Busy Doctor

Walk through rice field

The last few weeks have been very busy at work.  Since this is a referral hospital (most patients deliver at home or in safe delivery units), the cases we see are often complicated.  It seems an almost daily occurrence lately to have a patient show up bleeding to the point of shock (very low blood pressure, very pale, and barely conscious).  Usually this is a complication of delivering a baby or having a miscarriage.  It is so different from my practice in the US, where I hardly ever see a patient arriving with this scenario.  Eclampsia is also very common and almost a daily occurrence lately, although the other doctors tell me this is “eclampsia season”.  I am enjoying the fact that these cases are somewhat challenging so getting “bored” is not really a concern.  Also, we are doing well over 10 deliveries per day, which usually means at least 2 c-sections per shift.

another walk

funny road sign: "shops ahead

Recently I was feeling exhausted and realized I had just completed 3 on calls in 6 days.  My day off I went with some other foreigners to the next town over for an outing.  We spent the morning sightseeing and shopping, ate lunch at a restaurant, and then came back to the compound in the afternoon.  I had a very nice nap that afternoon.  Now I think I am finally caught up on sleep from that busy week, although each on call brings a new adventure and little sleep.  I attempt to spend the day after the on call catching up on sleep but often end up working part of the day since it is so busy. 

broken glass mosque

I also had a challenging surgical GYN case last week.  Thank God the general surgeon was still here to help me: an ovarian cyst was stuck to everything else in the pelvis.  The surgeon is leaving today for her home assignment in the Netherlands.  I’m praying that there will not be any major issues in upcoming surgical cases as she will not return until 3 days before I leave.

I have been living in the guesthouse for the 2 months I’ve been here and am preparing to move into one of the apartments (actually I’m going to stay in the room of the surgeon who is leaving).  That will be a nice new adventure and I’m looking forward to having more of a living area.  The anesthesiologist also lives in that apartment so it will be fun having a roommate, although she goes back to the UK in December.  The OB/GYN consultant that heads up the department here also left for Switzerland last week. Even though I’ve only been here a short time, I’ve built relationships with these people and it’s hard to see them go.  These home assignments are much needed for the long-term missionaries though, so I’m also happy for them.  Luckily, there are still many awesome people here for me to spend time with and get to know.  The last two weeks we have had movie night at someone’s house, so that’s been fun to get together, eat popcorn and bond with others. 

It’s finally starting to cool off here.  The last 2 days I did not use my air conditioning.  It gets to the mid-high 80’s daily but goes down to below 70 at night.  Humidity is still high, but it feels much better.  Maybe it will feel like fall soon.

from my boating adventure

Praise report: my visa got sorted out and my passport is back in my possession.  Thank you for those who were praying!  Also, my sister was able to get time off from work to come to Bangladesh to visit!  She is coming in November and I’m so excited.  We will travel to Nepal so I can get away for a short vacation. 

Prayer requests:

to find rest during my times not at work

for wisdom in how to handle complicated patients (especially without a surgical backup)

travel for me and my sister next month

continued health (I have a little sore throat the last few days)

Thank you all for taking time to read my updates J

Angela