Finally I'm Updating!

Right now I am going to try to force myself to actually work on this blog. It’s been FOREVER since I’ve written about my happenings in Cameroon. Things are becoming more routine here, I don’t feel like there’s much new to write about but probably the biggest reason I haven’t written is because I’m lazy.

Last thing I mentioned was about my dad and him being diagnosed with cancer. Well, for those that haven’t heard, the cancer didn’t go into his lymph system like we had been concerned about and they were able to get all the cancer out so he now has a clean bill of health. God is truly amazing! And he just celebrated his 28^th birthday this last Monday! He keeps getting younger and younger!

The other thing that happened in November was the start of the Christmas music. I hadn’t realized just how much I missed the Philippines till the Christmas music started being played. They don’t celebrate Christmas here in Cameroon quite as extensively as they do in the Philippines, but it still has the green and warm weather! (I do have to say that I am kind of missing the cold, but that’s more for the fact that I want to sit next to a fire and sip hot drinks without sweating J) Moriah and I decided the week before Thanksgiving that we would save all of your packages we received from Thanksgiving to Christmas, to open on Christmas day. As it was getting closer and closer to Christmas it got harder and harder to be patient. Well, we have done it and I must say it was well worth the wait! We’re hoping that we’ll get all the other packages that were sent to us, but we’re not too sure if it will actually happen! Thank you to all who sent packages, letters, and pictures! I loved it and it definitely made my Christmas all the more special!

The second weekend of December, Matt, Bill, Nate, Moriah and I headed up to Foumban, which is about 5 hours north ish of Buea. Foumban is known for it’s rich cultural history, it’s somewhat large population of Muslims, and also some gorgeous architecture. The scenery on the drive up there was wonderful also! We went from the humid and wet jungle like area of Buea to the dry grassy red dirt hills of Foumban. While there we were able to have a tour of the palace where the ruler (sultan) of the Bamoun people lives. And since they have a very rich cultural history they also have a very nice craft market and some of our group got masks, trinkets, chess sets, and other handcrafted items. (It’s hard to describe the town, so you’ll definitely have to look at pictures on my Facebook!) Later on Saturday we met up with Eric and Kristi, two independent volunteers who have been working in Buea for the last 6 months, and spent the rest of the time looking at the town with them.

We now have both Bill and Trixy back from their furlough. It’s so nice having them around again and we’re starting to get back into the ‘normal’ schedule again! I can say one thing though, Moriah and I will definitely be miss having a fully equipped kitchen to cook in. It’s amazing how spoiled we were for the last month! Inspite of the small space we are learning to use the little kitchen again. (I definitely have to be more creative when I don’t have all the nice kitchen stuff, but I’m enjoying it!)

And like I had mention in my last blog entry, the two ‘noisy old neighbor ladies’ will be missing the ‘poor bachelor next door’, the first reason is that we now have to do our own dishes and secondly we don’t have the great entertainment anymore! And talking about Matt leaving, we’ve had 3 other volunteers leave us; Carolyn, Kristi and Eric. Last night we had our Christmas Eve party and it just didn’t seem the same without the 4 of them being there. I mean all the people that were at the party were pretty awesome, but it would have been a lot of fun having all of them there too!

Well, if I want to make sure I get this finished I should better post it. I will try to keep up on blogging from now on, but I can’t promise anything!

I hope that you are all doing wonderful and that you all have a very Merry Xmas as they say here in Cameroon!

Beaches, Neutering, More love songs, Good times and Bad News ...

October 22, 2010 (Friday)
I just had a very relaxing evening! Heather and Ben came over for the evening and we made pizza. The crust was ubber thick and really good and all the toppings that Heather arranged- gorgeously I might add- made it all the better!! We basically just spent the evening making food, eating it, and talking so it was pretty amazing. (It sounds like I’ve had a really hard week, but I always love Friday nights and when I don’t have to work during the weekend it’s even better!!)

Yesterday, I went to the deaf school where Hailey teaches. I was a bit nervous about going, because I don’t remember any of the sign language that I had learned when I was younger, aside from the alphabet. The school is located a ways off the main road so one of the other teachers took us on his moto (motorcycle) to the school. We got to the there fairly early so, the kids were just getting their tea (breakfast). The breakfast included some bread and tea, not enough in my thinking, but I think with the funding that they have that’s all they can do, unfortunately. The school has just been moved to this new property so it’s still under construction. The students are sleeping in the classrooms until they get the dormitories built. Unfortunately I wasn’t down there too long, I did get to see them do line call, and watch Hailey teach a class. It was so neat watching all the kids ‘talking’ and poor Hailey had to repeat my name so many times for the kids! I will definitely want to go visit again!

