Internal Medicine

6/9/14
Since I have been asked about the food, I will detail a typical breakfast we have at the house.  There is always porridge, a type of egg (scrambled, etc.), either pancakes, French toast, or Tanzanian donuts (pretty much large plain donut holes), toast with jam, butter, and Nutella (a staple here), and pineapple, watermelon, and papaya or mango.  Today we had pancakes, which are much more like creeps, and usually everyone has Nutella with theirs... we went through 2 jars this morning.
 
Today was also my first day in the Internal Medicine Department with Dr. Tatu and Dr. Aisha.  The students who had just arrived did rebounds with Dr. Tatu in the female part of the department while I went with the other students (who had been here a week or longer) with Dr. Aisha in the male department.

One case we saw was a 73 year old man who had been admitted because he was unconscious and initially had a bp of 210/160.  The doctors determined that he had a stroke due to severe hypertension and were going to do a CT scan to determine the type of stroke.  When we took the patient's blood pressure during rounds, it was 260/120... with a bp that high, it was amazing he was still alive.

Another 28 year old man we saw had been in a coma for 3 days and hade HIV, malaria, pneumonia, and meningitis.  It's interesting because when a patient is HIV positive, the doctors never use that term... instead they say the person is PITC positive, which is the name of the HIV test.

For lunch we went to a cafe in the town called Warthog's.  For all you foodies (Mama especially) I got a pizza with sweet corn, pineapple, green peppers, onions, and mushrooms... sooooo amazing.  I will definitely have to go back again soon. The group I had lunch with then went to the Masai market, which is practically right next to Warthogs, down a broad alley.  Everyone bought African pants from a women who makes them there... we pick the fabric and she measures us and has our pants finished by the next day... super impressive.

The rest of the afternoon was quiet.  I read up on the deck while the new students took the weekly hike up to the rock above the house.  We then had dinner and the dance group came to put on a show for everyone, but I am calling it an early night tonight, since it is surgery day tomorrow (the major procedures are scheduled for Tuesday/Thursday afternoons) and I have another night shift... definitely in need of some sleep.