On Friday I got to watch most of Eric’s surgery, which was such a cool experience. Eric had a heart condition called tetralogy of fallot. This is a congenital heart disease which causes low oxygen levels in the blood and leads to cyanosis. One of the factors of TOF is a ventricular septal defect (VSD), which is a hole between the right and left ventricles.
I was able to watch everything up close, including the placement of the patch that fixed the hole, and even got to go up to the chest cavity and see his beating heart at the end of the procedure. Freaky. He did really great right after surgery but unfortunately starting bleeding in the middle of the night and had to be reopened around 3am. They couldn’t find any problems and he is doing great now, so that’s all that matters.
Surgeons repairing Eric’s heart
Because the surgical team had to come into the hospital really early Saturday morning and the first of the two cases we had lined up was a 2-month-old baby, which would take more time, they decided to only do one case. I didn’t go into this surgery simply because it felt a little tense and the last thing I knew they needed was me in there taking up space. I helped the doctors screen the patients that had come into the clinic in the morning and then got to head back with some of the team early afternoon, which was a nice change of pace. Because we finished so early we had time to make dinner reservations and decided on a restaurant called Mediterraneo (Italian), which is the number #1 ranked restaurant in Kampala. The restaurant was absolutely gorgeous and had such amazing architecture. I am my father’s daughter because of course I flocked directly towards the pizza. It was good, especially for Uganda, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited for some pizza back home. Dinner was spent talking raises, hospitals, and different programs at different hospitals, sooooo I didn’t have too much to contribute ( I brought the average age down by about 25years). Some of the team here has nicknamed me “ study abroad” because they like to joke that I’m 19 and still in college. They all ordered a beer the first night and then looked directly at me and said” are you even of age?”
Sunday was the designated day off so I helped organize a trip to Jinja, the source of the Nile River. Jinja is about 90 minutes away and home of the supposed “ Bujagali Falls”. What we didn’t know was that a dam was completed about 2 years ago so by falls they actually mean completely still water. We ended up being suckered into a motorboat ride, which took us up and down the Nile. We thought the 2hr ($20) ride was going to be a scam but it was actually an awesome way to learn about Jinja and see some of the people and houses along the river. And yes for you Mean Girls enthusiasts, they actually say Jambo here as a greeting. After our boat ride we went to a restaurant called the Black Lantern, which had been recommended in many guide books. I had tilapia wrapped in banana leaves and it was absolutely delicious and I know it was fresh. I don’t eat fish in Gulu because a. you see the fish sit on the side of the road all day covered in flies b. it is about 5 hours away from any fresh water c. im not trying to die. I have to say that I have been spoiled by the food here in Kampala and we have been to some really great places. I have also eaten at the Indian place 4 times in the last week and am pretty sure that I am about to turn into chicken tikka.
Overlooking the Nile
Laundry day on the Nle
After lunch, we headed to a place called “all terrain adventures” and went on an ATV tour. It is probably not the most culturally sound way to explore Jinja but it took us through a bunch of the villages and it was a fun way to see some of the houses there. Most of the houses I saw were small but were actual houses as opposed to the huts that they have in Gulu. I was a tad nervous during our tour because the ATVs were my idea and we had our cardiac surgeon with us. All I could picture was something happening to his hand and him not being able to operate (slowly taking after my mom…). Long story short we were all safe, and had an absolute blast (minus being completely covered in dirt for our 2 hr car ride back).
Ready for some ATVing
On Monday morning Twalib and I were scheduled to have a meeting with the Joint Clinical Research Center (JCRC) at 9:30 to discuss the next project that will be happening in Gulu when I return in May/June. We left at 7 to avoid traffic and ended up arriving at 730. After a quick power snooze we finally met up with someone from the JCRC at 9 and she proceeded to show us the grounds. The JCRC originally supported HIV/AIDS research but they are starting to focus on other areas as well. The grounds were beautiful and sat on top of a hill, which gave us a great view of Kampala. We waited and waited for the person we were meeting with until about 10:45 when she finally called. She was in a completely different district and wouldn’t be back until 1:30. I have come to find that there is US time and there is African time. African time is always about 2 hours after you say something will happen, which if you know me, you know this drives me nuts. They offered to drive us to the hospital which ended up being a waste since, after traffic, we were only there for about 45 minutes before having to go straight back. Once we arrived a second time, we ended up waiting another 90minutes for our meeting. Although we were both a little grumpy after waiting all that time, the meeting was definitely a success. It finally became real that I will be coming back for an extended period of time and I am super excited for this project to launch in the summer. It’s hard to believe that I only have a little more than a month left here during this first trip. That’s it for now! Hoping to get to see another surgery tomorrow so I’ll keep you posted.
Not that she’s counting or anything BUT Stryker would like to let you know that I’ll be landing in 42 days.
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