Last Call

One more night call before I finish my time here. Charles heads back to Seattle tomorrow PM – he could use a break (but that was the 18 hours of planes flights are for right?). The women’s ward team that he is on is quite busy. Our load of patients is moderate now after a few discharges and the ICU is nearly full (which means there is room for only one baby and that’s it). The best way to summarize what I’m up to is to describe the patients we have now to give you a good snapshot of the problems we have faced this month.

Isolation room:

45 y.o. with disseminated Kaposi’s Sarcoma, PCP pneumonia and TB pneumonia with AIDS

24 y.o with PCP and TB with AIDS

64 y.o. with TB of the right lung (NOT HIV positive – wow)

Regular ward:

58 y.o. with myelodysplasia who we just diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia

70 y.o. with pneumonia and COPD

67 y.o. with a stroke with facial weakness and confusion

80 y.o. with a stroke with difficulty with swallowing and speech

54 y.o. with TB meningitis, AIDS dementia and profound wasting from AIDS

23 y.o. with severe ulcer disease, improving on treatment

18 y.o. with seizure disorder and labyrinthitis

18 y.o. with AIDS, TB of the spine with paralysis and extensive bedsores (now with his femur and

sacrum exposed).

42 y.o. with a pulmonary embolus after 3 weeks in the hospital for a perforated ulcer

Private ward:

58 y.o. with a AK-47 gunshot wound to the thigh resulting in non-union of a femur fracture

ICU: 59 y.o. with necrotizing fasciitis resulting in disarticulation of the R leg at the hip socket, sepsis (improved…)

33 y.o. with cervical spine subluxation, now repaired and extubated today (Yeah!!)

35 y.o. with acute abdomen, pancreatitis, sepsis

44 y.o. with flail chest from a car accident (2 weeks on the ventilator).

Each patient has a story, a family that visits daily no matter how far away they live it seems, and they are being well cared for by a staff that is stretched for space, sanitation and supplies. We still see many patients sent here by local government hospitals that don’t have the means to care for them well so they send them here for the right medications and surgical care the many of the patients require.

If there is any question whether or not Kijabe Hospital deserves the support of the many western churches that provide missionaries and funding for this place, it only takes about a 15 minute tour to see the profound impact that this dedicated Christian staff is having on their neighbors near and far. The future is brighter as the leadership here has taken hold of the core value of training – creating the next generation of leaders in Kenya’s health system – from nurses, therapists, dieticians, clinical officers, interns to residents – they are training them all. Whatever we can do to support that goal will have long lasting impact. Let’s hope we can rise to the challenge before us.