Howard's eclectic blog: Friday and the end of our first working week

I felt like we had a better morning though it feels like we don't really have a clear role for what to do while we are here. We went to morning report. I felt like I understood better what the residents were saying particularly the two newborn admissions.

One was a term baby with asphyxia and seizures. There was an interesting discussion. Evidently it is routine to treat with calcium gluconate as the first line agent and then use phenobarbitol if the seizure continues. I was told that is protocol. I had to say I had never done that. One was an infant born to a long standing diabetic mother and having persistent hypoglycemia despite her (mom's) good control.

We made rounds with the residents again. We had water today. The baby with Down's Syndrome actually looked better today and will likely survive and do fine. I still think he had a bad infection and needed a bit more time. He also ended up getting a platelet transfusion overnight and perhaps that helped also. The residents are fun. We are interacting more.

Cindy and I went to lunch up the street where we had gone the first afternoon with Sister Berhane. That was nice. We stopped and I found some beads so we will take Rosie there when she arrives. Also some cute baby dresses. I should have taken a photo! The food was good and the grocery store interesting.

Spice row

I think that's chips part way down this row!

Back at the hospital, we really didn't have much to do. In the premie room, both oxygen tanks had again run dry and were alarming continuously until they were changed. That took quite a while. Fortunately, the babies don't actually seem to mind. Our driver came early and so we are back again at the Red Cross. There is a big conference in Addis about Africa and people are here from all over. Many are staying at the training center. I think Cindy and I are lucky to have a place. None-the -less, we have decided to stay in Addis tomorrow night at one of the hotels. Hoping to see some of the sites and continue with the endless search for a converter!!

Some photos from our day--