October 25, 2010 (Monday)
The trip to Kribi went very well, it was a fast trip, but good! We were supposed to leave at 6:30, but of course we didn’t end up leaving till about an hour later. (I could have slept in a whole half hour more!! ☺) Our crew included Bill, Trixy, Moriah and I; along with three other volunteers, Sophia, Nate, and Manu.

We arrived in Kribi at around noon and the weather was perfect. After checking into our hotel, we all got our swimsuits on and headed for the ocean. It was really neat because this was the first time I had been in the Atlantic Ocean from this side of the world! The water was very refreshing, but kinda muddy and I had forgotten just how much you float in salty water. The rest of the afternoon was spent strolling the beach, reading, soaking up the sun (perhaps just a bit too much soaking up) and checked out Lombe Falls. Since the falls were only a little ways down the beach we all decided to walk down there. The tide started coming in while we were walking so at one point we had to swim across a short channel reach the falls. There was so much to see on that hike over. There were a bunch of local kids doing hand springs and flips into the water. They seemed to be so fun of energy and smiles it was very refreshing! And at the falls, people were doing their laundry, brushing their teeth, fishing, and bathing all in the same area. It was the community hang-out spot. All this activity made me think of Microbiology and how many germs were in that area. It was awesome! And just so you know I still swam in it! ☺ There was a little strip where the water coming from the falls made a pretty swift current. It gave me a flashback of the IRR summer program and our swift water training.. (Woot woot for knowing how to use the current to get across ☺)

Later Saterday, evening we ate at the (extremely pricy) Lombe Hotel. The menus were all written in French so the only thing I could understand was spaghetti au beurre (buttered spaghetti) and that was the cheapest too! After eating, we headed down the hill to the bar and ordered coconut/pistachio ice cream (which was also expensive) Moriah and I shared the ice cream and we watched Bill and Nate play chess… it wasn’t that exciting, which is probably why the rest of the group fell asleep on the beach ☺. We didn’t wait around that long, and most of us headed to bed by 10. The next day it was pouring down rain so we had a good breakfast at the Lombe Hotel again, packed everything up and walked the beach for a bit. Sophia and I founda couple shells, but they weren’t very impressive.

Pastor Rich was supposed to come in last evening to visit Moriah and I, but his plane was delayed so we didn’t seem him until today. Once we picked him up, we headed down to Limbe to the Wildlife Center to eat at Chella’s and see the gorillas. Even though last time I enjoyed the pizza at Chella’s it was even better this time. (I think that having a month and half of no ‘American’ food and eating my own cooking made me love it more!) It was really interesting showing Cameroon to Pastor Rich because I’m normally the one that is getting showed around. It made me appreciate it here more!

Not only did I enjoy having Pastor Rich come out to visit I also enjoyed all the goodies he brought from Union College. It was like Christmas in October! Thank you to all who donated and spoiled Moriah and I! We now have a freezer full of chocolate so it should last us for the year…. Maybe! ☺

So, now on top of learning nursing skills I now am working on being a vet assistant. Well, actually I can only say that I’m a vet assistant dealing with cats. A couple weeks ago I assisted Trixy in giving Milo (her cat) a birth control injection. (Apparently another missionary doctor had done this to her cats and it had worked.) Then this last Sunday Trixy neutered/castrated one of the kittens and I was left with the post op care. The poor little thing was lurching all around while coming out of anesthesia and meowing so pitifully that I felt so bad for it. (He had also gotten a bit too much ketamine so it took a bit longer for him to come out of his stupor) I have decided that it is much nicer dealing with kittens coming out of ketamine than dealing with people ☺ They act similarly, but you can control one a little easier! Once we got back from Kribi for the weekend Trixy asked me to help her out to neuter the next kitten. It really is a fairly simple procedure I was surprised! And once again I was stuck with the post op care, which I didn’t mind to much! With the correct amount of ketamine, it didn’t take as long for the kitten to come out of anesthesia.

October 26, 2010 (Tuesday)
Now I have received a love song/note from Cyril, so it appears that he hasn’t given up on Mo and I yet. I think he has plagerized this song a bit, but it still makes me laugh!

From Cyril to Cherilyn

1 - I need her every hour most precious Cherilyn. I will love you every hour or my life will be fruitless

(Refrain)

I need her oh I need her every hour I need Cherilyn oh! Oh I love you Cherilyn I will love you until I die.

2 – I love Cherilyn everytime oh beautiful Cherilyn my love please marry me and I will care for you.

(Refrain)

3 – The way Cherilyn speak to me (Cyril) is loving and is nice it really resemblies the attitude of husband and wire as Christ destined in the bible. Cherilyn will you love me and marry me? Will you be the mother of my children? Cherilyn I love you with a passion and I will do just anything to protect and promote our relationship. Cherilyn I hope no man will scatter what God almighty has joined together.

