March 25, 2009
Today I am feeling much better, and Nick is starting to kick his sickness as well, things are looking up! We had our breakfast and then headed to the OR. Nick started off the day doing a wedge osteotomy to treat a club foot in a 40+ year old patient. There were only a few patients to see in clinic and then he casted a foot that had an equinus contracture and heel burns. The last case of the day was an ex-fix on a tibia that was broken near the ankle. We had a late lunch and were done for the day so we worked on my models for awhile to start finishing them up. We headed back to the Sparks’ house and found out the house help had baked us chocolate chip cookies, what a nice surprise! We read for awhile, did our laundry and then took Archer up to the field at the school to run around. We watched a movie fighting with the electricity on and off all night and then one episode before turning in for an early bedtime.

March 24, 2009
The “bug” got Nick now! We had our breakfast at the hostel and then went up to theater. Due to poor X-rays, and not providing enough blood for surgery, 2 patients had to cancel today. All that was left was a bunion and Nick made clear his intentions of not touching it to Dr. Nana, so we headed off to clinic. The lack of organization was really starting to get to us today! Yikes, the approach to medicine here is just impossible to get your mind around so we just sit back and chuckle to ourselves while the nurses and patients carry on. It’s usually discussing payments options, or figuring out why patients seem to think they can miss their surgery date then show up to expect a pleasant welcome back, and of course, their name written in the schedule book for another date! Even figuring out past procedures is a challenge as charting is not a forte as far as we can tell. After lunch there were a few more patients in clinic and then we went to the craft hut to pick up our “country bags” that we had made. We also visited and supported the embroidery shop making some Cameroon gift purchases. After work we went back to the Sparks’ house did some laundry, took Archer for a walk then watched some more “heroes.”