Missive #13 – January 17, 2015
Blowin’ in the wind The time as I write this last missive from Sierra Leone is 2am on Saturday morning and I am preparing to enter the high-risk zone for one last time. I want to see all of the children again on the off chance that I can do something for one of them. […]
Missive #12 – January 16, 2015
Get the hell out of town My last day shift was calm. Most of our really sick patients have passed away and there have been few admissions in the last couple of days. We had fifty-three patients on Sunday, but that number decreased to below thirty by Thursday. This might be just a statistical blip, […]
Missive #11: January 11, 2015
Death in the afternoon The deaths are starting to get to me. We’ve had fourteen of these in the last six days and many were children and infants. Our Ebola treatment facility at Prince of Wales (POW) School has become a common referral destination for babies, small children, and pregnant women with Ebola. It seems […]
Missive #10 – January 4, 2015
This is such a pity The MSF-Geneva EMC is located within the expansive grounds of a private school named Prince of Wales (POW) that abuts the Atlantic Ocean but has been shut down by Ebola. In fact, all schools in Sierra Leone are closed. The EMC set-up, materials and structures (e.g. Rubhalls and Triganos) are […]
Missive #9 – December 30, 2014
On the road again Christmas was eventful. As I walked to the EMC for my December 25th morning shift, I heard our medical team leader (MTL) talking with our nursing activity manager (NAM) about a request from MSF-Geneva for assistance. Although Bo is operated by MSF-Amsterdam, all of the MSF operating centres (Belgium, Paris, Amsterdam, […]
Missive #8 – December 28, 2014
The hardest part Most of the care for EVD patients is supportive nursing care provided by national and expat nurses – feeding, oral hydration, cleaning, dressing, wound care, comforting, giving oral meds and taking temperatures. The expat doctors and the CHOs (community health officers – similar to physician assistants) start and stop intravenous fluids, place […]
Missive #7 – December 25, 2014
I don’t want a lot for Christmas Happy holidays: http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/12/25/aid-workers-around-world-working-holidays
Missive #6 – December 22, 2014
Heart of darkness The Bo EMC compound is an impressive and foreboding community encompassing around 30 acres just beside the main road that travels east from Bo to Kailahun. The Kailahun region is where the outbreak began and where MSF established their first Sierra Leone EMC. The epidemic is believed to have started in a […]
Missive #5 – December 19, 2014
A day in the life My day usually starts around 6:30 am and I don’t need an alarm clock. A local choir of roosters fills that niche. A bucket shower with cold water reliably rids me of all remnants of drowsiness and I trundle off for breakfast at the group kitchen. The offerings at our […]
Being physically active can improve quality of life for cancer patients
Dr. Carolyn Gotay was a part of research team that showed that physical activity can have positive impacts on cancer survivors.