After CME, we went down to the clinic to do some more glucose screening. We had been worried about getting the 30 patients we had been allowed to collect data on, but we ended up getting enough today! It is interesting that out of 30 patients, only 3 of them are males. Dr. Mireille told us that it is much easier to get women to come to the clinic for HIV care because they also need to come for prenatal care. When we tested patients, we also measured their height, weight, blood pressure, waist, and hips. I remember one woman who we tested had a larger waist than her hips. After Dr. Mireille saw her, she said that she found a mass in her abdomen and had ordered an ultrasound for her. When the results came back, we found out that she was actually 8 months pregnant and had no idea! Sounds just like that TLC show, “I didn’t know I was pregnant.” The pregnancy hadn’t been caught earlier because the woman had been reporting a period every month. I think she must have been in denial.
Once we finished our glucose screening, we headed to peds for a while and then the women’s ward. We didn’t see anything too extraordinary, but it was nice to get a chance to say thank you and goodbye to the doctors and residents who had allowed us to follow them around the last few weeks. We took tea and chapati before going home to have lunch. I am going to miss chapati, and I might have to start drinking hot tea every now and then when I’m back home. However, I do think that part of the reason I like the tea so much is because it is so cold here. It was especially cold today. Before we went back to the hospital after lunch, I put my northface jacket on under my white coat.
There wasn’t much for us to do the rest of the day while we were at the hospital. We hung around with everyone from the clinic and took pictures with them. I don’t really feel ready to leave everyone here, especially since I don’t know if I will ever see them again, but I am also very ready to see all of my family and friends.
After we left the hospital, we met up with Dr. Keiser to go on a hike up one of the nearby hills. It was actually a pretty difficult hike. It was very steep and a little slippery at times. I felt like I was in a scene from Jurasic Park with all the tall trees with vines hanging down from them. From a few clearings along the way we had a great view of the hospital compound. I was hoping to see a baboon or two, but we had no such luck. Still it was a beautiful hike, and even though I was sweating and tired, I was very glad we did it.
I am not sure if I will be able to post for the remainder of the trip, so I will go ahead and lay out our plans for the next few days. Tomorrow, we will be leaving Kijabe with Dr. Keiser around 8 or 9 am. From there we will be going straight to the Elephant orphanage in Nairobi, where we will meet up with everyone from House of Hope. The elephants at the Elephant orphanage can only be viewed from 11-noon so I’m not sure what we will be doing the rest of the day. On Sunday morning, we will leave for our safari on the Masai Mara. We will be on safari from Sunday through Tuesday morning when we will be going on a “dawn game drive.” Not exactly sure what that means, but I think it means we will be getting up super early to drive around and look at animals. After the dawn game drive, everyone will head to Kijabe to hear Dr. Leiberman, one of UTMBs professors, present a lecture at noon. After that, we will head to the airport for the long journey home. Now it’s time for me to stop blogging and go pack!
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