a typical week

So I thought it may be fun to give you a run down of a typical week here now that there is a bit of a routine.

My time is primarily spent up at hospital but I try to get out to visit the people around as much as I can. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are Ward round days, they also tend to be my busiest days in hospital. So JR, Emma and I accompany Dr. David and review each patient's condition and progress. While rounds can seem long at times, this is when the best learning occurs. I have seen some of the most interesting patient cases here! There are 5 wards here in hospital: ICU, Men's, Women's, Children's and Maternity. There is also Old Hospital, or Kabwita, and Colony but ward rounds are done collectively only on the hospital wards. After ward rounds we all head down to the Theatre and the sometimes daunting number of patients to be seen for dressing changes, examinations, ultra sound scans, XR's, the doctor's clinic and any number of other tests and procedures that need to be done. We are very fortunate to have with us right now Rebekah Stickford who is an ultra sonographer and Rodney Staughan who is a radiologist to do our scans for us. We start in hospital Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 0730 and go until the work is done aside from tea around 10 and lunch around 13. So some days like today we are pretty much done by 13 but many days it can be 16 or 17 hrs before we finish depending on what big procedures need to be done- taps, draining, large dressing changes (we have a boy right now with an ox cart injury who needs his dressing change done under anesthetic... don't worry, I won't share pictures of that one) and so forth. After we get through all of that mess of patients, on Mondays there are a few small girls who come over to play. We actually can't communicate much but we still manage to have a fun time when they come. In the evenings, I have Lunda lessons over at JR's. Right now we are working through questions on the ante natal card which is really good for my comprehension and for a good laugh. I am starting to be able to work out questions and requests on the spot, but understanding what people are saying to me in response is still a struggle... but chovu chovu :) Its actually kinda fun right now when I get in the middle of a sentence and can't think of the English word and its starting to happen more often. it actually feels really weird right now to carry on a conversation completely in English.

On Wednesday I have been going to visit the Colony patients with JR. I think I talked about Colony before, but the Colony is where our long term patients say like the TB patients, our two chemo patients, leprosy patients, and also people who need a place to live and extra help with resources and food etc. So mostly when there, we are just checking up on these patients making sure they are getting healthier or maintaining their standard of health, getting the extra nutrition they need while at hospital. So many come from so far away. We had a lady today anxious to go home but was a three day walk to her village :S Wednesday's if we finish before 16hrs there is the Bible Study at the church. Wednesday evenings I try to do some studying (there is always something more to study- maternity, tropical medicine, HIV, pharmacology, Lunda, etc) but also try either to have some of the kiddies over or to visit some of the people around. And the same on Fridays after the work is done at hospital. However, some Friday's I try either have a bit of quiet time myself or slip up to Shawn n Rhonda's to visit with them.

Tuesday and Thursday are a bit different. These are theatre days (surgery). So the doctor is in theatre ALL day. But another great learning opportunity! Tuesday is Emma's theatre day and Thursday is mine. So on Tuesday's I do the ward rounds independently (still working at this :S this is probably this part of the job I am least sure about) but great for understanding better what is happening with each patient and there is freedom to go at my own pace and get to know the patients a bit better myself. Its also great for practicing my Lunda and for trying to understand what is being said. The staff I work with are really great for the most part if I have questions and a lot of their input is really helpful! Especially at this point when I am still trying to figure out the drugs and dosages :)

I usually finish around 13 hrs on Tuesday and run home for lunch and then out to the Colony sewing club with Rhonda. The ladies from the colony and also from some of the surrounding villages come and its almost like a Sunday school. They say their verse, they get a new craft and then there is a Bible lesson. Its a great opportunity to get to know some of the local ladies and to work with them. And in the evening is the English Bible study; as much as I am enjoying my Lunda studies, it is nice to have a meeting where I can actually understand what is being said. :)

Thursdays are my theatre days. Being a medicine nurse this is a completely new area of nursing/ medical care. But I am enjoying the challenge of learning in this area. This past week I scrubbed in for all the surgeries on Thursday which was a fabulous experience. The morning surgery was a great learning curve as they threw in a few dental instruments which are new to me (comparatively lol) but it made for an especially fun learning experience trying to figure out what the doctor wanted when he asked for the 'funny dental thing' and then the 'pokey one' ... :)

Every third weekend I am on call with Tanis which means ward rounds again up at the hospital on Saturday mornings and Sunday mornings before church. I have been learning to appreciate Saturday as a chance to sleep in past 0630 and to use Saturdays as an opportunity for doing something other than work. Although most Saturdays there are Lunda lessons up at Shawn n Rhonda's with JR and Emma and a local Zambian, Boston, who is also the social worker for the hospital and helps out quite a bit with other mission related things. Because JR and Shawn and Rhonda have been here for much longer these lessons are quite a bit deeper, but I still find it helpful to go and challenge myself and share in some of the discussions from their questions.

And then Sundays.... wow... writing all this down makes me feel tired ;) Sundays is church of course. After which I try to catch up on sleep! And then either I go with Shawn and Rhonda into one of the villages that Shawn preaches in or else I head up to the Colony Sunday school to help out there. I've learned to have a message prepared because whenever I go up there they ask me to speak :S its great fun tho- so many hearts that need His light and His love! There is also a lady that I try to visit on Sundays; she speaks English very well and we have a great time chatting, she shares her stories and teaches me more Lunda. Its cool to get a different perspective on Lunda as she would speak more old Lunda that what I learn either in my lessons, with the kids or up at the hospital. Its also just good to have another teacher ;) And then to finish Sunday evenings off there is the English Gospel Meeting and then the Missionary meeting. And by that point I am so  ready for bed!

I hope this gives you all an idea of what my life is like here. Its hard to believe sometimes that I have only been here two months... at other times I can hardly believe it has been two months :) There is so much that I am learning and experiencing and so many ways that I am being challenged. But as always God's grace is vibrant and real and life giving- I personally will go with you and I will give you rest!

The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like the cedar
They are planted in the house of the Lord
They still bear fruit in old age
They are ever full of sap and green
To declare that the Lord is upright
He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him