Day Two at Chidamoyo

Today was our first day doing rounds at the hospital with Kathy, the head nurse and director at Chidamoyo. After breakfast at Kathy’s, which consisted of a delicious German pancake, sausage, and coffee, we walked over to the hospital and quickly got started visiting each ward of the hospital.

We first entered the pre-me ward where we checked on a mother who was lying with her two newborn babies, one at 2500 grams and the other at 3500 grams. Another mother was lying with her newborn that was born 6 weeks early. Kathy informed us that at the hospital the typical cut off weight for survival is 1000g (2.2 Lbs.) and to be able to go home is 4 Lbs. They also need to make sure and check if the mom is HIV +, and if so, the baby needs to be put on medication. Another mom was lying with her 8.8 Lb baby, which is quite large for the typical child born here. Another mother had just given born to her baby who had hydrocephalus and spina bifida, but unfortunately passed away.

Next we visited ward 1 which consisted of us following Kathy as we checked on each patient. The first was a 66 year-old woman with dementia and congestive heart failure who had come in with abscesses on her knees. The second was a woman with HIV/AIDS, known as “The Disease” here, who was very weak. Third was a woman who sustained a R CVA 3 days ago and was experiencing L hemiparesis. We ended up coming back later with Brighton to work with her more specifically for PT. The next patient was a woman who was admitted with a severe snake bite on her hand which resulted in a necrotic wound. The patient next to her was a woman with cervical cancer who was admitted for a severe fever. Another patient had been bitten by something during the night, which resulted in a serious wound.

Wards 2 and 5 consisted of patients with Tuberculosis, so this was a no enter zone for us.

Ward 3 was another pediatric ward which consisted of three children with femur fractures all receiving traction, a young girl who had been hit with a stick and developed an open wound and osteomyelitis, and a mom with her 3 month old baby who is most likely going to be put on antiviral medication since the mother is HIV + and it takes approximately 3 months to receive results if the child is also HIV +. The child was low in weight (10^th percentile), which had decreased the past few months.

We visited a few more wards along with the ER and saw patients with burn wounds, epilepsy, and more snake bites. After finishing rounds we headed back to the patient who had suffered a stroke 3 days ago where Brighton was working his PT magic. He performed resisted trunk rotation in hook lying, standing squats, and walking with the patient and would fit her for a walker and send her home in a couple days.

The next part of our day consisted of working with Brighton in the rehabilitation room and orienting him to the orthotic devices and other supplies we had brought for him and his practice. We also introduced him to what a “whoopi-cushion” is for the first time and definitely made him jump out of his chair. If you’re wondering why we brought a whoopi-cushion with us to Africa, it’s because it’s a pretty technical therapy tool for the kids. J

After finishing our day at the hospital around noon we headed to Kathy’s for a delicious lunch followed by a walk to a dam nearby. Along the walk we thought we heard what sounded like a kid screaming but realized it was a pig. The squealing went on for a few minutes and then stopped…so we realized someone was most likely preparing dinner! Aside from that, we enjoyed the scenery and witnessed a beautiful Zimbabwe sunset.

Tomorrow we’re looking forward to spending the day with Major and his family at their village and attending church with them and the community!

Kendra working with Brighton and explaining the orthoses

Water by the dam

-Lauren, JD, Melissa, Kendra, and Sara