It's been a Long While!

Sorry, for anoyone who still checks this blog! I have been absolutly horrible at posting on here. I have some stories of stuff that has happened recently. Here they are:


Two days last week I spent the majority of the day at the hospital with different children for various different reasons. Something really cool happened yesterday while I was waiting in a long line at the eye hospital. We always have to arrive very early to the hospital appointments (like 3 1/2 hours before the doctors even come to work) because there are just sooooo many people that if you don't get their early then you will be waiting (literaly) all day! So I was sitting waiting in line (this is prior to the doctors arrival) one of the sisters/nurses all of a sudden said something to the entire waiting room (about twice the size of the sun room at church - full of people (all black obviously)) and she had a little drum. Suddenly they all stood up and started singing! It sounded totally AMAZING! (they were singing in Zulu/Tswana), when they were done they all prayed outloud for several minutes and then sang another song. When they sang the second song there was this woman who was wailling and crying. It was sooooooooooo cool to experience. I was thinking the whole time, whilst I was trying to savour the moment, that nothing like that would ever happen at home!

Also Saturday was my day off, so I went out with a few friends for the day. We went for breakfast at this amazing restauraunt called Moyo, we sat on the upper deck areas on these amazing lounge chairs with the view of this amazing park with a huge lake. They come around with this pitcher and bowl of rose water and wash your hands while they sing to you. And the food was amazing! And we had amazing cappuciono there also! Then we went to the Johannesburg Art Gallery, it was very interesting! Then this after noon we went with one of the workers from TLC and she gave us a tour of Soweto (where she lives). Soweto is kind of the heart of Aparthaid, there are 4.3 million black people that live there, and most of it very poverish. We saw the girls house and the sight of the Soweto Uprising/ Hector Peiterson Museum. The Soweto Uprising was a rally that these schoool children held in the 70's because they wanted to take their shcool studies in their own language but the white people were changing it so they must learn in Afrikaans. They had this big march (that was supposed to be peaceful) but soon after they began the police felt thretened and started shooting people and throwing tear gas into the crowds (these are kids/teens remember!) The museum is all abou it, it was VERY interesting! I also saw Nelson Mandella's home.


This was a while ago, but it's kind of funny now and I don't know if I ever told you about it.

Suppose you could call the climactic ultimate test in patience. So it was supposed to be a normal 10 hour day so I was supposed to have 3 hours of break. I was to go to the hospital to take one of the babies to a therapy appointment. I was scheduled to leave at 7:00 (meaning my first hour break was 6-7). But really I had to leave at half past 6 to go with the school run so I could get dropped off on time. So I arrived at the hospital around 7:30. The appointment went well, and when it was done about 9:30, I called for a ride to be picked up and brought back to TLC. When Chrissy (another volunteer) arrived, she had another baby with her, and said I'm really sorry but you need to take this baby to see a doctor and I will take the other baby home.
I figured that it wouldn't take that long do see a doctor (maybe a couple hours). Chrissy told me that our pediatrician from TLC had phoned doctor LaLa (that's his name.. heha) and that he was waiting to see the baby in ward 31 and that I didn't need to get a registration stamp in ward 54 (which can take AGES!). So I assumed that the doctor would know what he was looking for because he had spoke to the pediatrician. Well I got to ward 31 and Dr. Lala was on break. So I waited and he finally came, the sister told him that i was waiting, and he said oh right - well it doesn't matter, he can see any doctor. So the sister said now I must go to ward 54 to get a stamp and then wait in the line. So I did as fast as I could (thankfully ward 54 wasn't THAT busy so it didn't take to long). I went back to ward 31 and it didn't take super long to get through the queue so that was good. Then he finally saw a doctor (who I swear looked like she was 12 years old!) and I just had to tell her what I knew about the case because I was expecting to see Dr. Lala.
This is what is up with the child. He had Hydrocephalus when he was born so they put in a shunt to drain the fluid from his brain. But they didn't really do it fast enough so he has some brain damage (which also may have caused his severe epilepsie), and because of that he also doesn't have a good sucking reflex so we feed him through a tube into his belly. Poor little guy!. So he has little seizures all the time, but the pediatrician thought that having him on epilim would at least decrease the seizures, but it hasn't been working so she wanted him to see a doctor (as well as he has been vomiting lately).
So I told the doctor basically what I knew, and she figured that yes he should be admitted, so she took his bloods and gave him a drip in his hand and sent me to ward 36 which is pediatric admissions.
**you must understand something, Baragwanath Hospital is -supposedly- the largest hospital in the world (i am inclined to believe this). And everything is in little buildings that are spread way out! So none of these things are really close together and I am carrying a car seat with a crying baby and a bunch of hospital files and a diaper bag. **
When I got to 36 it took quite a while for someone to see me, when they finally did, they figured the baby should have an x-ray and a CT scan. So I, once they worked out all the logistics and ordered the scan, ran off with the baby to x-ray and that took a while because they had to do it twice and then I ran off to diagnostics for a CT scan. Just as the doctor was about to give the baby the sedative through his drip, it fell out. So they had to re-drip him. But it took almost an hour because they tried in his other hand, then both arms, then his leg, then both sides of his head before they Finally got another one to go. So they gave him a sedative and we could finally do the scan. They told me I must hold this piece of wet cotton in his mouth while they did the scan, I was like... ok. So there I was standing in the room and then suddenly everyone else walks out and goes behind this big metal sliding door and I am left in the room (probably getting Mass amounts of radiation poisoning). Before you freak out, I was wearing one of those protective bib things, so don't worry, I am sure won't be turning into a mutant anytime soon.
So then it took another hour to get the results for the scan. By this time I am getting close to passing out from hunger (this was about 5:30pm, the last time I had eaten was two pieces of toast at 6:20am). Vivien had called me then and said I must be starving and that she was sending someone withe some food, so that was good, Lizzie brought me something to eat.
So the doctor said that from the scan it looked like maybe his shunt was blocked, but that he should see the neurologist. So we went back to 36 and the neurologist came and looked at the scan. He said that it looks like he miight have an infection from the shunt but it didn't seem to be blocked. So then they FINALLY admitted him and are going to see him again today to see if there is actually an infection.
So I finally left the hospital around 7:45pm. So I spent the better part of 12 hours straight at the hospital, running around like a chicken with it's head cut off! I was sooooo drained when I got home. But seriously the night before I (for some reason) I thought I needed to go to bet at 7:30, I wasn't even tired... now I know why!



Now this week I am on night shift. And on the 18th of March I will be leaving for a short vacation to Mossel Bay (southern coast of Africa) and having hopefully a good rest (and a few adventures!)

Thanks for all your prayers,
Andrew