Cherilyn my love for you is eternal.

It is friendlier to be together especially when that togetherness is you and me.

(I’m not sure how long it’s going to take him to realize that I will not marry him.) Anyways, after I got this song, I decided to send it to my parents for laughs. My dad wrote back to me and this was his reply:

When Mr. Cyril knocks at your heart's door,

and says, "May I come in?"

Just say, "No! No!" for Daddy loves you so,

and will not let him in.

Then he'll turn around and run away,

Or he'll wish he'd died yesterday.

When Mr. Cyril knocks at your heart's door,

You just say, "No! No! No!"

"No. No." "No! No!" "NO! NO!"

"Go Away!"

To the tune of "When Mr. Satan Knocks at My Heart's Door."

Love,

Dad

I really do love my Dad! He’s pretty amazing! I’m not sure if I’m going to give this song to Cyril though. We’ll see!

October 27, 2010 (Wednesday)
Today has been a loooong day. I ended up working last night and today because Lea worked Monday and Tuesday for me while Pastor Rich was here. I’m not huge into working 24-hour shifts, but Moriah was a dear and worked 2 hours for me so I could get a nap! (She really is a great friend!)

Yesterday we took Pastor Rich around town to see all (well some) of the places we go. One place was the market. Since Moriah and I haven’t been able to go to the market at the same time since the first week we got to Cameroon, we’ve gone to different vendors. My poor vendors, where I normally get food from, were kind of disappointed that I didn’t come to them. (Next week I’ll see them again, so they should be happy!) I felt like we had a paparazzi with us, because PR was taking pictures of whatever Moriah and I were doing so that our parents could see ☺ We also were able to go into the back of the market and see the other vendors. It was so quiet back there compared to the street. So, I may switch to getting some of my items there.

The other place we took PR was up to the SDA Church and then we walked around the neighborhood. We met a deaf lady and I was able to use the little sign I had learned at the deaf school the week before! It was pretty neat and I hoping to go back to visit her! Perhaps she could teach me more sign?!?!

Later that afternoon we all headed down to Jay’s Grill. I tried the fufu (cassava/coco yam/rice gel) and eru (greens, fish, and nastiness!). I had heard about this food, but I hadn’t tried it so I thought I might as well. Now I have, and I think I will avoid it from now on… unless someone makes it for me! Heather and Ben ended up coming to Jay’s with us, so we had a good group of people) The food took a long time and I had to be at work at 6, so by the time they did bring the food I had to try to stuff it down (that’s really hard when you’re eating fufu, just so you know!) While the rest of the group was finishing up their food I grabbed a taxi and came back up to the hospital and got here fifteen minutes late ☹. We had no patients so I came and journaled for a bit. Once the rest of the group got back I went over and we made s’mores over little tea light candles! Pretty yum yum! I hung out there till we got our patient about 9 pm.

The lady came in with complaints of vomiting. (She had come in earlier that week and had done a lab test and had been given antibiotics, but apparently they weren’t helping.) She vomited the WHOLE evening, even with the drugs to help cut down on the vomiting (I later found out that the anti-vomiting drug was causing her to vomit… how ironic!). By that time she hadn’t eaten any food all day, so all she was throwing up was stomach acids. I felt so bad for her, but I knew that she was getting fluids into her. I had to wake up every hour because of either giving drugs or checking IVs. Early in the morning she stopped vomiting and I tried to convince the mother to give her some food. We switched the meds and she didn’t vomit the rest of the day. YEA!!!!

You know what I think I’m going to have a hard time with back in the states, having to actually care for the patients. ☺ Here, the family is responsible for getting food for the patient, helping them to the bathroom, bathing them and whatever else needs doing. All I do is give meds, injections, and IVs!

October 28, 2010 (Thursday)
Today, I got an email from my dad saying that he has malignant skin cancer. He won’t know how bad it is till Monday (Nov 1) and says that I shouldn’t worry. (That’s not possible!) All the worst-case scenarios (and many questions) have been running through my head today. To say the least, it’s been a HARD day! I’ve been praying all day and trying to remind myself that I didn’t know for sure, but still it’s kinda discouraging. God will get us through though! Chrislyn sent this quote and it has helped me today!

"God's care for His heritage is uncesasing. He suffers no affliction to come upon His children but such as is essential for their present and eternal good." AA p. 524-525

Well, on a more positive note, I had the best Cameroonian meal since getting here to Cameroon! Flor (one of the Cameroonian volunteers) invited me over to her house for lunch today. She lives with our Adventist pastor. Today was his birthday, so Lea and Flor had made a cake, complete with writing, for him. The food that was served included rice, a chicken potato dish, and some fish. So, aside from the fact that it was not empty, it was VERY scrumptious! (I’ve noticed I use scrumptious a lot… hmm… I’m going to have to figure out another word… any suggestions?)

