Surgery is very light at the moment as the rains have started, so everyone heads out to plough their land and plant their seed for the year and to start the 3 months intensive land cultivation.
The main OR assistant is off on a months holiday and another OR assistant unforunately was involved in a motor vehicle accident and has a fraactured lower arm and ruptered lateral lifament of his knee.
The OPD goed ahead with another 20 patients hopeful for surgery or follow up from previous surgical repair(intervention.
Lip caranomas, anti natal checks on a woman with previous ventouse extraction and symphisiotomy, another woman with a vesico-vaginal fistula repair, with her previous pregnancy ending in a craniotomy for the dead baby, another woman with a history of an anti partum haemorrhage, 20 year old man with a perianal soft mass, older man with symptoms of an enlarged prostate, awaiting prostatectomy, 53 year woman with a tumor in the upper right part of her abdomen, very mobile and likely to be an ovarian tumour.
A 35 year old woman with a disabling vesico-vaginal fistula, all made for an interesting and varied clinic.
On the 17th of July the operation list only included the removal of a shoulder cyst, repair of an incisional hernia and excision of a foot granuloma. The surgical outpatients had a variety of patients from osteomyelitis of the iliac crest in a 40 year old and osteomylitis in the tibia of a 3 year old to possible TB in a 1 year old, prostate problems, bladder calculi amongst others.
On the 18th it was time to go and try to sort out the surgical path for Bernadette, but first the 5 hour bus ride to Ouagadougou.
I met Bernadette off the bus in Ouaga, the next day in time for a quick visit to the Cardiologist and the next morning we are at the office for passport applications asap. Unfortunately we are told more documents are required for passport but the next day (19th) after talking to the hospital manager Mambagari, Zibidee from SIM goes alone the next day with passport photos and seemed to be able to get agreement on a passport under some form of Urgent passport for sick minors regulation.
By the 21st we had achieved all we were able to do so on 22nd it was putting Berndadette on 3 long bus rides to Diapaga and myself returning to Djibo.
On the 25th the surgical list included a check to ensure previous tubal ligation post LUSCS had been done in a 46 year old woman then an open prostatectomy in a 64 year old man, removal of a bladder calculus in a 2 year old child and a 6 year old girl and a 40 year old woman with removal of foreign bodies from the eyes under local anaethestic.
On the 24th I was assisting with removal of a large torted ovarian cyst before taking the afternoon bus to Ouaga to confirm tickets to NZ.
The 25th was spent quietly in Ouaga as this is the manditory space day one needs to allow when travelling by public transport from Djibo to the capital for a flight because the condition of the buses never guarantees a trouble free drive to Ouaga to fly out.