Every week I go into Khayelitsha (one of the largest townships) with Prof the doctor I am interning for. I have so many interesting stories and experiences from going into Khayelitsha with Prof I figured I would use my blog to share a couple of them.
A mother came in with her 1-year-old baby son and her 7-year-old daughter about two weeks ago. The baby son had ulcers all around and inside his mouth. The mother is HIV (+), the baby boy tested negative when he was born . However some children don’t test (+) even though they are until they are 1 or 2, or until even later at 7,8,9 years old. The older girl looked pretty healthy but Prof suspected she would test (+) later. The reason that both were most likely HIV (+) is because the mom had breastfed both of them, and breast milk is one of the major ways to contract HIV. According to the mom the baby was losing weight rapidly and he just looked miserable. Prof told the mom to get her children tested again so she can get them started on the ARV’s (meds for AIDs). She said that she couldn’t tell her boyfriend that she or her children are HIV (+), even though he gave it to her. It is taboo for the men to be HIV (+) or be with someone that is. Having HIV (+) children is proof that you yourself are HIV (+); many men leave their families after hearing that their children or partners are infected. Prof convinced her to get her kids tested again no matter what her boyfriend says or else the children would die. She finally agreed, as she got up to leave, Prof asked her if she was currently pregnant. She said yes. This woman has three HIV (+) children. She is scared to tell her HIV (+) boyfriend for fear of him leaving her and the kids. Yet the children, and she need to start the ARV’s so they can stay as healthy as possible. HIV is rapidly spreading throughout the townships, it is a nightmare.
Last week a woman came in with her two little boys, they were so cute. One was a little bit older than the other. She brought them both with her but was mainly focused on the younger boy because he had bad eczema. As Prof was examining the younger boy, the mother was telling us about her life. Her boyfriend left her and the children a while back; she is unemployed and receiving social grants from the government. She kept saying that she loves her boys so much and that they keep her going every day. Prof put the younger boy on some medicine for his skin. Just before she was leaving she asked Prof to take a quick look at the older boy because something wasn’t right. It turned out that the older boy has a huge inguinal hernia on his right side. An inguinal hernia is a hernia in the groin area. Prof knew that the boy needed an operation right away but he was hesitant to allow the clinic to do it because it is a complicated one. It is very easy to hit the vas deferens (the tube that carries sperm from the testes to the urethra) or the many blood vessels in the area, hitting either would be detrimental to the boy. Prof decided to call the Red Cross Hospital and make sure that the boy could get in for an operation the next day. He told the mother to wait until he was finished and he would take her to Red Cross Children's Hospital.
After Prof was finished the five of us piled in the car headed for Red Cross. The older boy (who is still very young) was smiling, giggling and having the time of his life on the ride there. When we arrived Prof asked me to take the family to ward D2 while he finished sorting things out. As we were heading for the ward the boys were skipping and laughing down the hallway. As we arrived I knocked on the office door in D2 and began to explain the situation. The other doctors and nurses were laughing because Prof does this a lot. When someone needs medical attention he does whatever he can to get them help immediately even if causes a slight bit of mayhem in the hospital. The doctor told the mom to go downstairs to admissions and get a folder then come back up and they would arrange beds for them. I told the mom I would walk her down to admissions on my way to research. After I got her settled at admissions and was about to leave she asked me if they were going to feed her other son. I told her not to worry and of course they would, but I went to sleep thinking that night how scary that entire experience that must have been for the mom. Even though the Red Cross is a safe place it is very new and scary to her.
I learn so much every Tuesday. Although these experiences go from happy, sad, funny, horrifying and around again, I would not trade this experience up for anything, I truly love it.
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