All machines great and small

Two weeks and no update- how did you cope? Well we are back! The delay has been due to illness unfortunately. On the plus side Heidi is now fully recovered, but only after I bought us two tickets for the following morning to Nairobi to see a specialist there! Well, you can’t put a price on your health and we had used up the 2 available blood tests at Juba Teaching Hospital (malaria and typhoid screens) and a further one at a private clinic (a full blood count). But as it turned out random fire with broad spectrum antibiotics and an IV drip in our cabin saved the day. She is now set for a return to the hospital tomorrow.

I have been battling along without her which is not easy. You quickly realise how important the moral support between us is. Getting to bounce ideas off each other, complain about any problems, and talk over plans or diagnoses is vital. Not to mention the weight I have lost through worry (and I wasn’t the sick one!). It will be nice to be back at work together.

Before the bug struck we were actually progressing well. Heidi had done an inventory of all the anaesthetic drugs and equipment in theatre and then took delivery of a brand spanking new anaesthetic machine for the obstetric ward- the first one in JTH! It was a generous donation from the Rotary club in Devon. The photo is of her with Robert Neighbour who is the Managing Director of Diamedica who made the equipment and had flown out to install it. We will keep you updated with its use, which will only be as an oxygen concentrator at present as we have no inhaled gases. Next stop procurement of halothane in Uganda!

I was strolling round the Emergency Unit and Long stay ward casting my less-than-specialist eye over complex tropical disease with a variable number of junior doctors. My plans for a fully functioning emergency medical unit (EMU) are in the pipeline and Heidi and I have run off a few rounds of data collection to prove that it needs improvement. I also rummaged through a cupboard in outpatients to find 3 fully functioning observation machines collecting a unique colour of dust in the corner. Why these valuable and useful pieces of kit had been banished to the dark depths of the wardrobe was beyond me and I am too polite to question them on what misdemeanour they performed to be punished in such a way. Anyway, they should come in useful once I have permission to get them out. We also ran our first teaching sessions for the doctors on the management of acutely ill patients which went down well. They have requested stroke disease for next week.

The aviation-minded amongst you will have noticed the MI-26 Helicopter with Heidi in the pilot’s seat. One of our Russian pilot chums, currently contracted with the UN, took us on an unofficial tour of the world’s largest helicopter last weekend. This dude has flown the helicopter all around Africa and in some pretty out-of-the way places. One of the other pilots told us of an emergency landing in December when they had an oil leak up in the border towns. They were subsequently attacked by the locals who thought they were flying in guns or contraband and they had to fight them off for 2 hours waiting for relief! Sitting in the ‘copter was very cool and it certainly is huge! Many thanks to Alex.

Well, that is all I’m afraid. Rather less than riveting for you but believe me, the most stressful week of our lives. Fact.