the six of us went on home.

We decided that we would all try Haller Park again this afternoon since the feedings start around 3 pm. We got a quick lunch and hopped in another tuktuk to Haller Park. It was 800 shillings to get in which I thought was a bit steep at first, but it turned out to be worth every penny! The park itself is actually in an old quarry which they introduced wildlife into (plants and animals) with cute little sidewalks. The atmosphere is almost like a jungle, it was neat! We rushed to the giraffe area since they feed first and got there with plenty of time. They have little pellet things to feed them, just hold out your hand and they eat right out of it! Giraffe's have HUGE tongues. They are very slobbery, but very cute! I actually saw one use its tongue to clean out its nostrils! haha it was absurd! From then we got a tour guide and he led us to the Hippos and crocodiles, snakes and turtles, and MANY MANY monkeys! It was quite the place!

So many things happened today, I feel like a novel writer! but finally the rest of our Mombasa crew arrived! 4 more people from Ireland, two from Norway, one from England, and 2 more from the states. We had a full house and it was GREAT! I spent some time outside talking to Sylvanos, the maintenance man around the compound, and he is so precious. We talked politics. haha He explained about the current Kenyan president, the school systems here, the Ugandan leader and many other current hot topics in Kenya! It is so interesting!

Overall it was a good day in Kenya! I love love love Mombasa! Sylvanos said "why don't you just stay here?" haha I told him I wish I could but I thought there might be a few people who I would miss back home! I told him I'll come back to visit! anyone up for an African adventure in a few months? ;)