October 29, 2010 (Friday)
We got our 2nd package today from Union!!!!! I’m so ubber excited! Nothing else happened today.

October 30, 2010 (Sabbath)
Church was really good, but very hot! It’s giving me a taste of what it will be in the next couple months as we head farther into the dry season. Oh! And in the package that PR brought last week, we had hair gel and today I got to use it!! It’s sad how excited I was about being able to scrunch my hair without it frizzing! For lunch we took our table out on Bill and Trixy’s porch and enjoyed the breeze! It was so nice just being able to relax and have another weekend completely off!

As I’m writing this it’s just about to rain. The wind is picking up and it’s cooling off! I’m so excited, I love the down pours here!

A lot has and will be happening today. Bill and Trixy leave this evening, Andrea the new Peace Corps worker is visiting, and Matt the new replacement doctor, came in this afternoon. I am so stinkin’ nervous about this next month. We won’t have Trixy around. I’m sure the replacement doc will do a great job, but it won’t be the same as Trixy! (I’ll miss her tons!)

November 2, 2010 (Tuesday)
Just brought in some of the clothes from the line. (It has been rainy the last two days so they’re not all dry yet… Yummy mildew! ☺)

Our schedule has changed once again. This main reason for this is because Trixy is gone. Now we have 3 people on everyday with one person resting; one in the clinic, one in the hospital, and one working night shift. We rotate every four days. So, for the next couple days I am on night shift.

Sunday evening Heather had a Halloween party at her house. I couldn’t really think of anything to take for the evening, but finally Mo and I decided that we could part with some of our brownie mixes and baked a pan up. We also took a bag of marshmellows and they ended up being used on the popcorn… so yummy!! We brought Matt along to meet some of the other American’s… and to have him see that there are a couple guys here in Buea ☺ It was so funny, when I was telling him on Saturday night that the next evening Heather was having a Halloween party he asked “Are there any guys around here?”. I busted up laughing because I really hadn’t thought about the fact that he had only met, aside from Bill, all girls since arriving in Buea! Hopefully he enjoyed his time with the two other guys that were there. I thought the evening was great! But, hey! You never can go wrong with great people, laughter, and food!

Moriah and I have been given the task of helping Matt acclimate. Part of that acclimating will be doing shopping in the market today, unfortunately I have the job this week, since Moriah is working. Right now we are cooking for him, but I’m not sure if that will last long. He may decide that he can cook just as well as we can…lol! So, far he’s not been picky. And if he’s alright with beans and rice everyday, this just might work out! We’re going to have to figure out how to split up all the jobs. Like Moriah was saying earlier today, ‘It feels like we’re the nosey old ladies next door that are worried about the poor bachelor.’ We cook meals, clean house, and take care of the animals while he lives in the house. He’s quite willing to help, so it’s not like he’s a lazy bum. ☺ It will be interesting trying to cook for 3 people now. We may have to figure out some set-up of each of us making a meal or something. Or just do beans and rice every meal, which sounds like a great idea to me!

As I said last week, my dad wrote me on Thursday, saying that he had found out that he had skin cancer and that it was malignant. Well, we still don’t really know how extensive it is, but we know of that of the two types of melanomas, this is the most serious. He’s going in this next Monday to see if the cancer has gone into his lymph nodes and then Tuesday they will do the surgery. I know that God will get us through! Please keep my dad (and family) in your prayers!

New Phrases, Stroke, and Proposals

October 13, 2010 (Wednesday)

I have started noticing my vocabulary changing. Now, instead of saying, ‘I’ll be back’ when I'm heading to the hospital or clinic, I'll say, ‘I’m coming!’ And while doing the patient assessment in the section where I'm supposed to ask, ‘Do you have any allergies?’ I say, ‘Are there any foods or drugs that worry you?'. Now, I’m starting to say ‘Ashea!’ instead of 'I'm sorry!'. The best part about all this is that it's starting to become normal! (Perhaps I'll have Pigin all learned by the time I am finished here!)

I’ve had my first stroke patient. It’s so weird actually seeing stroke and all the symptoms. It’s one thing hearing and learning about it in EMT class, but until you see it (at least for me) it doesn’t really mean anything! (Sorry Donna!) Anyways, it’s a very sad situation, she’s had 3 strokes and she’s only 45 years old. Oh! AND she’s a nurse! (Just so you know I officially do not like treating nurses!!) She had come to the clinic for a rendezvous, a follow-up visit, and since she, ‘just wasn’t feeling well’, Dr. Trixy recommended her to be admitted. About 3 hours later she finally returned to be admitted.

