What are you, chicken?

Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Well I'm counting my chickens and as of today they are two! For about eleven dollars I bought two chickens in the market (live chickens, not the kind wrapped in saran wrap in the frozen section of the supermarket). The plan is to raise chicks for fresh eggs and after they "beef up" abit, I plan to enhance my diet with a variety of tasty white meats:) I took this picture because, for some reason I'm not ashamed or embarrased to prove to you that, I am now the (proud) owner of two chicks:)

As far as my dogs go, I'm sorry to say that my remaining dog, McCain passed away yesterday morning. She was so depressed, she wouldn't eat or drink. She died peacefully and for that reason I'm partly glad that she won't suffer from the loss of her brother and sister any longer.

At the hospital, work has been going well. Today I saw about twenty patients in the clinic, which has been about the average number of patients I see in clinic each day. In my down time I pass through the maternity ward or go to ultrasound to scan pregnant, and gyn patients.

There were a couple of interesting patients. One patient came to me telling me she had a 9 month pregnancy with symptoms consistent with an upper respiratory tract infection. She told me that she had been feeling fetal movement up until the last week. She showed me her antenatal clinic card which had documented her antenatal clinic appointments for the past few months. On exam she was obese and had a slightly distended abdomen, although I couldn't feel the fundus of the uterus. I scanned the patient and it looks like for the past nine months, her "pregnancy" was in fact an ovarian mass! The uterus was normal size and the cavity was empty. I informed the patient that unfortunately she won't be expecting to deliver a baby any time soon.

Yesterday I received a not-so pleasant surprise from Tanesco (Tanzania's Electrical Supply Company). One of the electricians came to my house and literally pulled the plug on my electricity. He told my housekeeper that he was cutting my electricity because I haven't paid any of my bills since I arrived in the house in September. (None of the bills had ever reached my house or the hospital btw). So today I went to Tanesco and received a bill for the months of October through December which totaled about twenty-six dollars. I also received my bill for the month of January which came to about one hundred dollars. I laughed when I saw the amount of the bill and argued with the manager, but he insisted that the amount is correct. To make a long story short, I now have electricity again and I am waiting to hear from the hospital as to whether or not they will reimburse me for the cost of electricity.

Tomorrow is an OP (operating day). It will be a light OR day as we are preparing to move into the newly constructed operating room. I have one case scheduled - a rescue cerclage for a woman with an "incompetant cervix". She has a pregnancy of twenty-two weeks with a cervix dilated 3 centimeters (and no preterm contractions).

Sorry for such a lengthy note today. I think I've cheered up a bit since the death of (all of) my dogs this week:( And in addition, I'd like to ask you the following question - What are you, Chicken? Bwak Bwak!:)

A Day of Mourning

I am feeling so depressed! I woke up this morning, started getting ready for work, and just as I was finishing my breakfast, my guard informed me that one of my dogs, Bush died! I went outside and there she was lying dead next to the dog house:( I was literally dumbfounded and shocked to see her lying dead.

Last night Bush and Obama had snuck out beneath my fence and wandered around. Obama came back very late last night around 10pm looking ill. Bush didn't return until sometime during the middle of the night and then was found dead this morning!

Meanwhile I went to work and tried to be productive while feeling depressed and wondering how my dog could have died! A little later in the morning I got a phone call from my housekeeper that another one of my dogs, Obama, was looking very sick. I went to the market to buy some dog medicine and when I got back home, I found Obama dead! He was lying next to the dog house, dead!

My last dog, McCain was the only one who didn't sneak out last night and she is healthy as far as I can tell.

It sounds "cheezy" to say, but I am really choked up and feeling very sad about losing two of my dogs (on the same day!). I was really attached to them after only four months! And what really kills me is seeing McCain run around the property looking for her brother and sister!! I am embarrased to say that I was almost in tears this afternoon....

Who knows what happened when Bush and Obama snuck out last night but something terrible must have happened. Both dogs were doing fine just a couple of days ago! I was thinking that possibly they may have acquired a terrible stomach virus after eating part of a dead animal last week, but there is something to be said about both dogs dying one after another after being outside my property last night.

The last dog that I had, Lucy, passed away a number of years ago and I forgot how painful it is to loose a dog...... its like loosing a family member! And to loose two dogs on the same day is painful!

Who knows what a dog's memory is like but I think McCain must know that her brother and sister are dead because she saw my security guard carrying Bush's body outside the property this morning and she walked with me while I carried Obama outside later in the morning. I just hope she doesn't have such a good long term memory!

I'm trying to keep my mind off of the tragedy today. But its hard! One of my drivers asked if I will get new dogs....the thought of getting new dogs hadn't even crossed my mind. Its too painful to get attached to these dogs and then loose them!

I'm sorry to leave this blog on such a sad note, I'll try to cheer up and post something on a more positive note next time :)

Hope

Inauguration day! What was it like in Lindi Tanzania?! Well fortunately CNN broadcasts live in southern Tanzania. Hours before the swearing in ceremony, I sat and watched, glued to the TV as I saw millions of Americans on the mall surrounding the capital. What a feeling of national pride, unity, great anticipation, and celebrations; I could only imagine all the emotion of a changing of power which were palpable in DC. What a great moment, but mixed emotions for me living in Tanzania, watching such a historical day for our country on another continent.

The moments building up to the swearing in ceremony were growing, more excitement, more emotion. Finally, just before 8pm, an announcement was made that the swearing in ceremony of VP Joseph Biden was to begin. There was a moment of silence and then..... darkness! The power cut out! Just as Joseph Biden was about to be sworn in.....absolutely nothing but darkness and silence. I lit a few candles and sat around and waited. And waited longer. Finally electricity returned just as broadcasters announced "And now the presidential party will leave the platform"....what a disapointment! The electrical company here, Tanesco, really dropped the ball. No one in Lindi could listen to President Obama's presidential speech! I'm so bummed.

