Lyle rang this morning and gave approval for the various cases we’d identified as being the most urgent, in need of intervention. Fortunately, we were able to obtain an appointment for this afternoon at 2.30pm for Beatrice. We also tried to get in contact with the lady who needs a knee replacement (from our first lot of clinics) but we were unable to reach her in time. Rosemary will take her to see Dr Kalande on Friday afternoon. This morning we were all invited to go to the hospice (a relatively new facility in Nakuru, which services over 700 palliative patients). It was founded by Elizabeth, who after seeing a close family member die from cancer with only paracetamol for pain relief, decided to ensure this tragedy wouldn’t happen again. Kenya Health has been supporting the hospice with monthly donations to cover costs of medication, so consequently we were treated as celebrities and given the grand tour of the hospice and P.G.H. (the provincial general hospital in Nakuru). The hospice has so much potential, and a great vision but lacks further funding at this stage. The staff there are extremely dedicated to their cause. We also were allowed a tour of P.G.H. which was truly an eye-opener for each member of the team. Due to time constraints we couldn’t complete the tour, but have been permission to return next week. Michele and Cathie are going to scrub in at the theatre, while Corinna has been asked to provide an in-service on wound care, after she picked up on certain practices that were highly inadequate for a certain patient. A nurse, masked in an open room, was administering peroxide topically to the open wound of a recently amputated leg, on a male inpatient. We feel encouraged that Corinna’s expertise can be shared with these nurses, who require education in many areas of nursing. At 1pm we divided up. Corinna & Michele went to pick up Beatrice and her mother, Ann, from the village (in Corinna’s words “it was Indianna Jones” style driving on those rough roads), while Cathie and Tagisia went with Mary and Lillian to meet with Winnie and assess her patients at 2pm. Disappointingly, Winnie had not ensured that the patients were there, so at 3pm, we left to join the rest of the team at Dr Kalande’s office. Today, we learnt a valuable lesson, that is; which end of Nakuru is safe to park vehicles and where not to, after Michele was accosted by several street people, with one actually threatening to stab her (Corinna was with Beatrice and Ann in the Dr’s office at the time). Our angels are certainly looking after us, due to the prayers of loved ones back home, so all was well with no-one harmed. Obtaining an Xray, required for Beatrice, proved to be a lengthy process. However, by 6pm we were heading home, having been given the good news from Dr Kalande that the leg problems were fixable, though Beatrice would require three operations. The end result being, she will ultimately be able to walk normally! Back at M.I.A., we met Jan, a new volunteer, who is here for one month. This is her second trip to Kenya. P.S. we think our pregnant pet cat has given birth, for she didn’t appear at suppertime.
Provincial General Hospital in Nakuru
By Kenya Health|
2014-07-31T09:32:05+10:00
October 23rd, 2012|Latest News and Information|0 Comments
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