Snakes...

SNAKES...

This poor lad was very unfortunate – he managed to be bitten by a snake – on his head!

He was sleeping and must have rolled over at the wrong moment and the snake bit his scalp.  He woke up and cried in the dark.  His parents came to see what was wrong and he told them he had been stung by an insect. So they left him and it wasn’t until the morning that the true culprit was seen and dealt with… by which time the boy was swelling up rapidly.

He came to Kisiizi and thankfully we had supplies of the anti-snake venom antidote. 

 He received three ampoules as well as steroids, anti-histamines, tetanus toxoid and antibiotics as he kept on swelling up.

 Happily he did not develop any major complications and stabilised and then slowly recovered.

The next problem was his parents when they heard the cost of the antidote – it is 400,000 Uganda Shillings an ampoule [about £100] (you will understand the cost if you read up how the antidote is obtained – someone has to “milk” the venom from a snake who presumably may not be too pleased about the experience!)

So having been faced with the prospect of their six year old son dying, the parents now faced the potential of having to sell vital land on which their future depended.

 .... AND LADDERS!

But, wonderfully, some members of a UK church who happened to be visiting Kisiizi that day, heard their story and very generously paid the costs of his bill, much to the relief and excitement of the family.

 Here he is with the swelling reducing but still somewhat bemused by the whole affair!

The story is a good illustration of God’s love reaching out to a vulnerable family in Kisiizi.  We really appreciate the prayers and support of many friends, those visiting and those far away.

THANK YOU.

Face creams and Facebook...

The youngsters in this photo were sitting outside as I walked towards Children's Ward... they had chickenpox and generous amounts of calamine lotion had been liberally applied!  We sent them home as they were doing well and we wanted to avoid the disease spreading to other vulnerable patients.

Amongst all the challenges we face day by day, one out of the blue issue is that someone has put up a counterfeit Facebook account in Ian's name - they have used photos from our blog and the hospital website to make it look authentic but then sadly have apparently asked some people for money... this is all a scam so please ignore it and if you have accepted Ian as a friend on Facebook please cancel this as he does not have an account.  If you do wish to support Kisiizi then please look on the hospital website www.kisiizihospital.org.ug and you will find information to help you.  We do apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Do use the box on the right margin to enter your email if you wish to be alerted when we update the blog - the pressure of life here means we often have to wait for a day off to catch up with posting so it may be a bit erratic and the email notification can help you read any new posts.

Smile!

We were pleased to have a visit from a special patient recently.. a little boy with oculo-cutaneous albinism, a condition where the pigment cells of the skin and iris are not working well and the skin and hair are therefore very pale. This can cause a risk of sunburn and potentially malignant melanoma, and the children with this condition may have visual problems.  Happily this youngster is doing quite well and his parents are grateful to Kisiizi where medical students have helped by bringing out high factor suncreams for him. 

The condition may be socially very challenging for the family and child as there are various traditional superstitious beliefs surrounding this condition but we were pleased to see them coping better now after a lot of counselling support initially.

so much more than just a midwife!

It's certainly true that Hanna spends a huge amount of time on the Maternity ward, mostly in the Labour Ward, but she also manages to do all sorts of other things so here are a few photos...


The first shows her improvising in a power cut with a torch under the chin to keep hands free...
 thankfully I don't think she's had to use this technique for delivering babies...




 then there is the vegetable production, with an element of artistic sculpture work thrown in!



 There are times to sit down, so why not make the most of the beautiful view to the waterfall even if it is pouring with rain?!

In addition Hanna organises the Guest House bookings and looks after many visitors and provides a lot of hospitality.

Then she sometimes drives one of the hospital landcruisers through mud and dust... now happy to park back in Kisiizi and head for a cup of tea!

Weekend celebrations...

Drs Bryony, Henry, Paul and Bruce

On 18th January we had a party in our living room to say goodbye to Drs. Paul and Bryony who had worked with us for almost six months.  Paul had mainly worked on Medical and Isolation wards and Bryony on Paediatrics and they fitted in to Kisiizi very well.  We are grateful for all they have done, not only the valuable clinical work and teaching but also entering into the life of the community and sharing in the fellowship.

We also said goodbye to the visiting urologist, Steve Foley and his registrar Paul plus a visiting student Phoebe all from Reading.  They had been with us for a week and the Urology camp had gone very well.

Jemma and Bryony

We were also delighted to welcome Dr. Jemma Say on the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health Global Links scheme to Kisiizi, she will be with us for about seven months taking over the work done by Bryony.





 

 The following day we travelled to Kabale with our friends Moses and Josephine to take part in the service of consecration for the new Bishop of Kigezi, Bishop George who Moses has known for some years. 

There was, of course, a huge crowd and the Prime Minister attended so it was the second time we met him in three weeks!




We drove back over Shoko Hill and enjoyed the beauty of the Kigezi landscape...