Once she got settled into her bed, I worked on getting a drip of lactated ringer started… and the best part was that after praying, I was successful! (God is faithful!). A couple minutes after getting that started and giving her another injection, she started panicking. She was trying to talk, but I could not understand her because her slurred speech. The other women who had come in with Effetti (the patient), was yelling at me to do something. I had thought she was reacting to the injection given earlier and I couldn’t tell what she was saying. Finally the other woman explained to me that Effetti felt like she was having another stroke. That is when the pills that the patient brought in were pulled out and dumped down her throat. I had no idea what she had just taken so, at that point I figured that it would be best to get Trixy before there was an overdosing. Later, I found out that aside from keeping her calm and giving her aspirin there wasn’t much we could do. That was probably the hardest/easiest part of the whole evening. Easy, knowing we had done all we could, but hard because of that same reason. Watching her struggling and freaking out and feeling helpless was not something I enjoyed.

Something I have come to enjoy is the way that the hymns are sung here. They are the songs I know, but with different tunes. (So, it’s a good thing that they sing them in English or I wouldn’t know that!) I will have to make a recording of some of the songs sometime, because I can’t bring justice to the songs in my writing. Also, as I’ve mentioned before, I LOVE THE KIDS HERE!!! There were too little ones at the hospital visiting the patient so I was talking with them. The little boy started singing a song and after he finished I asked what other ones knew. He started singing “Jesus Loves the Little Children”, except the part where it says, “red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in His sight” these two little kids sang, “Black and yellow, black and white all are precious in Jesus’ sight. Jesus loves the children of the world”…. I loved it!

October 15, 2010 (Friday)

This last week I have been a little messenger for Cyril. Tuesday morning at staff worship, Cyril came up and asked me how to spell Moriah’s name. (Trixy had mentioned on Saturday night that Cyril was trying to choose which of Moriah and I, he would marry. So, his question made me quite relieved!) Moriah has enjoyed her chance of sleeping-in this week because of being off. Because of sleeping in, she didn’t make it to the morning worships. Which also meant that I was left with the job of carrying messages of love from Cyril to Moriah. (I didn’t mind too much, because it was very entertaining.) Anyways, Cyril ended up writing two letters of his undying love for Moriah of which she did not reply to.

On Thursday we have a Bible study up at the hospital and this week Cyril decided to show up. I felt a little bit bad for Moriah because Cyril was following her wherever she went and sat quite close to her the whole evening. Anyways, Moriah finally broke his heart after the study. And I (because I was working) unfortunately, was the one left to have to ‘comfort’ him. I told him that if God showed Moriah that he was the one then she would perhaps consider accepting his proposal. All he could do was pray. I thought that I would be finished with him, but nope.

Here is the conversation I had with him this morning:

Cyril: God has showed me that I must find a substitute!

Me: Really? (Great!!)

Cyril: Do you know who?

Me: Nope (I had an idea, but I wasn’t going to encourage him)

Cyril: You!!!!!

Me: (Oh goodie! I was afraid of that.) You move on quick! And my answer is no.

Cyril: No? You’re making me sad.

(At this point he proceeds to make crying sounds while laughing)

Me: I don’t believe you.

Cyril: Why?

Me: First thing you don’t look sad at all. Secondly you can’t switch that fast. You say you’re in love with Moriah on Tuesday. Now that she’s said no, you come to me saying you love me?? I’m not accepting your proposal.

Cyril: What about Isaac and Rebekah?

Me: What about them?

Cyril: Isaac sent his servant to find a wife. He asked for a sign, right?

Me: Yes.

Cyril: Isaac’s servant then asked if she would marry his master. If she said no, you don’t think he would keep looking?

Me: What does that have to do with right now?

Cyril: Moriah said no. She doesn’t love me so I find someone else... What causes stroke?

Me: What causes stroke??

Cyril: Yes. Disappointments, right?

Me: Umm...

Cyril: The doctors have told me not to be worried so I can not become attached and put all my emotions in a person.

Me: Well, then you’ve been told ‘No’ twice. Keep looking!

Cyril: How can you answer so quick? You should at least consider it. I am a football player and you are a nurse a perfect match!! (Hmm… tempting!)

(This conversation went on a bit longer and I explained that if he was planning on finding an American girl, he would have to change his technique.)

Me: You will have to build a friendship before saying that you want to marry them.

Cyril: That is not how they did it in the Bible.

