Day 2 at GRRH - Another busy one

September 24

Today was the second day of work and after the long hours of the first I was pretty tired. However, I got out of bed, got ready to go and head out for the hospital. Due to the fact that I didn’t know how long it would take me to walk across town to the hospital I had decided to take a boda for the first couple of days. I also didn’t want to get lost, and reasoned that most boda drivers could safely get me to GRRH. The boda ride only took a few minutes and I was dropped at the front gate. I made my way into the unit, the clock barely registering 7:45am. Even in spite of my early arrival I was still unable to beat Charles to the unit. He was already there, getting things set up for the day that lay ahead of us. We greeted one another and then laughed as we both realized we should get started. We still had numerous films to develop from the day before and we were sure that more would be arriving from the group of conflict victims. And so the developing binge began. Under Charles’ instruction we were not going to x-ray any patients for today until yesterday’s films were developed and mostly given back to the respective patient. This became difficult for me as I walked back and forth through the hallway of eagerly waiting patients. However, I had decided to take the instruction of my senior colleague and adhere to his advice.

Finally at about 11 am we were finished with the x-rays from the day before. During our developing stages, Charles was in the dark room, dipping films, while I was waiting for them to dry so that I could write the information on them and attach them to the correct requisition. This was our process for those first four and a half hours of work, and it actually worked very well.

Once we began to x-ray patients, it was apparent that today was going to be another long day. We had imaged 53 patients the day before (which goes very slowly with only one machine and manual processing) and this day seemed as if the number would be similar. And to begin the day we had a few patients whose films had been misplaced or spoiled. So right off the bat we had to repeat films which is mentally exhausting and frustrating. Within the first few hours of work both Charles and I looked at each other and said almost simultaneously “I’m more tired today than yesterday.” We both agreed that it’d be a long day so we would take our time with things. Not be slow, but balance movement with rest, so as to not get burnt out. 

Today went a little smoother than yesterday because I knew more of the ‘flow.’ At least I felt more useful today. And as Charles realized that I could do some of the work, he began to allow me to help rather than making sure he was right there with everything that I did. It was good, as it made it more of a co-worker relationship than visitor one. 

Something that I noticed, and was bothered by on a couple occasions, was that patients are x-rayed one day and told to return the next day to pick up their results. With most of the patients that we saw it was not a problem, as their injuries were not acute and it was more of a check up than an acute diagnosis. However, with a few patients who had sustained injuries today, they would have to wait until the next day for their films. An interesting and challenging thing for me to get used to, especially considering the instantaneous results I have been used to giving to doctors and patients.

Along with all of the conflict patients we continued to see normally sent patients. These coming from out patient facilities, other hospitals, or the wards. One that really struck me was a young child. Maybe about two years old whose requisition only said “PTB Check.” I didn’t know what that meant, but Charles said it was a chest x-ray that we needed to do. I asked what the indication was. “Possible tuberculosis exposure.” At that point I had a choice to make. Do I treat this child as if they have TB or not? Do I refrain from touching them, from being too close? Or do I treat them as if they are completely healthy? It is a situation that I know will continue to come up, and I am challenged by those questions every time. And yet, my heart won’t let me be cold to it. Maybe that is my age and ‘immaturity,’ as some would say. Am I putting myself at risk and shouldn’t? Or maybe that is exactly the kind of heart I am supposed to have towards them? One that will not allow me to see these children and people as anything less than beautiful creations and my brothers and sisters. These are my daily questions...