I know it has been a long time since I wrote but I have been quite ill......bronchitis.....and this is where the isolation of Soyo and the limited resources are very apparent......
When I first got sick I thought it was just a cold.....this is the cool season here and the wind blows a lot. I actually have to turn off the air conditioner in the house because it is too cold and if we sit out at night, we need a sweater.....I thought this would pass with fluids and rest.......wrong.....
Finally I started a course of antibiotics that I had here......not specific for upper respiratory but I thought would be good enough.......wrong again......finally after a week at home and getting worse and worse, I faced the fact I needed help. You see, the new CEO of Chevron as well as the new managing director for Angola and the current director for southern Africa were all here for meetings. They were supposed to leave but the Angolan military were having exercises and had closed the airport. Therefore, there was a light lunch quickly planned to meet and greet these people. Bryan asked me to go......and I thought I was well enough.....So we met these people and it was during their speeches that I started coughing and couldn't stop. It was awful.....and right after that, I was taken to the Kwanda Base Clinic.
The doctor there is Brazilian, I think, and a very nice man. He was quite concerned at my condition, took an X ray to make sure I didn't have pneumonia and then took blood. Now in the X ray room I was asked to sit and wait while the technician that was also the receptionist put the lead apron on himself, turned on the machine and went to fill the film canister.....this reminded me of Hoa Khanh Children's Hospital, Vietnam and the X ray room there because he turned off all the lights and I could hear him getting the film and putting it in the film holder.....in the dark......only here....no cockroaches running around. He then told me to take off my shirt and stand in front of the film holder......no gown.....and thankfully I had a tank top on with no metal clasps and could wear that instead of a gown......incredible......He took the film.
The doctor read the film and said, no pneumonia.....just diffuse bronchitis...and that the antibiotics they had on hand were not really strong enough and the new supply would not be here for four weeks so he wanted to give me an IV of antibiotic first and then I could continue with the oral medications. He sat with me while the technician took blood.....and another man was to give me the antibiotic IV push. While disconnecting the syringe with the blood, he moved the needle and so the next man was giving the medication into my tissue......and it burned. I told them it was infiltrated but when they drew back, blood came into the syringe.....so they continued. After about half of the medication had been given, the swelling was so apparent that they took the needle out... which by then was bent......and changed to a new needle to finish the IV in the other arm. It was not pretty.......but worked.....and I began to feel better......but still coughing and coughing and I asked if he had an inhaler for asthma which would open my lungs.......he didn't.
Yesterday, as the coughing continued with it's accompanying shortness of breath, I was given permission to go to the Bechtel base clinic and met with a doctor from India. He also listened to my lungs.....and gave me a nebulizer treatment and upgraded the antibiotics and sent me home. I am now....today....feeling so much better......with the mixture of medications and feel I will be ready to go by next week.
So what did I learn.......I'm not a doctor......I do need help by doctors and when things are tough...there are ways to meet our needs here. I so appreciate those that made it possible for me to go to the clinics and be able to get the medications I needed. The other option was to send me to Luanda, the capital, and I don't think I could have flown in the plane comfortably.......at all.....I'm just thankful that it all worked out well here....... And the plus out of this???? Weight loss.......a good thing.......
No comments:
Post a Comment