Variety of patients

What a day.... visited lots of patients at home today and had more of a variety than I've had in a long time.
Several followups. First a girl who has partial thickness burns from the top of her head, down her neck, and down one arm with full thickness burns on the upper half of her back. It is a miserable dressing change and a bit infected. Then a 4 year old who weighs only 7kg (normal is 16 to 17 kg). She is very malnourished and was quite neglected. Now, she has some pretty significant re-feeding syndrome problems and has started running a fever off and on. From there, over to check on a lady who is pregnant with twins. She has nine children already and is very big but is only in her 20th week. As it is daily 100 degrees I can't imagine how she is managing. From there over to check on a gentleman who has two broken hips. He is 72 years old and lives pretty deep in the village. I can't even say he is bed-bound because he doesn't have a bed. A quick, easy patient who was due for her depo injection.  A foreign body removal- bug from an ear. It was my favorite of the day because the relief of having that out was more relief than I gave any of my other patients. Lastly I checked up on a guy who has been diagnosed with Connective Tissue Disorder. Those six patients seem like more than enough for one day's work here.

Greece

Only one more post about Greece.
Going with Karen and Rebecca was so much fun. We laughed a lot. And seemed to spend quite a bit of time lost.....But Karen always had a map!

 It was also MUCH colder than I expected. I had to wear my pajamas under my clothes one day because I was so cold. Rebecca and I got up to run one morning and coming from Uganda we had only light weight running clothes. When we hit the street at 6:30 am we were a bit surprised to see snow and had to channel our inner Michiganders. I think we cut that run a little short.

There were the othodox churches which look rather plain on the outside but are crazy ornate on the inside. 

We spent several hours traveling by train between Athens and Thessaloniki. 

 Greece has these markets that are far more attractive than Uganda's.

Back from vacation

* I wrote this nearly a week ago and got most of the way done but ran out of battery on the computer before finishing. I'm finally getting around to getting it posted. 

I got back to Soroti this afternoon and have sat down at my computer to blog about my trip. Lets just say it isn’t going well. First interruption, someone is pounding at my gate. They need school supplies or they are going to be kicked out of school. “Well, it is Saturday afternoon so you’re safe for a bit and I’ve been home one hour could you give be a bit before you start begging for stuff?!”  Sat down again. There is such a thick layer of dust on the table (and every surface of the house) that the mouse won’t even work. Have I been gone longer than I thought?! I stop to scrape some dust off stuff. Thick, black, nasty dust.  Before I finish that, there is another person at my gate. “Can you give us some money for clothes for the baby?” "What?!"

Trying to get back to blogging so sitting back down. No power and the computer hasn’t charged for a few days because we were in airports and stuff so I’m feeling pressured to get this done without wasting more battery/time. But another pounding on my gate. I consider ignoring it but I know that if it is someone who doesn’t have my phone number to just call me, then they will stay there an pound for an hour (I wish I was exaggerating but this has happened before. The neighbors tell them I’m home so they just keep pounding knowing that I eventually I can't take it any more and will come to the gate.) A kid requesting some medicine for a cut on their toe.  Before I can even answer that one I get “Can we fill our jerry cans from your water tank?” I feel like people have not missed me. They just missed the free stuff they get from me. Back at my computer. My neighbor is burning his trash and the smoke coming in through the window is so thick and foul I can’t even think. Which I guess explains why the "dust" on every surface of my house is so nasty. 

I though I was ready to be back but now I’m not so sure…

Anyway, about Greece:

The highlight of the trip? Mediterranean Sea

My second favorite day was Meteora. Most of the day we were thousands of feet in the air but the fog was so thick and insulating it didn't feel like it at all.

 I love my pictures of this day but if you want to know what the place actually looks like clink HERE.

Another major highlight was possibly eating more food than any three people should consume....

Oh, and all of the traditional Greek places too.

Vacation!

I'm on a much needed, rather spontaneous vacation with two friends and loving it! We are headed out in 2 minutes so this is just going to be pictures. Will write about it eventually....