Day 4

Today was a normal day in the peds ward, children plagued by peumonia,malaria,malnutrition,GE, and TB. There was one patient who was in with Tetralogy of Fallots which is a congenital heart defect with four abnormalities. In the states this patient would most definitely receive an operation which would be necessary for survival, but here that is not the case. The child essentially has been given a death sentence and is left to wheeze and suffer in his final days.
Today I was also able to observe in the OR. There was one patient getting a historectomy and apendectomedy and another a biopsy for cervical cancer. The safety percautions were basically non existent. Before entering the operating room we were given sterile boots, a hair net and a mask. We were able to sit right next to the operating table, rather in a room above protected with glass, and able to stand right next to the patient for a better look. Music was playing and the surgeons were singing, cell phones were out and people were walking in and out of the room at their own leisure. The doctor pointed out the different organs to us, taught us how to suture, and allowed us to play around with the removed ovaries and appendix. After the surgery was over and the wound was sewed up, the patient was wheeled out to the post-or room, was filthy room crowded with other patients, some waiting for their surgery.
While we were waiting for the biopsy to begin, the OR lost power, so clearly a generator was non existent, so we had to wait for the power to return. The patient then walked herself into the OR and had to hop up onto the table which she was unable to do, so i had to basically lift her up and place her on the table before her surgery. This procedure was a very quick one, 10 minutes or less and after wards, the patients was again thrown into a room where they waited for her to wake up.
At night last night  we went to a casino where i was finally legally allowed to gamble. Although I won no money, it was quite the experience. The casino was full of Kenyans and Italians alike and blackjack certainly got competitive.