KENYA - End of the Trip

We had fun on the trip as well as hard and sometimes frustrating work.  We got to visit a giraffe conservation center on the way to the airport in Nairobi and visited Carnivores Restaurant.  I highly recommend both.  We were so happy to get home to our own homes and families. 

Diana and Erin feeding the giraffe.

Molly getting a slice of ostrich.

The team leaving Naivasha Panorama Park Hotel.

We were gone 16 days.  It took 2 days to get there and 2 days traveling home.  We're all expecting some jet lag for the next few days.  It's by far the most exotic place I've ever been and for all the missions I've been on, it's the first one I felt like we had done more than just help the patients we worked on.  The new Women's Hospital in Naivasha will improve the health care of people there in so many ways.  The current hospital has wards with 32 patients in each ward, women's, men's, pediatric and maternity. The chaos and lack of privacy you'd have to see to believe.  I've not put in too many pictures because of patient privacy, so the only ones posted are with the consent of the patients or their families.  Many photos are too gruesome to post.
This was my first opportunity to work with the local ENT physician and I went away with a really good feeling that she will be able to do a T&A with much less bleeding and be able to see what  she's doing with some simple retractors and instruments.  I'll see what I can do about getting her a proper tray.  She also now is able to do a needle biopsy that she had never done before as well as nasal surgery she hasn't done.  Some of my instruments she had never seen and didn't know how to use, but she had good clinical judgement and was a quick learner.

22 year old with lumps in the neck. Probably TB.

Dr. Novotny demonstrating Fine Needle Biopsy for Dr. Maina

Dr. Maina, ENT, Margaret, clinic nurse, Dr. Novotny

I believe the others on the trip had the same feeling.  The L&D group got the maternity ward to start using the fetal monitor, oxygen and suctioning on distressed newborns.  They also got the infant CPAP working.  The babies die so easily there that they don't name them or consider them a person until they are 3 days old.  They say that babies become angels when they die so it give the families some sense of relief to know their babies are angels. There's no real count of the infant mortality because so many are born and die at home without ever being counted. The Maasai place their dead out in the bush to be eaten by animals.
Dr. Stice brought a dermatome (instrument for skin grafting) and worked extensively with the local general surgeon to help him be able to care for the many burn victims.  Her daughter, Caitlin worked on the stove project which we hope will eventually cut down on so many terrible burns.

Dr. Shulte, John Novotny, Cindy Berkland, APRN

Dr. Hawthorn, Dr. Norton, John Novotny, Laura W., Kenyan nurses, Dr. Novotny

We were so happy to get home to our own homes and families.  It was a challenging and rewarding trip that will leave a real and permanent improvement in their healthcare system, especially when the new hospital is up and running through the help of several Nebraska hospitals, medical teams and many generous donations.