Beaver Believers in Uganda

October 5, 2009

Day nine at GRRH started out slowly. Usually precipitation of any kind deters much movement towards the hospital, both from patients and from staff. Though TIA (This Is Africa) has become part of my vocabulary and I have realized the truth of African time, it still does get to my American Type A personality every one in a while. I think its good for me though. Its making me loosen up a bit. Its probably part of what I’m supposed to learn here.

I took a few films this morning, and nothing too out of the ordinary. Still hurting people, grateful for some help. though one patient came in for shoulder and neck x-rays and within a few of my sentences asked where I was from in the US. I said Oregon, and he exclaimed “Oregon State?!” I said yes, and he proceeded to tell me that he is Oregon State Alumni! He went to school there in 1969 and then came back here to Uganda. He is a very stately sort of man, with broad shoulders and head held high, but as soon as we started talking about football his face lit up. We chatted about Corvallis, the Beavs and Oregon in general while I took his films. We laughed about how small the world is and how unlikely it is that we met each other. But Beaver Believers are family, so he said now I am his daughter. We laughed a lot, and I was glad to have met him. Sure haven't met any Duck fans out here. Must be a sign!

A couple patients presented with orders that said “TB spine.” I didn’t know what that meant, and I don’t pretend to understand what all TB entails, but these patients were crippled. And I can’t help but think it had to do with the disease in their bodies. 

A little boy (4 years old) came to x-rays done of his elbow. He was just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, and very quiet as he came into the exam room. I set him up on the table and was using a box as a sponge to raise the film up higher. As I positioned his arm I had to move it a little bit and he didn’t make a sound. As I was getting ready to take the film I had serious question about whether he was really hurt or not. I mean, if I had done the same to any child in the US they probably would have been screaming and their parents giving me dirty looks. But he just watched and tried to adhere to my requests. At one point I had to rotate it more and then his tears began to slowly fall. He whimpered a little and then hid his face. I felt so bad. Not only had my positioning hurt him (which often happens) but also he seemed to be ashamed that the tears fell. I wanted to cry for him, or at least let him know he could cry.

Again, it was difficult for me to not be able to give results to patients. I really hate to say “come back tomorrow.” Thinking about the differences between Gulu Regional and Sacred Heart are vast, and being here has made me appreciate there. Its interesting how that works.