At this point I was a bit frustrated with him, because for one thing I was trying to work and figure out which meds I was supposed to give at which time. The other reason was that I was realizing that it really didn’t matter what I said, he would still keep pestering me with questions. So, I finally told him that I needed to get back to work and that he should leave. That seemed to work and he left reminding me that I should still consider the request. I felt a bit mean for the way I went about all of this, but I wasn’t sure how to show him that I really was not interested!

October 6, 2010 (Wednesday)

Unlike I mention before, I am not on evening duty. The schedule has changed so I have this last week off. It’s kind of interesting ‘being off’. I need to figure out the balance of relaxing, site seeing and helping out around the hospital on my off days. I still want to be helping, but I know I need to have some be still/chill time!

October 10, 2010 (Sunday)

Happy 10-10-10!

It’s a day after my birthday and I must say it wasn’t too bad! I had been really dreading it. In fact I attempted to have it not posted on Facebook, but that didn’t work out too well as some of you realized. I’d have to say that I did appreciate all the birthday wishes. It was very sweet and it made me start missing friends and family.

With our new schedule I ended up working the Sabbath shift. God definitely blessed me with a quiet morning. (Yes, I would love more patients, just not when I’m by myself!) Later that afternoon Moriah gave me the gift that Ashley had made for me. I must say it was a pretty awesome gift, Ashley! She did an amazing job putting all the pictures, quotes, videos and music together. It gave me a lot of laughs seeing all the pictures of friends and family and it caused me to wish that you could all be here with me!

So, one of the many pleasures we’ve been able to have in the short time here is imitation Nutella. As I mentioned before Moriah and I have been craving sugar. When Moriah bought the ‘nutella’ I had made some chappatis (the other thing that we love!) and we spoiled ourselves with 3 WHOLE ‘chocolate burritos’! Yum! We’ve also made sugar cookies minus the baking powder and soda and added flakes chocolate kisses and cranberries. If I had made these in the States I would probably have thought they were pretty horrible, but they are oh so scrumptious here! The other treat is our honey- not only for the sugar, but also for the humor.

Yadikwa Natural Honey- The Best Choice, Best Quality Highly Medicinal Extra Pure Yadikwa Honey Helps for The Following:

1. Stomach ulcers

2. Weakness or General Fatigue

3. Poison

4. Fire or Boil water

5. Weak sexual power

6. Gastric

7. Cough

8. Malaria

Definitely a cure all! And what’s interesting about this honey is that it taste more like molasses then honey. So, since I love molasses, it’s basically amazing on our brick bread!

October 4, 2010 (Monday)

I had done a couple consultations on my own this last week (and I struggle through them), but none of those consults had admitted to the hospital (at least while not while on my own). That all changed this last weekend. I had the Day Shift on Sabbath and I was really nervous about it. Like most of our patients that we’ve admitted, this young lady had malaria. She came in complaining of a headache, fever and just being tired. With my little cheat sheet I went through the different questions of, ‘When did this start?’, ‘Have you taken any medicine?’, ‘Is there anything that has helped?’, and then going through the long list of symptoms. Once I got to the part of the physical exam to get her temp, I stuck the thermometer in her armpit and waited for the little beep. She had felt warm, but I wasn’t really prepared for the temp I saw. It read 41 Celsius (105 Fahrenheit) and at that point she started shivering, which made me more nervous! I took the rest of her information and headed down to Trixy’s house to show her what information I had received. Normally we need to start a drip on our malaria patients, but I wasn’t sure if there was more because of the high temp. I was right about getting the drip started as soon as possible, so that’s the next thing I did. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get the needle into her veins without blowing it (3 times), so I finally had Moriah come do the IV drip and she did it wonderfully! At this point we had another patient come in needing attention. This little boy had been coming in since Tuesday for a malaria injection. So, I ended up doing that, meaning that I have made another little child hate white people. I honestly think that all the little children in Buea will be afraid of white people after they’ve seen me. I have made every kid cry that’s come into the clinic, even when I’m just checking their pulse.

I have come to a realization this last week. I LOVE BREAD… Moriah and I go through about two loaves a week and we could do a lot more if we really wanted to spend the money on it! Also I’ve made chappatis for just about every meal. Actually I think I just like food in general. I’m always starving, even after my meals, and I eat large amounts of food. As I was writing this down it hit me that it could be related to my stress... don’t like that idea… I was hoping to blame it on a growth spurt, though I think I’ve grown to my limit.

