It is crazy to think that today is already day 8 of our time
in Zimba. Time is flying too fast. I wish it would slow down a little bit! The first week was full of learning: from learning my way around Zimba Mission
Hospital, to learning many names of new friends, to learning some Tonga, to
learning how to treat and manage my patients.
It was wonderful!
My first official patient here at Zimba was Daisy. Daisy has been in and out of Zimba for
several weeks battling congestive heart failure. She was admitted this time for a very low
oxygen saturation. I saw her for 3 days
this week. Daisy speaks some English so
I was able to interact with her well.
Dr. Joan and I diagnosed her with pulmonary hypertension due to her
accumulation of fluid in her lungs, her abnormal heart sounds, her
hypertension, and the fact that oxygen through nasal cannula never seemed to
bring her oxygen back up to a sufficient level.
On Wednesday, her oxygen saturation was at 84%. You would think she would be short of breath,
but Daisy said she felt well. She had
also gained 2 kg in 24 hrs. We were
thinking fluid. But she was not swollen
and her lungs sounded great. We
increased her Lasix and continued to manage her blood pressure and hoped for
the best. Thursday morning, I come into
the ward and take a peek at Daisy. She
looked great! I asked her how she felt…
she felt great! I took a peek at her
vital signs. Her blood pressure had
normalized, and her weight had remained stable.
The true test came next: her
oxygen saturation. We checked it… it was
above 90%! Praise God! Her lungs also sounded great!! So, Daisy got to go home on Wednesday! This is Daisy.
Yesterday (Saturday) continued a 2 day marathon of
surgeries! We had a OB/GYN surgeon with
us who is originally from Ireland but has lived in a city 2 hours away from
Zimba for several years. I first
assisted on many cases with him. He had
to leave Saturday afternoon before our final case was done, so I worked with
Dr. Dan for the remainder of the day.
Our next to last case was a C-section!
I was so excited! I assisted Dr.
Dan on this wonderful delivery! Before
we began, Dr. Dan prayed for the mother and a healthy delivery of the
baby. I was very moved by this! We got going and when he cut into the uterus,
I saw the baby’s head! Dr. Dan was
pulling and pushing on the uterus trying to get the baby out. When he finally did, it was
unforgettable! She was a big baby! (3.6 kg)
Beautiful baby! It makes you just
awe at the power of God at work in creating this living being! Wonderful end to a beautiful Saturday!
Today (Sunday) we experienced Sunday morning church in Zambia. Words cannot describe how wonderful it was! From the singing, to the message, to leaving service at the end. The Zambians know how to sing and worship God with everything! The Spirit of God was totally in that place! I could have stayed there all day! Reverend Chabula's message was out of Nehemiah and he talked about rebuilding broken walls in our life. Very good and relevant to everyone! The end of service was one of my favorite parts. As we all were walking out, we all formed a line. As we formed the line, we shook everybody's hand. When we found the end of the line, the people after us shook our hand. This resulted in shaking hands with every single person in the church! It was fantastic! Something that should definitely be started back in the States! Today is a wonderful day of rest with great friends. Much appreciated after a long, but wonderful week!
