This morning after Handover Taylor and I decided that today was the day to give blood. So after Handover we went to the lab and told John that we wanted to give blood and he told us to come back at 10h00. Taylor followed Dr. Erdi on rounds, and I sat with Dr. Abel in his office. Dr. Abel has some sweet videos of a chameleon catching and eating a praying mantis. He didn’t have any patients to see, so he decided to go to the bank and it was almost 10h00 so Taylor and I went to the lab to save lives. John tested our blood type, as well as our hemoglobin, and our HIV, Hep B, and Hep C status. We were able to help John sort out his blood typing and prove that one of his testing serums was not working properly since we both know our blood types. It was good that we were able to help him see that the new serum was right, but scary that he’s been testing people’s blood type incorrectly. I have 14.0 hemoglobin protein, which is really high even for people in the States, so I think his test is off. The way the test the hemoglobin is based on hemoglobin concentration in the blood, and so doesn’t take into account if someone is dehydrated, which everyone here is basically chronically dehydrated, so the test tends to show high protein levels that you really have because it’s just more concentrated. And good news! I’m negative for HIV, Hep B, and Hep C! I would certainly hope so, but it’s nice to confirm it I guess.
We then went to the blood bank room where they keep all the blood in a big refrigerator. All the bags and needles and so on come out of sterilized bags, and John wore gloves of course and made sure to clean the area with alcohol before inserting the needle. I’m definitely glad I gave blood since when I get home I wont be able to donate for a year, and they need the blood so much more here than they do in the States. Now Taylor and I or the only two bags of blood on the AB shelf in the blood bank. John told us that only 4% of the population is AB, but I’m not sure if he’s talking the worlds population, or Africa’s population, which I’ve hear is dominated by B+. I’ll have to look that up.
After we gave blood we went back to the house for a snack and to get drinks. Then it was off to the theatre to watch some surgeries. There was a hysterectomy, and then we were able to watch Dr. ABD amputate a woman’s leg just above the ankle because of a severely infected foot. It smelled so bad in that room! And the bone-cutting portion of the surgery was pretty tough to take, but it was okay.
Taylor and I had really wanted to see the amputation, but we were drained (haha, punny) from giving blood, so afterward we went back to the house and took a nap. It felt really good, and afterward we worked on our presentation for tomorrow Morning Handover, “IV lines and Cannulas.” We got dressed to go to Dr. ABD’s for dinner (I wore my African dress that I had made here), but because they were still in surgery we decided to go over to the wards and get pictures of cannulas that weren’t taped down properly or had a problem with them. When we got back Alie was back to show us more of his things. He told me that he would see about making some small things for me, so I hope I can get the prices very low and afford them.
At about 19h00 we went over to Dr. ABD’s house and had a wonderful meal. Kumba made all sorts of good food, and we got to talk to all the kids again. After dinner we all went and sat out on the porch and enjoyed the nice cool rain and talked. Most of us were tired and went home, but a couple people went to the bar with Callum to help him celebrate his last night in Sierra Leone.
This post is dedicated to Abi’s nephew, who was born in the hospital yesterday but died of complications this morning, and to the child who came in with second and third degree burns of 50% of his body yesterday who passed of infection.
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