Wishin' and Hopin'

The heat wave is killing me and I am hoping it will cool down soon . It makes me lazy and lethargic. Really, I am either having a heat stroke or immaculate conception ( wink). I called in sick twice in a week and I haven’t been to work for the last three days. Despite all the days off , I still feel exhausted and light headed.

New Docs

It is that time of the year. July is the month when all the fresh doctors came out from med school. Some look confused, some look excited beginning the new era.. For nurses, July is not fun at all. We have to deal with all these newbies. Do not get me wrong I like them but getting orders and reporting changes on patients status is like telling a child to go to bed early. It is very hard. They would say, let me get through my resident or they would say okay I will get back to you.. When? after my patient crash.. I remember a year ago when one of our obese patient was bleeding through his penis and we couldn't stop it, the nurse called the on call intern and told him the problem. He came right away and the nurse explained what happened. He asked her where u trying to get a penile temperature? All of us just laughed out loud.
Don't you just love being a nurse, the good , the bad ,and the ugly life of nursing.

Appendicitis

I haven't accomplished much lately. One of the reasons was my 16 y/o nephew had an appendectomy last week and I have been taking care of him. When his mom called me and told me that he had been vomiting and been complaining abdominal pain, first i thought it is the quanta he had been eating from Ethiopia. Regardless, I went to see him and found out that an advice nurse told him to take anti nausea medication. When I saw my nephew the way he was sitting, I asked him where the pain and what he had been feeling. He told me it felt burn and took Pepcid. I asked him to lift his right leg straight up in the air and bend it, my nephew was in a lot of pain. That is when I knew it could be appendicitis( an inflammation of the appendix). He had the classic symptoms and signs that were low grade fever, abdominal tenderness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and loss appetite. I told his mother to take him to the ER and to described his symptoms for the ER nurse.
Like what i suspected the doctor thought the same. They took blood and urine and then gave him morphine sulfate. At 8 pm the surgeon took him to OR and my nephew had a laproscopic appendectomy and was discharged the next day.
I was so happy I was able to recognized it(wink) and told his mother to take him to the hospital ASAP despite his mother's hesitation.
Appendicitis has a 90% fatality rate if left untreated. They little tube will burst and spilling infectious material to the body . This can lead to what is called septic shock syndrome( when infection leads to low blood pressure and low blood flow compromising all the organs)

My personal message

As many of you know, on June 23 there was a walkathon and I walked four miles and have raised $350. I was amazed by by the people who encouraged and supported me.
Thank you all. I am sorry I didn't take pictures..

More pictures from my trip

Growing up in delgi is the best thing it ever happened to me. After school, we run to the lake to swim and lay on that beautiful white sand soaking all the sun until it dips below the horizon. All that is gone now. There is no more white sand. It has been shipped for years and years to Bahir Dar to make seimento. Sand has been replaced with mud and what is left is what you are seeing.

Walking to fight cancer

On June 23 ,I will be walking four miles to increase awareness of cancer in Ethiopia. Although, there is a myth that the prevalent is insignificant comparing to other diseases like AIDS, Malaria and so on. I have decided to join the organization to raise money. The money will be spend for early prevention and detection throught research, education and community outreach to all Ethiopians. Currently, I am asking people to sponsor me by donating money. As of today, I have collected $ 160. My aim is to raise up to $300 . If you can't donate money, join me for the walk.
for more information about the organization , visit http://www.lifesecondchance.org/

Sister, Sister

My sisters acting to be Ye balager lejochi. The pictures was taken in our backyard delgi.