October 19, 2009
As I’ve found to be typical on Mondays, this one was busy. If someone is requiring x-rays they have to wait until Monday morning because our department is not open on the weekends. So that makes Monday mornings in the x-ray department very busy times.
A couple of hours into the day I realized that the films I had purchased only one week prior would not last through this week. I had only been able to buy two boxes, and the supply was already dwindling. With my own resources running low, and no word from administration about when more films would be delivered, I soon realized what the near empty boxes would mean for the department and patients. It seems to be a reoccurring problem and I don’t know where the root of the problem is. Whether the money truly is not there, or whether it is being diverted into someone’s pocket, I don’t know. I do know, however, that without films no x-rays would be taken at GRRH. Seeing what I have of the patients’ conditions, that worries me a lot. To not be able to do an x-ray on a TB patient could prove to be fatal. Or to not be able to demonstrate how badly a wrist is broken. Suddenly the problems I might have faced while working in the US seem very small. What I wouldn’t give to be able to provide such speedy and high quality care to these precious ones also...
Along with it being a busy day, I earned my keep today as well. Charles was unable to come to work to do the death of his mother-in-law over the weekend and the need for him to help with the burial, and Lawrence (a guy who sometimes fills in for Charles) was only able to come for about an hour. This required me to act as secretary, radiographer, darkroom attendant and film deliverer. Before I knew it, lunch time came, so I stole away from the department for a quick break before heading back to dispense more results. I worked straight through until 5 pm and then it finally died down. I was able to leave the hospital by 5:30, which was no problem for me. I went home tired, but satisfied after a full day of hard work.
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