The idea of food has got me on a new life goal: I want to try as many different types of food here as possible. On Sabbath while on duty the 6 ½ month old girl’s mother, gave me a dish of food to try. Earlier she had bought me a bag of boiled granit (sp?)(peanuts) and had told me that I needed to eat it because I wasn’t fat enough. Anyways, I had been enjoying it alright, but there was something odd tasting in it, similar to formaldehyde mixed with fish oil (I thought it best not to ask just what was in it!) I was half way through eating it when the mother told me the ingredients: Corn, beans, maggie’s seasoning, ‘some other seasonings’, and a little shell fish… Gulp… that’s the weird taste I had been having. So, other then the taste of formaldehyde it was pretty good. I even shared some with Moriah, so that she wouldn’t feel too left out.

I have night duty again. Today I went up to the radio station and met Lady B and basically listened as Bill and Lady B discussed cholera on the air. I was introduced, but I didn’t say too much. Every Monday there’s a broadcasting of health issues, whether it has to do with epidemics, sanitation, or disease it’s always different. And something I’ve learned; speaking is not my forte, I get so tongue-tied it’s pretty bad!

Life Plan

Spend time with God. Learn French. Get sleep. Exercise. Learn to cook. Laugh. Meet more people. Sing. Take pictures. Listen to more classical music. Journal. Find little ways to brighten other's days. Love life. Don't stress/worry. Smile. Spend less time on the internet :) Read more books. Watch fewer movies. Research med terms. Love. Write letters. Try new foods. Be still. Get out of my comfort zone. Listen.

Hopelessness, Dry Laundry, Market Day and Near Death Experiences

September 19, 2010 (Sunday)

I was on duty today. It was the first day that I’ve broken down. I feel completely clueless and useless. When I first got to work, there was a couple that came in with a little boy saying that he couldn’t sleep at night because of his ‘stuffed’ nose. The problem was that there was nothing really in it or at least that would come out of it. The child was screaming the whole time I was trying to get his pulse and listen to his lungs. Leah and I decided to admit him into the hospital, but the family didn’t want to do this. Apparently he was fine during the day so they said they’d come back later.

Later there was a woman that came in to get an injection. Normally we do it intravenously with a small butterfly needle, but we had none in the hospital so I had to use a larger needle. Unfortunately I blew the first vein so I had to use the other arm.

(Later)

Our laundry is dry! It’s amazing, we don’t have to wait till Wednesday and there was no reeking of mildew. Woot woot! So, after my lovely escapade in the hospital this morning I went over to Colwell’s for hot chocolate. (They have fresh ground coffee/hot drinks every Sunday morning) I ended up buzzing Ben’s hair, he’s one of the Peace Corps guys. I attempted to convince Moriah to do it, but she was too afraid to ‘ruin’ it…ya know, it’s pretty hard to buzz cut! J

September 21, 2010 (Tuesday)

I was the lucky one to go to market today. It was actually a lot of fun since I was able to just look at all the various items that were being sold. Christiane was helping me out in the beginning, but then she had to head home. So, I decided that I would do some shopping on my own. I was ubber excited when I found an English-French dictionary, (I think the guy ripped me off, but I only spent about 5 dollars so I’m not too sad.) Oh, and something else that made super excited was that we finally have a bucket to wash our clothes in. No more borrowing. Yea!!

This evening I made some ginger chai, fried breaded okra and peanut rice dish, which was pretty scrumptious. That’s something I’ll enjoy this week, trying out different recipes, which hopefully will turn out! And I’m going to have to start writing them down.

We admitted our first patient of the week- it was another admittance of a man to our women and children’s hospital! It was really sad, he had to be carried in and was in the later stages of HIV. What was even sadder was that had a fairly young family and a little boy that stole my heart :)

Anyways, on to something a bit lighter: When asking a patient if he was constipated, he said, "No." but then went on to say, "I haven't stooled in 2-3 days. (Wouldn’t that be considered constipated??) And then a little while later trying to assure us that it was okay he said, "I can stool when I want to." (I’m so proud of him! Teehee!) Oh, the joys of working in the hospital! :P

September 23, 2010 (Thursday)

Wow! I am soooo tired! This week I have been doing the night shift and haven’t had the greatest sleep so far. We’ve only had 2 in patients, but between the two of them we’ve been kept busy. The first patient that I’ve already mentioned came in on Tuesday and has been on pain meds the whole time, not completely sure why he has stayed since they don’t have money, and there’s not much we can do for him. Then again, I suppose at this point he’s comfortable, so we are doing something.

I must say though that the man’s little three-year old boy was pretty cute! The first night they came he wouldn’t look at me, but by the second day he was my little shadow! I had taught him the ‘high-five, to the side, down-low, too slow’ game and he wanted to keep playing it. Eventually, I convinced him to go running with me up and down the breezeway. It’s so cute, the last two days I’ve asked what he’s learned at school and his answer has been ‘ABCs’ in his little African accent. (The kids here start school at about the age of 2, which is basically daycare/preschool.)