Its great to watch the luncheon and listen to the commentary, to see all of Obama's staff and listen to his proposed agenda for the next few days and watch coverage of such a remarkable historical occasion. But I missed his inaugural speech! And apparently the Supreme Court Justice "screwed" up part of his inauguration speech. I'll just have to watch the speech on You Tube i guess......

I'm watching CNN now as the parade is about to begin down Pennsylvania Ave. I miss DC!

Only 3 weeks until I'm back in town. Definitely looking forward to returning home!

Trouble Makers

In the middle of my clinic this morning, two of the COTC students informed me that there is a "special case" in labor and delivery - a "cord prolapse".

I ran over to L&D to find a laboring patient with a cord prolapsed out of the introitus about 4-5 cm and a baby in footling breech presentation. I was surprised to find a fetal heart rate, although the baby was in acute distress with a prolonged bradycardia. I called for emergency cesarian section and the patient was rushed to the OR. In the OR I "splashed" the abdomen with an antispeptic solution and started my "crash" c-section. What we found when entering the uterus were two girls weighing 2.0kg and 2.45 kg both with apgars of 9/10 sitting in breech presentation.

I finished clinic around 3 this afternoon and then passed the ward to find the baby sisters and mother doing well.

Giza

Giza means darkness in Kiswahili. If you say giza, everyone generally understands that you mean that there is darkness because the sun has set or because there is no electricity and therefore no light! The latter has been the case here in Lindi the past couple of days! From morning until evening, we've had no electricity. When there's no electricity I still see alot of patients in clinic but the patient's can't get any labs drawn and can't get any imaging. If you saw the scene at the hospital today, you would have seen a ton of frustrated, tired patients waiting around for the electricity to return. Fortunately we don't loose electricity that often so on days when we do have electricity, I end up scanning a ton of patients in ultrasound.

This evening I got lucky, the power returned just before sunset. I wasn't so lucky last night. The power didn't return until around nine at night.

I took the picture above last night. I am a fan of candle light dinners; but not when I'm eating alone! Especially when I'm eating alone at home in the dark by the light of a couple of candles! Fortunately that doesn't happen too often, but when it does, its depressing!

Tomorrow is an operating day. There are a couple of laparotomies for adnexal masses and one excisional biopsy for a breast mass. I also promised the students at the COTC that I would teach tomorrow. I postponed my lecture today because there was no electricity. There is chalk and a chalkboard but I've been preferring to give power point lectures. And I can't use the projector when we don't have power.

I finally booked a flight back to the US. February 12th I'm flying KLM. Connecting through Amsterdam and then flying into Washington DC. I'll be in the States for 3 weeks! Definitely looking forward to the time home. I want to visit everyone! But its also easier if everyone comes to DC to visit! You are welcome to stay with my parents,:) sorry I don't have any permanent residence in the States these days to invite you to visit me.

Thirty-something

Watching paint dry. That's about as exciting as my birthday has been today. I'm exaggerating a bit, but nothing special has happened nor have I planned anything special for my B-day. I went into work as usual this morning. I did one cervical cerclage for a woman with an incompetant cervix this morning and then I went to the clinic. Clinic was very busy today, lot of overflow from the new year's holiday. I saw twenty-two patients by mid afternoon and then scanned about a dozen patients in ultrasound. Today was UTI (urinary tract infection) day in clinic because about seven or eight patients came with a urinary tract infection. There were also a few interesting cases. I saw one woman with a very large abdomino-pelvic mass which may be an ovarian malignancy. She will have an operation next week. I saw two patients with cancer - one with a bladder cancer and another with metastatic breast cancer. I expect both patients will be referred to Dar es Salaam for treatment.

I finished work around 5 and then went home. Hadija, my housekeeper, prepared an excellent meal - baked fish, rice and vegetables. It was the highlight of my day. I am planning to celebrate this weekend. On Friday I'm going to go the popular bar Santorini with a few colleagues to get a drink or two and then I expect to go dancing at Magereza's "Social Club" after. There is always "bongo flava" music playing until early hours of the morning.....

I'm planning my trip back to the States. Hopefully by early February. Hope my friends and family will have some free time in February. I want to visit everyone. We'll see how that goes!

Sorry I don't have any interesting pictures to post today. Despite the expression on my face I am happy its my Bday but not too thrilled I'm another year older!

Welcoming the New Year

Happy New Year! I spent New Year's on the beach at Santorini Bar with colleagues. We had a few drinks and then after midnight went next door to "Magereza's Social Club" to dance to some "bongo" flavor music.

The first of January is a National Holiday so I spent most of yesterday relaxing. I went into the hospital in the morning to check on a few patients.

Today was a busy day with two operations, one TAH for a woman with symptomatic fibroids followed by a vaginal hysterectomy, a/p colporrhaphy for a woman with pelvic organ prolapse. Both operations went well. There were a bunch of patients to scan at ultrasound and then I made a quick stop in the ward to check on patients.

My internet is finally back after about a week and a half of no internet because the land line was not functioning. But with luck, the one and only TTCL technician was able to fix the problem.

This weekend will be relaxing. I'm in the process of trying to plan my trip back to the States. Looks like I will be able to make it early February for three or four weeks. I hope my friends and family are going to be free next month....hint.

Happy New Year, I hope the new year is a happy and healthy one for everyone:)