OB, continued

I continue to enjoy my work as a full service physician - adults, kids, pregnant women, phone consults, email consults (from my sister :)), house calls, ICU, clinic, multiple specialties. I even gave antibiotic shots last week to a staff member's child with pneumonia at their home. Praise the Lord; the little one is much better now. I love the variety present each day (though I do at times get frustrated with the interruptions) and am so grateful for my thorough training in internal medicine and pediatrics. And now I'm enjoying adding new obstetric skills to my repertoire. I'm thankful visiting doctors came at the right time to help on the medicine and pediatric services so that I can learn some obstetrics and hopefully help women down the road in Burundi with this knowledge. Here are some photos from this week on the OB service:

Suturing the C section incision

A very young mother with her newborn

The three remaining quadruplets (pictured above and below) continue to grow slowly but surely. Their mother (pictured here on the left) doesn't have sufficient milk for all three so we are working out an alternative plan with formula for now (very expensive, though) and likely cow's milk later. Hopefully the babies, now three months old and at their due date, will go home soon.

This young mother had eclampsia with seizures and very high blood pressure. She unfortunately lost the baby but needed to have a C section as delivery of the infant was the only thing that would improve her medical situation and potentially save her life. After the C section, though, she developed kidney failure (Creatinine 12.2 and minimal urine output) and we referred her for dialysis (not available here at Tenwek but available 3-4 hours away). She never went for dialysis, though, due to the family's inability to pay for it. We thought it likely that she would not survive and transferred her out of the ICU so that another patient with a better chance could have that bed. Amazingly, though, slowly but surely, she began to wake up and her kidney function began to return. Her recovery did not happen overnight, but in the course of a week or so, it was clear that she was recovering. She was discharged last week after almost a month in the hospital with a creatinine of 2.4, normal mental status, and regained strength. We praise God for her miraculous healing.

One of three C sections I assisted with on Friday (I'm on the left)

A monumental event: my first cesarean section without an OB attending scrubbed in. Intern Githiomi and I delivered these healthy twins, both girls, the first one breech. Our attending was in the room to ensure the babies came out ok, but we did all the cutting and sewing and delivering!

The OB/Gyn team

Anesthetist Jackson displaying a visitor to the OB ward

"For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." 2 Corinthians 2:2
As we continue in this Easter season and as I learn these new skills, I pray that all my knowledge would be overshadowed by the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (Philippians 3:8).