The other patient that came in was a young lady with malaria/typhoid. She had some of the worst veins, I’ve seen. They were so tiny, and you couldn’t find any on her. Another problem is that we don’t have the IVs with catheters so if you’re not careful the needle can blow the vein. With this combo, it made for some interesting and frustrating needle sticking. I think we tried sticking her about 6 times before we were able to get any success. And then that blew about one hour later so the process was repeated. By this evening we have resorted to sticking the IV in her foot because we couldn’t find any other veins. She doesn’t take to pain very well, in fact she has a very low pain tolerance. And yet, I don’t blame her. I think that if after so many sticks and being sick I would be kind of tired of it too! Her last treatment will be this evening so she will be leaving either tonight or in the morning.

I felt pretty useless at night. For one thing it doesn’t require two people to check an IV drip or give meds and secondly, I don’t know how much of what to give/when to give the meds/drips. This leaves Christiane to do most of the work. I’m really hoping this will get better soon.

After I got off work this morning, I decided that I would head up to the bank to withdraw some money. The hike up there was only about 2 miles, but since Buea is build on the side of Mt Cameroon and there’s only one main road with most of the businesses, I had to go up hill to get to the bank. I decided to take Jordan, Colwell’s dog, with me for the company since Moriah was working at the time. (That’s not to say that Jordan is a good substitute for Moriah’s company, I would have much preferred having Mo come along with me J) The trip was done in about 2 hours and I came back all sweaty and ready for a nap.

Once I woke up I made some ‘pancakes’ and sweet rice with ginger and headed over to the hospital to see if Moriah was ready to eat. This is when I met the crazy women- no, not Moriah. She was a lady probably in her 30’s and she had an abscess on one of her breasts. Apparently she was in a lot of pain, because before I headed up to the hospital I could hear the cries of pain. Once I came into the ‘OR’, which was just one of our patient rooms, she had quieted down from the injection of ketamine that Lea gave her. It was taking longer than usual to have her pass out and that’s when Trixy realized that they needed to give more anesthesias. After the second injections that’s when things got really interesting. The woman started accused us of wanting to kill her and yelling other unknown things. Lea attempted to soothe her, but then the woman’s anger focused all on Lea. She got up off the bed, skirt falling down around her, and pushed Lea up into the corner of the room. At this moment Trixy stepped in to help and got Lea away safely. We convinced the woman to sit on the bed again and she kind of calmed down. She yelled a couple more words and then the anesthesia kicked in.… phew! We could finally operate and remove the abscess.

I had thought that I would get kinda queezy at the sight of all the puss and gunk coming out, but it was pretty interesting! Once the wound was packed with gauze we cleaned the bed up and waited for the anesthesia to wear off… just a bit scary with all the suspense! Trixy had given us something to read on what to expect of a patient coming out of ketamine. All the warning signs mentioned were the ones we had seen before the surgery so it made me a bit nervous. Were we going to be in the Cameroonian newspaper, “Two Volunteer Nurses in Cameroon, Killed by Patient”??

She started coming around 30 minutes later, yelling just like before. And that’s when I tried convincing Moriah that, this really was a good experience for her, and that she should go take care of the patient!! She wasn’t convinced and needless to say, we both ended up going into the room and just standing there. Neither of us knew what to do with this lady.

I actually was VERY glad that she had acted up beforehand because it prepared us for afterwards. The bandage that we had put on her, was now starting to get soaked with the draining blood. This made it look like she was wounded (which she was) so, each time she looked down at the bandage, she would make this sound of disappointment/anger/frustration and clap her hands, telling us that she was dead and we had killed her. She didn’t fully have the whole balance thing in order either. So, this caused her to fall off the bed onto the floor. Moriah and I attempted to help her back up, but she wouldn’t let us touch her. (We figured she’d probably be safer on the ground to prevent her from falling again) After some time, Lea came in to check on Mo and I. Once the woman saw Lea, that started another wave of emotion. Apparently she was convinced that Lea had something against the ‘woman’s people’. After yelling all this she stood and came towards Lea again. I tried to refrain her, but instead of calming her she grabbed me, and my shirt, and attempted ripping it off. The only thing that I could think of at this point was to grab her hands and try to keep her from actually more damage. After a couple of words from Lea and I, she ‘calmed down’ (or at least just let go of me) and went back to the floor. She hadn’t gained her balance so, between her yelling spells, she would fall over and lay on the ground for a bit and then sit back up and repeat it again. She did eventually get peaceful and accepted the fact that she really was alive. And I was a bit drained and also starving, so Moriah and I headed back down to our room and had our supper. (This is also when we were able to laugh about the whole procedure, and my near death experience! J)

Now I get to go sleep for a bit… woot woot!