The Bends

Yep – I think we’ve got “The Bends”. Not in the CO2-poisoning sense of the word, but in the ‘decompression-sickness’ sense of the word. After all the stress prior to our trip (organizing, donations, packing, exams for Jenn ) and the stresses and strains of Swaziland (RFM hospital, communal living, the ever-present lingering smell of burning creosote, organizing and executing weekend trips away ), it has literally been 10 to 12 weeks of energy draining stress. Of course, no one realized at the time just how much strain one is under until the strain is lifted
- and then suddenly, it was all over –
tragically, it was not a gradual decompression, but a rapid one. Hence, the Bends.

The last few days at RFM hospital were both frustrating and liberating. Dr. Linda ( the Kiwi) did a few days in the ‘labour ward’. I wandered over labour one morning just to say hi and see what was going on. What was going on, you ask ? Women in deplorable ‘beds’ ( I use the term loosely) pretty much doing the deed by themselves. The ones having difficulty were given some assistance, and the midwives (who do 95% of the labour delivery assistance, as there are only 2 obstetrics physicians at RFM ) seemed to be hard at work with various ‘problem labours’. So there I was, minding my own business in a room full of totally exposed women with the knees pulled up against their chests and in various states of screaming or crying and pushing or staring at the ceiling waiting to be screaming or crying and pushing, when I saw a baby crown. And… um… I was the only one there. With her baby about to deliver… the only person the poor women had was…errr… me. In my loudest man-voice ( which, in a ward full of screaming women, really does stand out), I boomed “ Linda ! Help!!”. As said baby was making its grand entrance into the world, it was evident that the cord was wrapped around the neck multiple times. And so with Linda busy untangling the umbilical cord, I got to catch a baby. They are very slimy when they come out – not like on Grey’s Anatomy at all. Oh, and they’re slippery too… I guess it has something to do with exiting the uterus easier, but it sure does make holding them afterwards more challenging.
That day, there were 31 babies born ( no, I did not catch the other 30) – and the statistics for the day indicated that of that number, 20 of the mothers were HIV positive. However, due to changing regulations, it was mandatory that all pregnant women get tested to find out their status. This way, should they be positive, neviripine can be given to both mother and child to reduce the chance of transmission during birth.

Oh, and 2 days before we were to leave, I found out the pulse oximeter, graciously donated by Dr. Jason Waechter and St. Paul’s Hospital, worked !! We were not sure of its functionality prior to departure, and there was some concern with the voltage ( we are 110volts, Africa is 220volts ) and the amperage of the volts (??). this device is used to measure the pulse and the oxygen saturation of the blood – if the saturation falls, something is seriously wrong. So, a major trauma hospital in the heart of Swaziland now has a pulse oximeter ! They have one in the OR ( connected to the anesthesia machine), but that was it. Patients in the wards… nobody knew if they were getting enough oxygen. I’m not sure why it took 5 weeks to determine whether or not this thing worked, but hey… that’s Swaziland. Ironically, the same guy who came to try and fix our lack-of-hot-water problems was the same guy who got the pulse-ox up and running.

The same day we found out about the pulse-ox, I was in emerg when a young boy of about 3 was brought in with a wound to his scrotum and perineum. He had been attacked by an ox. The ox’s horn had torn his privates. Fortunately, there was power ( hence, lights available) in the OR, so I got to assist Dr. Koshy with …errr… putting him back together again. Had he come in the day prior, there was no power in emerg nor in OR – so I probably would have been holding the flashlight for Dr. Koshy. I’ve got a picture of the ER by candle light – it’s quite surreal.

Jo’Berg Airport: the only major international airport in the world with an “Enter At Your Own Risk” sign above the front door. I would have gotten a picture, but I was much too afraid to take my camera out. We made sure Andrea caught her flight to Tanzania, and hit the ground at 120km/hr. They say Johannesburg is very dangerous and crime-ridden and uncomfortable. But really, at 120km/hr, one really does not get the impression of a crime-laden city. I was not about to slow down to test my theory… we just wanted to get the hell outta’ there.

A mere 7 hours later behind the wheel, we arrived at the edge of the Drakensberg Mountains. The outlying ‘hills’ of the Drakensberg looked much like Ayers Rock in Australia. Large, isolated mounds of stone, with tops so flat and demarcated, it was as if God came along with a Samurai sword and cleaved off any sharp, pointy or irregular mountain top. The primary mountains of the Drakensberg were snow-topped wonders. Again, pictures will not do it justice, but wikipedia “Drakensberg” , and you’ll get the idea. The things with snow-topped mountains… they’re freakin’ Cold! I neither bargained for nor packed for freezing cold weather in Africa.

After 2 days of lack of sensation in my nose and fingers, Jenn and I packed up and headed for the coast. They say ‘all roads lead to Rome’. However, in South Africa, this isn’t exactly true. Due to a severe lack of road signage, we’re not sure where most of them lead. But we eventually found our latest accommodation, and I can see the Indian Ocean from our room and they have movies in town. We went to a film last night, and simply prayed to the Gods of Fate to help us find our B&B in the dark… perhaps next time we’ll end up in Rome!

We’re off to decompress some more. Hopefully Andrea and Ryan are not as affected as were were - but it's a hard transition back to civilization after 5 weeks in Swaziland.